Artistic and Creative Development Through the Integration of Contemporary Artistic Practices into the Primary School Curriculum Katja Kozjek V arl 1 and Jerneja Herzog* 2 • In the educational standards, creativity is named as one of the key com - petences in education. However, not enough is being done to promote creativity in the education system. In this paper, we present the results of a study that used a pedagogical experiment to investigate how the inclusion of contemporary artistic practices can successfully influence the development of artistic-creative skills in eighth graders. The results show the success of the pedagogical experiment, which confirmed that by including the PISUPOŠ programme (Programme for the Implemen - tation of Contemporary Art Practices in Primary School), which covers the content of contemporary visual arts, all of the identified factors of artistic creativity were successfully developed. Keywords: art education, artistic-creative skills, contemporary visual arts, creativity 1 Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, Slovenia. 2 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, Slovenia; jerneja.herzog@gmail.com. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1909 Published on-line as Recently Accepted Paper: January 2025 c e p s Journal artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 2 Likovnoustvarjalni razvoj ob vključevanju sodobnih umetniških praks v osnovnošolski kurikulum Katja Kozjek V arl in Jerneja Herzog • Izobra�evalni standardi navajajo ustvarjalnost kot eno ključnih kom- Izobra�evalni standardi navajajo ustvarjalnost kot eno ključnih kom - petenc v izobra�evanju. Še vedno pa za razvijanje ustvarjalnosti v iz - obra�evalnem sistemu ne naredi(mo) dovolj. S pomočjo pedagoškega eksperimenta smo �eleli preučiti, kako lahko z vključevanjem sodobnih umetniških praks uspešno vplivamo na razvoj likovnoustvarjalnih spo - sobnosti pri osmošolcih. Rezultati ka�ejo na uspešnost pedagoškega ek - sperimenta; ta je potrdil, da smo z vključevanjem programa PISUPOŠ, ki je zajemal vsebine sodobne likovne umetnosti, uspešno razvijali prav vse dejavnike likovne ustvarjalnost. Ključne besede: pouk likovne umetnosti, likovnoustvarjalne sposobnosti, sodobna likovna umetnost, ustvarjalnost c e p s Journal 3 Introduction The development of creativity is influenced by various environments and factors. First and foremost are the family and the family environment, then the education system and various organisations (clubs, depending on the hobby), as well as direct factors such as printed resources, media, computers and online social environments. Trstenjak (1981) equates the influence of the environment with the pressure that a certain environment or society exerts, directly or indirectly, on an individual, noting that society can also have an inhibiting effect. A more important factor for the promotion and development of children’s creativity is the family or the creative family environment. In ad - dition to all other functions, the family has a significant influence on the child’s creative behaviour (Herzog & Duh, 2011; Kemple & Nissenberg, 2000). Her - zog and Duh (2011) cite a three-part model for a creative family environment that ensures the child’s creative behaviour: (a) respect for the child in the form of consultation with the child and explanation of family choices, (b) fostering independence by providing psychological safety for exploration and decision- making, free expression of emotions and risk-taking with new ideas, and (c) an enriched learning environment that values play and provides role models (Kemple & Nissenberg, 2000). In contrast to routine activities, creative activities contribute significant - ly to the development of this competence at school. Therefore, art objects have great creative potential in the classroom, and much depends on the teacher’s competences and methodological approaches (Huzjak & Županić Benić, 2017). The teacher must use appropriate teaching methods and imagine creative tasks that encourage the creative behaviour of students (Herzog & Duh, 2011). Artis - tic-creative skills have a direct impact on the development of a person’s over - all creative potential (Duh, 2004; Herzog, 2009, 2017; Herzog & Duh, 2020), which can be influenced by teachers with an appropriate approach and suitably designed artistic tasks (Tacol, 1999, 2003). Herzog and Duh (2011) state that artistic creativity correlates to a high degree with general creativity, and that the development of artistic creativity has a positive influence on the development of general creativity (Dinkelmann, 2008). Creativity is expressed in play, action and thinking. It can be developed by working with artistic material or through special tasks. Creativity also involves exploring and experimenting with ideas, materials, technologies and techniques. In art and design, creativity enables the creation of imaginative images, artefacts, and other original and valuable outcomes (Rutland, 2009). Therefore, the teaching of art in school must be based on the development of creativity (Herzog & Duh, 2011). According to artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 4 McLennan (2010), it is more important for the development of children’s crea - tivity to stimulate the creative process itself than to strive for the end product. Artistic creativity is therefore an area that develops in pupils through active artistic activity with the support of a long-term pedagogical process, a stimulating environment and a creative teacher (Duh, 2004; Vahter, 2016). Cre - ativity is developed through students’ own activity (Duh, 2004), which leads to an artistic-creative product that helps us to monitor the development of stu - dents’ artistic abilities (Duh, 2004; Herzog, 2009; Karlavaris, 1981). Artistic-Creative Development The artistic and creative development of children is a complex process that largely depends on the environment, individual personality characteris - tics and differences between children that arise as a result of the simultaneous learning process and the maturation of the individual (Duh & Korošec, 2009). According to Duh and Korošec (2009), the monitoring of artistic and creative development, which is expressed primarily through psychomotor skills, pro - vides insight into the creative potential of children. The authors also emphasise the importance of promoting various abilities, such as expression, thinking, perception and critical thinking. Artistic-creative abilities therefore have a di - rect impact on the development of the entire creative potential of the individual (Duh, 2004; Herzog, 2009, 2017), which can be influenced by teachers with an appropriate approach and suitably designed artistic tasks (Tacol, 1999, 2003). This means that, as Duh claims (2004), “creativity is developed through one’s own activity” (p. 32). Without the encouragement that students receive in fine arts classes, they would not be able to create artistic products (Herzog, 2017). Measurement of Artistic Creativity In the field of artistic creativity, researchers, including Sternberg (1999), have used various methods of measurement. Special tests are available for measuring and evaluating artistic ability, which have been tested several times in practice and show high reliability, as stated in Duh (2004). Researchers use standardised tests to measure artistic ability, with which we can verify various aspects of artistic-creative development, the development of artistic-appreci - ative abilities, artistic-design development and optical-thematic development (Duh, 2004; Herzog et al., 2023). In our wider area, tests of artistic creativ - ity have also been developed by Karlavaris and Kraguljac (Duh, 2004; Pečjak, 1987), some of which are described by Duh (2004). c e p s Journal 5 It is crucial that all tests of creativity meet the criteria of reliability, valid - ity, objectivity and sensitivity (Čagran & Bratina, 2011; Pečjak, 1987; Zorman, 1968). In addition to these objective criteria, as pointed out by Pečjak (1987), there is a subjective side to assessment, which includes the opinion of the teach - er or another person who knows the tested individual well. Therefore, there are no uniform bases for judgement when determining creativity. Numerical, descriptive and graphic scales are used to measure artistic creativity and ensure accuracy, with each level being described in words. This enables a more accu - rate and substantive evaluation of artistic expression (Duh, 2004). Research Problem The aim of the present research was to experimentally measure the ar - tistic and creative development of eighth graders during the implementation of the Programme for the Implementation of Contemporary Art Practices in Primary Schools (hereinafter: PISUPOŠ), which envisages the inclusion of contemporary artistic practices in the teaching of fine arts. We were interested in whether an experimental group (EG) exhibited a higher or lower level of artistic-creative ability in comparison to a control group (CG). The PISUPOŠ programme, which was designed to advance the artistic creativity of students, is specific because of the continuous introduction of contemporary art. This was followed up in the initial and final testing with the LV2 art test, a standardised test to check the progress of artistic skills. Research Hypotheses It was expected that the proposed work programme would have a posi - tive effect on the development of students’ artistic skills, and that differences would be found between the students who performed artistic tasks according to the PISUPOŠ programme and those in the CG. The general hypothesis in our study is: H SPL : When examining the performance of planned and executed art tasks with eighth-grade students, it is expected that the students in the ex - perimental group will achieve higher artistic and creative levels than the students in the control group. Specific hypotheses: H SPL 1.1: The students in the experimental group have a higher level in the re - definition factor than the students in the control group. artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 6 H SPL 1.2: The students in the experimental group have a higher level in the origi - nality factor than the students in the control group. H SPL 1.3: The students in the experimental group have a higher level in the elabo - ration factor than the students in the control group. H SPL 1.4: The students in the experimental group show a higher level of sensitiv - ity to artistic problems than the students in the control group. H SPL 1.5: The students in the experimental group show a higher level in the flex - ibility factor than the students in the control group. H SPL 1.6: The students in the experimental group show a higher level of fluency than the students in the control group. Method Research Sample The study included eighth-grade students from six primary schools in the area of the Institute for Education of the Maribor Regional Unit. There are a total of 21 primary schools in the Maribor region. Since the research was conducted in the third educational triad, in which the number of hours for visual arts is limited to one hour per week, we identified schools with a flexible timetable (two hours per week). In this way, we achieved continuous work over 15 consecutive weeks without weekly interruptions, which allowed us to optimise the study. We wanted to include at least 100 pupils in the study, which corresponds to one-fifth of primary school students in Maribor and represents a sufficient sample for con - ducting the study and for optimal analysis and generalisation of the results. When analysing the data, we considered only the results of students whose parents had signed a consent form for participation and who were present at both the initial and final stages of the test ( N = 121). The final study sample consisted of 54.54% girls and 45.45% boys. Students from urban schools accounted for 55.37% of the sample, while 44.62% were from suburban schools. The experimental group com - prised 49.58% of the sample and 50.41% were in the control group. Based on a review of theoretical starting points and previous findings, as well as an analysis of the opinions of art teachers about art and trends in mod - ern art didactics (the results of which are not presented in the present article), we made a number of didactic decisions that helped us to design the work pro - gramme for implementing contemporary art practices in the teaching of visual arts in the third triad of primary education (PISUPOŠ) in line with the current visual arts curriculum. The package of didactic decisions includes didactic-or - ganisational features, content features, features of didactic communication and c e p s Journal 7 activities, and the position of and relationships between students and teachers. The PISUPOŠ programme contains suggestions for the selection of a contem - porary work of art, the connection of a work of art or an artist with methods and forms of work, and the development of appropriate methods and didactic steps (Kozjek Varl & Herzog 2023). Two ways of incorporating contemporary artworks into the classroom are also presented: (a) by familiarising students with the content of a contemporary artwork, focusing on the idea (concept, content); and (b) by having students express and develop their own idea through artistic practices in various contemporary or conventional forms. The first working mode (a) is based on learning about contemporary visual artists, the principles of creating an artwork, and the communication values or conceptual design of the artwork. Based on what they have learnt, the students carry out artistic tasks, experience the concepts they have learnt and express themselves in this way. The second working mode (b) involves the de - velopment of an individual conceptual design and the realisation of an artistic task in the manner of or according to a principle that the students have chosen. In this case, it is a higher level of artistic expression, as it is based on the knowl - edge already acquired in the field of contemporary visual arts. The content of contemporary visual art was combined with an inter - pretation of artistic concepts from the curriculum and an explanation of the reasons for their creation. The purpose of the pedagogical experiment is to confirm the usefulness of the inclusion of contemporary visual arts through targeted art assignments. The goal is to encourage eighth graders to develop artistically and creatively, to develop a positive attitude towards contemporary visual arts, and to reflect critically on the given themes. Research Instruments The LV2 art test, also known as the four-character test, is a standardised and verified test (Duh, 2004). It allows test takers to “creatively solve the task, show what they can do and what skills they have in their artistic expression” (Duh, 2004, p. 110). The initial and final tests provide information about the student’s level of artistic and creative development, which was of interest for the present study. The LV2 art test consists of four different artistic tasks. For each task, the students were given a specific time (20 minutes) and material (summarised by artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 8 Duh, 2004). The first task required an imitation of the student’s favourite art - work, the second task required the students to paint a picture with a harmony of shapes and colours, and the third task required them to imagine themselves in a given situation (the students imagined and drew a small creature observing the inside of an old tree stump). The fourth task required the students to trans - late verbal signs into visual signs according to the following passage/verse: “The fragrant light of the heights is enchanted by the scattered murmur of cheerful water. ” Each of the four tasks is designed to assess a particular aspect of artistic skill development, as illustrated in Table 1. Table 1 Observation of the individual factors in artistic development based on the tasks in the LV2 art test (summarised by Duh, 2004) Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Artistic-Creative Development Redefinition x x x Originality x x Originality x Elaboration x x x Sensitivity to Art Problems x Sensitivity to Art Problems x x Flexibility Flexibility x x Fluency x General Art Level General Art Level General Art Level General Art Level Material Wax Crayons Wax Crayons Black Marker Wax Crayons Title of the Art Task Imitate Your Favourite Artwork Composition of Harmonious Shapes and Colours A Tiny Creature Observes the Inside of an Old Tree Stump The Fragrant Light of the Heights Is Enchanted by the Scattered Murmur of Cheerful Water The art tasks in the LV2 art test are designed to provide information about the child’s general artistic development, while at the same time enabling partial observation of various factors of artistic development (Duh, 2004), as can be seen in Table 2. Together with the teachers of the experimental and control groups, we ensured equal conditions for all of the subjects: the same drawing sheets, col - oured pencils and markers for each student, a uniform presentation of the pur - pose of the test, labelling of the task on the board, forewarning of the students, correct marking of the art tasks (1–4), and appropriate recording of the student code. The artworks were evaluated by a committee. c e p s Journal 9 Data Processing Procedure The study is based on an analytical-descriptive and causally non-exper - imental method of pedagogical research (Sagadin, 1993). The differences be - tween the groups were determined using non-parametric tests. In the empirical part, quantitative and two basic qualitative research methods of pedagogical research were used: the descriptive and the causal non-experimental method (Mason, 2017; Ma�gon et al., 2008; Sagadin, 1993; Vogrinc, 2008; Vogrinc et al., 2007). A pedagogical experiment (a pilot survey) was first conducted (Cencič, 2007, 2009; Ko�uh et al., 2009). The course of the pedagogical experiment, in which students from six primary schools (three EG and three CG) participated, was documented with examples of the students’ work. A quantitative study was then conducted using the LV2 art test (Duh, 2004) on all of the groups of stu - dents participating in the study (EG and CG). The test and the test analysis were carried out before and after the pedagogical experiment. The test was used to monitor progress in the students’ artistic and creative development. The analy - sis used frequency distributions, arithmetic means, standard deviation, asym - metry and flatness coefficients. When preparing the PISUPOŠ programme, we considered the principle of graduality to get to know contemporary art practices and new concepts re - lated to contemporary visual arts. Graduality seemed necessary to us because these students of contemporary visual arts were not yet familiar with pedagogi - cal experiments. Simultaneous familiarisation with new concepts could result in resistance on the part of the students, as the content and especially the con - temporary artistic approaches were new to them. More detailed content and starting points are listed in the table (Table 2). Table 2 More detailed content and starting points of the PISUPOŠ programme Field of Art Art Concepts Starting Point – Contemporary Art Concept Handling Drawing Illusion of Space Peter Kogler, Monika Gryzmala Concept/Idea and Installation and Photographing as Documentation of Artwork Space Keys Damien Gilley Concept/Idea Drawing after Observation Marcel Duchamp, Martin Roller, Claes Oldenburg Concept/Idea artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 10 Field of Art Art Concepts Starting Point – Contemporary Art Concept Handling Painting Quantitative Colour Contrast Yayoi Kusama Spatial Layout/Installation Tone Painting Ignac Meden, Wallen Mapondera Conceptual Design of the Painting Base Graphics Gravure Printing Paula Schuette Kraemer, Angie Hoffmeister, Črtomir Frelih Installation Sculpture Composition in Sculpture, Small Plastic Richard Serra Sketch, Concept Note, Minimalism and Large Plastic Small Plastic Nela Azevedo, Jose Damasceno, Dona Conlon Ecology Architecture Composition in Architecture Marjetica Potrč Globalisation Construction and Stability Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava Shell Before implementing the planned PISUPOŠ programme, we carried out the LV2 art test in both groups (EG and CG). In art tests, tasks must be set in such a way as to elicit a certain level of rapid response, but they must not be too specific, so that room is left for individual variation. The tasks should be nei - ther too complex nor too simple, so that the person being tested can complete them in a certain amount of time (Duh, 2004, p. 109). In some studies (Duh, 2004; Herzog et al., 2023), the LV2 art test provided “sufficiently valid, reliable and objective results” (Duh, 2004, p. 119). In the present study, the LV2 art test was used test to observe and measure individual factors in the students’ artistic abilities in the initial phase and later in the final phase. The results of the LV2 art test were evaluated by a committee. The basic research problem refers to progress in the artistic skills of eighth graders from the point of view of the implementation of contemporary artwork in the visual arts classroom. The experimental programme differs from the con - trol programme in the selection and presentation of art examples. As mentioned above, the experimental programme focuses on contemporary art practices. In the control group, the teachers carried out the artistic tasks accord - ing to the established work programme, while the teachers in the experimental group worked according to the PISUPOŠ programme. We did not specifically prepare the teachers in the control group for the research work, but simply planned the test dates together and checked the implementation of the planned lessons. The teachers in the control groups were expected to teach the art les - sons according to the established working method. The teachers who took part in the experimental group were prepared in advance for the experimental work, c e p s Journal 11 as this required detailed preparation involving the introduction of innovations. At the initial stage of planning and designing the PISUPOŠ programme, we invited cooperation from the teachers participating in the experimental group. Such co-operation was necessary because the involvement of the teachers con - tributed to their motivation and mutual communication, while at the same time increasing the reliability of the introduction of innovations. In line with the aims of the quantitative and qualitative research ap - proach, the LV2 art test was used as the data collection instrument for all of the students involved in the research. This test was used to measure the students’ artistic abilities before starting the pedagogical experiment (initial condition) and after the pedagogical experiment (final condition). The data were com - pared and the progress in the artistic abilities of the students was determined. The research study was approved by the Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor Ethical Research Committee (no. 038-6-61/2020/10/FFUM). Results and Discussion The results obtained for each factor of artistic creativity are presented together in both the initial and final measurements. Table 3 Descriptive analysis of the value of the individual factors of artistic-creative development in the initial and final phase Factors N MIN and MAX No. of Points Mean Standard Deviation Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final REDEFINITION 121 MIN 0.00 0.25 1.9 2.1 0.8 0.1 MAX 3.75 4.50 ORIGINALITY 121 MIN 0.00 0.50 3.6 3.9 1.5 1.8 MAX 7.75 8.25 ELABORATION 121 MIN 0.25 0.50 2.3 2.5 0.8 0.9 MAX 4.00 4.50 SENSITIVITY TO ART PROBLEMS 121 MIN 0.50 0.75 3.8 4.5 1.5 1.9 MAX 7.50 8.75 FLEXIBILITY 121 MIN 0.25 0.75 3.9 4.2 1.7 1.8 MAX 7.75 8.75 FLUENCY 120 MIN 0.25 0.25 2.3 2.4 0.95 0.9 MAX 4.75 4.50 * Only fully completed answers were included in the statistical processing artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 12 The results of the arithmetic mean for the redefinition factor show that the students improved their score by 9.5% in the final measurement. This re - flects an improvement in artistic structure in the final state and a partial redefi - nition of the art products. With the redefinition factor, we can therefore speak of student progress, while the variation between the results also decreased. Slightly less student progress can be recognised in the final state with regard to the originality factor, although the dispersion of the results clearly increased. It can be said that the implemented work programme led to more original ideas with some students. The results show that the products of the initial measurement had mini - mal elements of originality and an elementary level of artistic structure, while in the measurement of the final state we could observe partial originality and partial good artistic structure in the artworks. With regard to the elaboration factor, we can again speak of progress made by the students in the final state, which is reflected in the 8% range. The spread of the results also decreased. The results show that in the initial meas - urement, the students demonstrated a fairly good process of creating or con - structing a work of art in their products. The greatest improvement is evident in sensitivity to art problems, with the results in the final measurement showing an increase of 15%. In the final measurement, we found that the students were better able to recognise artis - tic problems and demonstrate a sensitivity towards them in their artwork. The spread of results increased. In the final measurement, the students improved their score on the flex - ibility factor by 6%. This reflects an improvement in their ability to discover new ways of expression and a more diverse use of artistic means and artistic processes. The students also improved their score on the fluency factor by 6%. The results show that they were more successful in adapting their artistic ideas to the artistic means of expression in the final measurement. c e p s Journal 13 Table 4 Descriptive analysis of the overall value of the factors of artistic-creative development in the initial stage Factors N MIN and MAX POINTS Mean Standard Deviation Initial Final Initial Final Initial Final Artistic-Creative Development 120 MIN 3.25 5.00 18.0 19.6 6.3 7.6 MAX 33.00 38.50 * Only fully completed answers were included in the statistical processing In the overall assessment of artistic and creative development factors (Table 4), the students achieved an average of 18.0 points, with the highest score achieved being 33 and the lowest 3.25 out of a possible 45 points. Taking all four tasks into account, the maximum score that could be achieved for the factors is 45. Each factor included in the assessment of artistic and creative development is awarded 5 points (Duh, 2004). Based on the result ( M = 18.0), we can say that the students in the initial situation showed average results at the level of joint artistic and creative development. In the overall assessment of the factors of artistic and creative development in the final stage, the students achieved an average of 19.6 points), with the highest score achieved being 38.5 and the low - est being 5 out of a possible 45 points. The results show that the students made progress on the common level of artistic and creative development in the final measurement. Review of the Specific Effects of the Experiment Below, we present the results of the covariance analysis that was used to test the effectiveness of the experiment. The results are presented for the indi - vidual factors of artistic creativity separately for the experimental and control groups. The results and the analysis of the results of the covariance of the indi - vidual factors of artistic development are presented first. artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 14 Table 5 Descriptive statistical parameters (group), test for homogeneity of variances and analysis of the covariance of the scores N MIN MAX x S F P REDEFINITION EG 60 1.00 4.50 2.6 0.8 53.240 0.001 CG 61 0.25 3.75 1.5 0.8 ORIGINALITY EG 60 2.00 8.25 5.0 1.5 74.990 0.001 CG 61 0.50 6.00 2.9 1.5 ELABORATION EG 60 1.75 4.50 3.1 0.9 62.648 0.001 CG 60 0.50 3.75 2.1 1.3 SENSITIVITY TO ART PROBLEMS EG 60 2.50 8.75 6.1 2.5 84.471 0.001 CG 60 0.75 6.75 3.7 3.1 FLEXIBILITY EG 60 2.75 8.75 5.2 1.4 89.451 0.001 CG 60 0.75 6.50 3.1 1.5 FLUENCY EG 60 1.50 4.50 2.1 0.7 105.118 0.001 CG 60 0.25 3.75 1.8 0.8 ARTISTIC-CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT EG 60 13.00 38.50 24.6 5.3 218.132 0.001 CG 60 5.00 29.00 14.7 6.2 * Only fully completed answers were included in the statistical processing Table 5 shows the results of the analysis of the individual factors of ar - tistic creativity and the overall level. The result of the F-test of variance homo - geneity shows that the assumption (group) in the factor of artistic redefinition is justified ( P = 0.492), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) in favour of the students in the experimental group. This means that the students in the experimental group achieved better results. We therefore conclude that the introduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on increasing the level of the artistic-creative factor of redefi - nition in the students in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ programme was not introduced. This confirms hypothesis H SPL 1.1. The result of the F-test of variance homogeneity shows that the assump - tion (group) in the factor of artistic originality is justified ( P = 0.549), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in favour of the students in the experimental group. The results show that the students in the experimental group performed better. We therefore conclude that the c e p s Journal 15 introduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on increasing the level of the artistic-creative factor of originality among the students in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ programme was not introduced. This confirms hy - pothesis H SPL 1.2. The result of the F-test of variance homogeneity shows that the assump - tion (group) in the factor of artistic elaboration is justified ( P = 0.019), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in favour of the students in the experimental group. This means that the students in the experimental group achieved better results. We therefore conclude that the in - troduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on increasing the level of the artistic-creative factor of elaboration among the stu - dents in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ programme was not introduced. This confirms hypothesis H SPL 1.3. The result of the F-test of variance homogeneity shows that the assump - tion in the factor of sensitivity to artistic problems is justified ( P = 0.047), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in favour of the students in the experimental group. This means that the students in the ex - perimental group achieved better results. We therefore conclude that the intro - duction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on in - creasing sensitivity to artistic problems among the students in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ pro - gramme was not introduced. This confirms hypothesis H SPL 1.4. The result of the F-test of variance homogeneity shows that the as - sumption in the factor of artistic flexibility is justified ( P = 0.509), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in favour of the stu - dents in the experimental group, who also achieved better results in the artistic flexibility factor than the students in the control group. We therefore conclude that the introduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on increasing the level of flexibility among students in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ pro - gramme was not introduced. This confirms hypothesis H SPL 1.5. The result of the F-test of variance homogeneity shows that the as - sumption (group) about the factor of artistic fluency is justified ( P = 0.521), and thus the condition for calculating the covariance is fulfilled. The analysis artistic and creative development through the integration of contemporary ... 16 of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in fa - vour of the students in the experimental group. This means that the students in the experimental group achieved better results. We therefore conclude that the introduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ programme had a positive effect on increasing the level of the artistic-creative factor of fluency among the stu - dents in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ programme was not introduced. This confirms hypothesis H SPL 1.6. The result of the F-test of the homogeneity of variances shows that the assumption is also justified in the total value of the factors of artistic-creative development ( P = 0.168), and thus the condition for the calculation of the co - variance is fulfilled. The analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference ( P = 0.001) in favour of the students in the experimental group. This means that the students in the experimental group achieved better results. We therefore conclude that the introduction of the experimental PISUPOŠ pro - gramme had a positive effect on increasing the level of the factors of artistic- creative development among the students in the experimental group compared to the students in the control group, where the PISUPOŠ programme was not introduced. Thus, we can fully confirm hypothesis H SPL 1 (the students in the experimental group will have a higher level of joint artistic-creative development than the students in the control group). Conclusion Contemporary art offers many didactic opportunities for inclusion in art lessons and for cross-curricular integration. The role of the teacher is to rec - ognise these, adapt them to the content of the curriculum and the age group of the students, and thus bring them closer to the students. Research (Kozjek Varl & Duh, 2017; Kozjek Varl & Herzog, 2021) shows that students respond well to content dealing with contemporary art, so teachers could utilise the opportuni - ties that contemporary art offers with even greater interest. The present study sought to investigate the success of the development of artistic and creative skills through contemporary art content. The content of the research is very topical and welcome in relation to recent changes in the Slovenian school system. The revision of curricula and the development of strategies represent opportunities for the results of current research to be particularly taken into account or incorporated. Therefore, among all of the other tasks and purposes, we sought to emphasise this aspect of the study. By conducting a pedagogical experiment, we have shown that by the integration c e p s Journal 17 of contemporary art content into all areas of the visual arts (drawing, painting, graphics, sculpture and architecture), each factor of artistic creativity can yield positive development in redefinition, elaboration, originality, fluency, flexibility and sensitivity to artistic problems. This is manifested in the difference between the two groups of the study in favour of the experimental group, which con - stitutes the practical value of the research. We should, however, mention the limitations of our study related to the fact that we could not control all of the factors that could have a significant impact on the development of artistic skills (the socioeconomic status of the students’ families, general cognitive abilities, openness of the students to new approaches, etc.). In light of current social trends and the changing role of the student (or teenager) in society, the school space can greatly contribute to dealing with issues that stress, irritate or inspire the student/teenager. An appropriate ap - proach by the teacher is therefore needed to establish dialogue with the stu - dent/teenager, in order to motivate him/her and stimulate his/her thinking. Such an approach is fully enabled by contemporary visual art because it deals with themes that are topical, and that speak to the individual and to society. We would therefore like to point out that the results of this study can be applied without restriction to pedagogical practice and the educational process, not only in primary schools but also in secondary schools. If the teacher can make a connection between contemporary art and the student, this leads to the student being motivated to think critically, find meaning, form their own identity and ultimately, as demonstrated in the present research, develop their artistic and creative skills. We attribute many benefits to cultural education. It is therefore crucial that the content of arts education be well planned, and that more impor - tance be given to arts education in the future as the education system changes. At this point, we also see opportunities for further research to analyse early education curricula from the perspective of incorporating modern visual arts, and to analyse and promote the cross-curricular integration of contemporary art with other subjects, focusing on the development of critical thinking. References Cencič, M. (2007). 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She works in two departments, the Department of Preschool Education and the Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Education of the University of Maribor. Her field of research is the development of artistic creativity in stu - dents and the development of methods for including contemporary art in the curriculum. Jerneja Herzog, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Didactics of De - partment for Fine Arts and Department of Elementary Education at the Faculty of Education of the University of Maribor. Her research focuses mainly on the development of artistic skills, artistic creativity, artistic appreciation in children of all ages and in gifted students in the artistic field. She also devotes a lot of time to developing methods for adapting artworks for the blind and visually impaired.