2018 Volume 39 Pages 315-328
This article aims to investigate art education in the Maldives, which began with introduction of the National Curriculum in 1984, from the perspective of the actual condition of the schools at that time. Three types of material are used to show the reaction to introducing art education in the Maldives: text data from interviews with Maldivian teachers, a sample book made by a teacher, and a collection of paintings made by Maldivian children. The study consequently reveals the following: art education spread rapidly on a national scale despite it being a novel subject; teachers’ guidebooks published by the Ministry of Education played an important role in this, and the concepts of modern art education were accepted and practiced in classes from the very beginning.
