Cultivating a Jian Zi: Exploring an art teacher’s responsive pedagogy for the development of art talent in Taiwan

This qualitative case study explored the operational curricula of an art teacher’s responsive pedagogy that focused on the differentiation aspects for artistically talented students in an elementary school in Taiwan. Findings indicate that cultivating a Jian Zi is the heart of the value system embedded in the art teacher’s responsive pedagogy for the development of art talent. Jian Zi means a superior person with both talent and virtue (Cai De Jian Bei). Three themes are discussed: (a) qualitatively differentiated curricula for fostering sensitivity to human concerns; (b) harmonic integration between self-pursuits and group intentions; and (c) personalized guidance for well-balanced mixtures of substance and refinement. The art teachers’ responsive pedagogy can inspire practitioners to implement a differentiated “attentive living art curriculum” (Gude, 2007) in their classrooms.