CHALLENGES IN ART EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN NIGERIAN INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING: AN OVERVIEW OF ITS DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES BEFORE AND AFTER THE 18TH CENTURY

Abstract

Art Education programmes in Nigerian institutions of Learning have experienced a number of changes since the inception of modern education in the late 18th century. It is on these bases that educational developmental changes started. The changes, therefore affected the characteristic features of the programmes. The changes came with different educational policies, innovative methods of teaching and learning, as well as curriculum innovation and implementations. Thakur and Ezenne in Mbahi 1999 affirm that “Educational programmes started with Islamic education from the North and Christian education from the South”. Prior to these periods, the system of education practised in Nigeria was the African type, which is known as traditional education. The formal education programme started with the introduction of Western Education in Nigeria from 1842 to 1948 of which the Formal art education curriculum was designed and developed, respectively, to favour the Western culture. The changes were necessitated when the issue of the modern education system was presented and discussed at different periods in Nigeria. During those periods, the major issue that was in the mind of the then educationists and policymakers, according to Imonikebe (2012), there was the need for changes in Nigerian art education.