THIS PAPER REPORTS PART of a phenomenographic inquiry into arts education in early childhood. Research studies into how young children understand and conceive their early arts experiences are limited. In documenting children's views, this study contributes to an understanding of arts education in a preschool context, and raises possibilities for improving arts pedagogy. Twenty-seven young children aged five to six, studying in the same class at a Hong Kong preschool, participated in the study. Through semi-structured interviews, the children were asked to describe their art experiences in preschool. The children's conceptions of their experiences fell into five categories: (1) Art is human nature, (2) Art is a task, (3) Art is a process, (4) Art is a product, and (5) Art is a mystery.
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