In 2020, the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia joined the project Creating Learning Environments for the 21st Century, within which a special subject-specific development group for visual arts was established. The group, composed of representatives from the National Education Institute and practicing teachers, began its work in October 2020 and concluded it in June 2023.

The main objective of the development group was to explore the developmental potential of effective learning environments in visual arts education, both in primary and secondary schools. In their work, the group followed seven fundamental principles for designing learning environments: the learner is at the center of the learning process, learning is a social activity, emotions play a crucial role in learning, recognizing individual differences is important, the level of challenge should be appropriately adjusted to individual students, formative assessment supports learning, and horizontal connections between subjects, the community, and the world should be fostered.

The group planned its activities across the three-year project period, during which members developed research frameworks and questions, and organized lesson observations through peer visitations and the moderation of lesson plans. These lesson observations showed that both teachers and students associate effective learning environments with well-organized classroom spaces, meaningful lesson structure, authentic relationships in the classroom, and active student engagement.

Key findings from the three-year project indicate that integrating choice as a didactic approach —in terms of selecting materials, artistic techniques, or approaches to work— greatly enhances students’ intrinsic motivation in the field of visual arts. Moreover, a focus on the process rather than solely on the final product proved essential in building effective learning environments. This approach allowed students to explore chosen themes, develop various ideas, abandon unsuccessful solutions, and use mistakes as valuable opportunities for learning.

Keywords: Effective learning enviroments, visual art, elementary school, secondary school, art education.