What Became of the Kids Who Participated in the 1981 Johnson Early College Summer Arts Program?

Abstract

Results are reported of a follow-up study conducted nine years after a group of twenty-seven adolescents, judged talented in the visual and performing arts, participated in the Johnson State Early College Summer Arts Program. In this research, which utilized a questionnaire, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, and telephone interviews, information was provided about members of this population, now young adults. It was revealed that: 1) art still plays an important role in their lives; 2) they possess the characteristics defined in the program selection criteria; 3) they are highly self-directed; 4) they believe participation in the Early College Program had a positive effect on their lives and their involvement in art; 5) several have overcome significant pre-existing emotional challenges since participating in the Early College Program. It was tentatively concluded: 1) four conative attributes ascribed to participants appear to combine in different ways to influence self-perception and artistic productivity according to gender and over time; 2) respondents believed the Early College Program helped them preserve their artistic inclination into adulthood, contributed to their long-term emotional well-being, and assisted them in college major and career choices; 3) as self-directed adults, they may benefit more from college and adult education programs that allow for a high degree of self-direction in learning situations than from narrowly structured programs. Advice they offered administrators and faculty of programs similar to the Early College Summer Arts Program is summarized and reported.