September 2017 – Page 7

Urban Environment

The Urban Environment

Sustainable Development- Urban Environments

I have lived in the residential area Burnside, which is situated in the town of Rutherglen since I was a young child. The estate I live in I would describe as quiet, leafy and very green due to the volume and range of trees and woodland area which surround the area. There is limited traffic … Continue reading Sustainable Development- Urban Environments

There is limited traffic around the estate as vehicle access is allowed for residents only, this implies that streets within the estate there is slight noise pollution created from traffic. The houses within the estate are all terraced with front and back gardens, with no driveways resulting in residents parking on street. However due to more resident having cars nowadays (as the estate was built in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) this has provoked problems finding parking spaces and resulting in the local council using green space in the estate to provide more parking. Likewise, the estate has a burn (a small stream) which leads into a small pond at the end of the estate, there is a peaceful walk way that runs parallel to the burn. However, in the past the burn has caused flooding problems, resulting in some resident homes being flooded, as a consequence the local council has employed flood management systems to prevent homes flooding. Also within the estate there is assisted housing for the elderly and a small community hall that can be used for events and is also where the local councillor and MSP hold their monthly sittings. There is a bus stop outside the estate on a main dual-carriage way that provide services to Glasgow city centre and East Kilbride. The nearest train station is a 10 minute- walk and runs to Glasgow Central and Newton. Likewise, the M77 is close by too.

The area of Burnside is in walking distance to many amenities such as the Primary Health Centre, dentists, large supermarkets, two hotels and other necessary services, this is highlighted within the EEA document on urban environments which states towns and cities provide citizen with short travelling times to work, school, hospitals and other services due population density. Â Rutherglen Main street is a 10-minute walk from Burnside, the Main Street has a shopping centre that has a couple of supermarkets, home stores and pharmacies. There are no high street fashion stores in Rutherglen, the nearest shopping area is Glasgow which is 20 minutes by train, bus or car. Also on Main street there is a library, one Roman Catholic church, two Christian churches, restaurants, a couple of pubs and the town hall that has a café, a registers office and entertainment shows are performed throughout the year. Also within the area of Burnside there is a park with a children’s Play area and other grassed areas. The area likewise offers clubs for young and old, there are many Scouting, Guide and Boys/ Girl Brigade groups, dance groups, music groups and two gyms/ leisure centres within the proximity. There are several primary schools and three secondary schools. The nearest hospital is the Victoria Infirmary which has a minor injury unit, out-of- hours and outpatient services, the closest hospital that has accident and emergency would be the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Govan, which is a 25-minute journey by car.

Using the Air Quality Scotland website, I was able to determine the pollution in my local which is 1 meaning it is low for Nitrogen Dioxide and other particulate matter, however nitric oxide was unrecorded.

In addition to surveying my local area I watched a insightful TED talk by Alessandra Orofino, are principle argument was about how technology should be used in urban environments to increase citizen participation in local and national decision making, as a response to declining in election voting throughout the world. I consider this is an innovative idea as the world is constantly modernising and technology is evolving too, this would be more geared at todays generation and I think voter participation would increase as a consequence.

Teaching children in regards to urban environment is essential as it allows children to explore their local environment (if they live in urban area) or not to compare to where they live (if rural). This gives children the opportunity to evaluate their surroundings, environment, culture and amenities. Within the curriculum for Excellence framework urban environment outcomes and experiences feature heavily.

A lesson idea on urban environment for a Primary 5 class would be looking at traffic in the local area. I would organise to take the class to different streets that vary in traffic (for instance a main street, a one-way street, a main road and no through traffic street) within the proximity of the school. I would provide the children with clipboards and worksheets of the different types (split into categories of car, bus, van, bike), they would use tally markers, to mark the vehicles as it past. Back in the classroom children would use the data they collected and display in graphs to compare the different areas, also writing what could be done in order to reduce traffic. Links to CFE SOC 2-08a and SOC 2-09a.

I have found this week’s sustainable development resources to be rather interesting, which has allowed me to reflect on my local area, but also discover new information in regard to its urban environment.

Urban Environment

Since i was a child, i grew up in a small town called Erskine. Erskine is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire. The town lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde and connects the town to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. It is known for being a commuter town and it borders Bishopton to the north and Renfrew, Inchinnan, Paisley and Glasgow Airport to the south. Throughout the years, the town has expanded and developed. The population increased to over 15,000 and in 2014 it was rated one of the most attractive postcode areas to live in Scotland.

This task required me to go out and really focus on my urban environment. I was surprised to see how much there was in my environment when i really focused on it. I looked at the aspects of community spaces, transport, physical characteristics, recreation spaces as well as industry and work.

Even though Erskine is a small town, there are many community spaces. We have 4 primary schools in the area, one of them being a catholic primary school and we have 1 high school. We also have two community centres. There is Erskine Community Sports Centre which is a larger allotment and we also have Bargarran Community Centre. As a child, i spent the majority of my childhood in these centres. Erskine Community Sports Centre has a range of sport activities, play groups, extra-curricular clubs, a gym and a hall to hold parties. Me and my friends used to spend a lot of time here playing badminton, basketball, football and many other sport activies. Bargarran Community Centre holds many clubs for children to get involved in. I spent a lot of my time here for my dance and drama club that i was part of for 5 years. There is also many functions for the older generation such as bingo, tea and coffee events. There is also a small doctors office in this centre as well as a music room for any inspiring artists. On reflection, I never fully appreciated the use of these centres until i looked back at how much of my childhood was spent there and the fond memories i have at these places. As well as these centres we also have a community library which is located next to the community swimming pool. The library was used very much throughout my younger years as in school we often took trips down to the local library to explore the range of books on offer. The swimming centre was also a place where i spent a lot of my childhood. I would go every Friday night for ‘fun night’ with all my friends from school and it was a great way of making new friendships and it was a good form of exercise. Aswell as going in my free time, in Primary 6 we went every Tuesday to develop and enhance our swimming abilities.

In Erskine, there isn’t a lot of transport facilities. We have various bus stops located around Erskine, where the bus service Mcgills is used through the town. There is a range of buses to take us to various locations such as Glasgow, Paisley, Clydebank etc. The bus service in Erskine is effective nine times out of ten, although they do often run late and have a tendency to drive past a bus stop without stopping. We do not have a train station in Erskine, there is one nearby in Bishopton but its difficult to get to unless you drive. We have a taxi service that runs through Erskine and that is normally reliable unless you phone in a busy period. Apart from the services i mentioned there isn’t really any other transport services. The roads are planned out very well for if your a driver and it is easy to get to most of the areas in Erskine.

When it comes to the physical characteristics of my town, most of the houses in my area are semi-detached, they are quite run down houses as they were built around the 1960s. A lot of the houses in my street are getting done up to make them more modern and efficient. However, there are many areas of Erskine that have been recently built and so are more up market, nicer, better built and bigger. Around my area there is a lot of green space than what I originally thought. We have a big green field where i often go and walk my dog, we have a beach with a lot of green space around it and woodland walks to go on. There is numerous swing parks with grass all around where you can play ball games or even just games like hide n seek or even tig with your friends. The road conditions in Erskine are alright, they are often getting fixed and updated due to there being more cars on the road and bus routes being made.

The industry and work field in Erskine is quite good, there are numerous retail jobs as we have a Morrisons nearby with many job opportunities, play centres for children such as pandamonium, cafes, food shops and many others. We have an industrial estate nearby where there are various factories and offices. We have a community farm where that is an agricultural place for children to visit and see some of the animals, as well as volunteering opportunities.

From completing this task, it has opened my eyes to how important our urban environment is to the making of a community and how we as educators need to allow children the opportunity to experience and learn about their urban and natural areas and how they impact upon our physical environment. It is crucial that children are given the chance to learn about what their urban and natural environment and there is various ideas that us as educators could use to allow the children this opportunity. The Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2004) can be used as a resource in order for a lesson plan to be devised. Teachers could take the children on a walk through either their urban or natural environment to allow the children to see the different community spaces that their area have (SOC 2-10a). When they return to the classroom they could create a poster or even a picture book of the different places to live, work and relax in their area. They could also even do a follow up lesson where they could take a trip to the local farm to see how they have an impact on the environment. If its an activity for the natural environment, a good idea would be to take the children through an area with a lot of green space and they could take rubbings from tree bark or even leaves that they have seen.

Therefore, it is important that we as educators take our knowledge of our environment and allow the children that we teach, the opportunity to gain the same knowledge of the environment that they live in and the elements that create an urban area.

References:

Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence [Online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/social-studies-eo.pdf [Accessed: 22nd September 2017].

Renfrewshire Leisure. (n.d.) Erskine Community Sports Centre [Online] Available: http://www.renfrewshireleisure.com/erskine-community-sports-centre/ [Accessed: 22nd Spetember 2017]

Erskine. (n.d.) Erskine [Online] Available:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine [Accessed: 22nd September 2017]

The Visual Arts

It is important that children have the chance to explore the arts from a young age. The arts not only provide enjoyment and pleasure, but they develop the mind and help the pupils to think. The arts also help the children develop personal qualities, provide insight into human situations and also the arts improve performance […]

From an early age children enjoy making marks. This is closely linked with a number of stage theories by the work of Lowenfield and Brittain (1987). The 4 stages are closely linked with children’s age for example the pre-schematic stage is where children from ages 4-7 are seen to perform. However, as the times have moved, as educators we tend not to slot children into these stages as we appreciate that children come from different backgrounds, cultures and often progress at different times as one another.

When children fist begin to put pen to paper, they are seen to make marks. Children find it easy to communicate through mark making and can often tell a story through the random marks that they have made on a page. Some children even find it easier to draw to express their feelings rather than using the spoken word.

As children move through each stage, they often become obsessed with their work being perfect. When children reach the second level ( the gang stage) they often want their work to stand out, and be as artistic as possible.

It is important that we also make cross curricular links with the expressive arts. As numeracy and literacy often take priorities in the classroom, it is important that we can incorporate the arts into these areas of the curriculum. This may help children understand areas that are more difficult for them, and they may also find enjoyment in an area of difficulty. As educators we can set different tasks for example giving children a story and then asking the children to draw pictures over the words which might engage the children. We want children to express their literacy and numeracy through art.

Urban Environment

Towards the Firth of the River Clyde lies a small town in the Inverclyde area called Greenock. Located in the west coast of Scotland. Greenock holds prominent maritime history as […]

The Urban Environment – Learning Log

An ‘Urban Environment’ can be described as a districted which surrounds a city. The population living in urban do not have rural jobs. Urban areas are often very humanly structured due to the variety of houses, railways, buildings and roads. The town where I live would come under the Urban Environment as it has all the … Continue reading The Urban Environment – Learning Log →

In Inverclyde, Greenock the buildings vary between old and modern builds. Some of the oldest buildings are used by many people, such as the local town hall, also known as the Municipal Buildings is used by Inverclyde Council and the local library. Another old building is the Mclean Museum and art gallery which has been around since the 1876 and is still open today. There are many old builds of church as well which are still located within Inverclyde, Greenock. Most school’s would come under as a new build as many within Inverclyde, Greenock have been refurbished and/or knocked down in the past years.

There is a variety of transport used in Inverclyde, Greenock such as, cars, trains and buses. All of these modes of transport are used on a daily bases but also allow people to get to the different places they needed to be such as work, school, university/college and many other places. However, cars are probably the most common and used means of transport for many people because it tends to be quicker than the other types of transport. There is a variety of issues caused by all types of transport such as, traffic congestion, parking difficulties, longer commuting times, maintenance costs, loss of public space and many more.

Within Inverclyde Greenock there is around seven local Primary Schools and three High Schools all of which are sitting nearly at full capacity. There is not a community centre in the area as it is still in the process of being built. There is a local library, that is opened to everyone as a study space. Primary Schools take classes to the library for pupils to know the services available to them. The library offers classes such as ‘Book Bug’ and ‘Rhyme Time’ these is babies and toddlers showing services are open to all.

Inverclyde’s population ranges from early years to adulthood. For young people there is space for football, tennis and badminton this is also open for the use of adults as well as gym. This allows people somewhere to go as a means of keeping people off the streets reducing temptation of trouble. Within Greenock we are fortunate enough to have a theatre, many different drama and dance schools use this facility. Those who take part in both drama and dance schools ages vary meaning it offers something for every person.

In Inverclyde, Greenock could be described as a roadside type environment, thus resulting in the air quality being vary low. Using ‘Air Quality Scotland’ helped to see air quality being low and this is due to the amount of pollution caused by the amount of cars that are on the road.

A lesson that could be done with a Primary 5 Class splitting the class into two different groups, one half of the class research rural environments and the other half research urban environments trying to get as much detail as possible. In each of the groups create a presentation on what has been learned about both environments then present to the rest of the class. In doing this pupils will be working together and deciding what is essential to their presentation.

Sustainable Development: My Urban Environment

Until the age of 8 I lived in the outskirts of Dumfries, and since then I have lived in a small, rural town in North Lanarkshire. Shotts is a relatively small-town half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Many years ago, … Continue reading →

Integrated Arts 1

Visual Arts In this workshop our class as a whole, analysed children’s visual art work, art created by 3 year old ranging to work created by the senior phase of secondary school. I found it very interesting to see how … Continue reading →

Cognitive Development of Children’s Art Work

The focus of this week’s integrated arts input was the cognitive development of children’s art work, as they progressed through their primary education. Initially, Elliot Eisner 10 Lessons the Arts Teach was imparted during the lecture, what I gathered was this publication should be at the centre of any creative teaching, as it abridges the … Continue reading Cognitive Development of Children’s Art Work

The focus of this week’s integrated arts input was the cognitive development of children’s art work, as they progressed through their primary education.

Initially, Elliot Eisner 10 Lessons the Arts Teach was imparted during the lecture, what I gathered was this publication should be at the centre of any creative teaching, as it abridges the exposition for the arts in education (Hall and Thomson, 2017). Likewise, the arts can aid attainment throughout the curriculum, but Eisner publication makes it his nucleus that the arts are more about understanding the world completely and the influence that creativity can have on our world (Hall and Thomson, 2017).

The pre-readings required for the lecture where very insightful, which explored art and design in primary education and the art developments of children through nursery and primary.

The Arts in Education, Fleming 2012
Teaching Art and Design 3-11, McAuliffe 2007

These reading encouraged me to consider the varying elements of creativity and how this can influence the mark makings, drawings and paintings of a range of ages and was able to use this knowledge when introduced to the archive of children’s art work.

McAuliffe (2007) encapsulates the different art and design stages that children develop, McAuliffe makes reference to the theories of Lowenfeld and Brittain (1997) which they alluded the following model of art development:

Stage 2-4 years- Scribbling stage
Stage 4- 7 years- pre-schematic stage
Stage 7-9 years- schematic stage
Stage 9- 12 years- gang stage

McAuliffe, D. (2007)

However, presently teachers no longer make reference to this theory as a means of art assessments due to cognitive advancements. (McAuliffe, 2007).

This a created by a child who was four years old, this is known as the pre-schematic stage (McAuliffe, 2007, P.26). At this age children can draw anything relevant from their imagination. Initially I though child’s drawing was of a birthday cake, however a description on the back made by their teacher said in fact the child drew a dog under a washing machine. The child’s teacher exhibited good practise by listening and making a note of what the child drew.

This painting was a produced by a child (aged 7- 9 years) during the schematic stage. As art ability is progressing children begin to add more details and features to their work, they are understanding the importance of proportion and placement of objects and the importance of colours (McAuliffe, 2007). However, there is a conversion in learning styles as at early level creation is more “child- based activity” and when they go into first level creation is “adult- based learning” (McAuliffe, 2007, P.28). Art work in the primary school becomes more unified and is centred around the lesson plans of the teacher and their creation and imagination rather than the spontaneous imagination of the children.

The final stage of art development in primary education is the “gang stage” (aged 9-12 years). At this stage children are able to make precise drawings of features, likewise children are becoming increasingly conscious of their art work and their ability as skills required become more demanding (McAuliffe, 2007). Also children in this stage add more detail to their work but will become more discontented and will use pencil in order to rub their errors out until perfect.

The lecturer introduced an excellent way to incorporate art and literacy, this can be done by giving children one page of a book or article which they read, instead highlighting key points, they would draw their response on the page given.

This week I have been able to expand my knowledge of children development through art and design, this allowed me to consider methods in which I can adopted in order to ensure children have the opportunity to employ their own unique imagination and creativity into their art work.

References

McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum.

Hall, C. Thomson, P. (2017) Inspiring School Change: Transforming Education Through the Creative Arts. 1^st ed. Oxon: Routledge.

Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of the Mind. Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach.

Week 2 – Children’s Art Archive 19/9/17

In the workshop, we analysed visual art created by children in the early, first and second levels of school. It was interesting to see how the children’s art changed as […]

In the workshop, we analysed visual art created by children in the early, first and second levels of school. It was interesting to see how the children’s art changed as they moved through primary school. It was clear that as children move through the years, their tasks are more direct but they also become increasingly uncertain of their own abilities.

During the early years of primary school, children’s art may be identified as belonging to the ‘scribbling stage’. At this stage, they use whole-arm actions as well as stabbing motions to create their art (McAuliffe, 2007). One piece of art that caught my eye was this painting of flowers. It is clearly very colourful and eye-catching. It is very creative as it seems to me that the child has experimented with a variety of brush strokes.

Moving to the first level, it was clear that the artwork was created as a result of a task set by the teacher as it became more detailed but less creative. It was evident that most of the work I viewed was topic-related however there was room for creativity in the set tasks. For example, the piece of work shown below resembles a sunset over the sea. However, the child has used their imagination by experimenting with different colours.

Lastly, in the second level, children are increasingly aware of their culture and surroundings so draw on what’s around them rather than their imagination when it comes to their artwork. This is known as the ‘gang stage’ throughout which children become increasingly aware of others’ art and consequently more self-conscious about their own ability. In my opinion, the child should be incredibly proud of the work they produced in the picture below. The pupil has created an impressive piece of art from either looking at a picture or copying their surroundings.

In conclusion, this week’s class has given me a real insight into how art is taught through the years in primary education. I have considered how I hope to teach art in the future, giving my pupils the opportunity to use their imagination not only in the early years but throughout their time at primary school.

Reference List

McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (ed). London: Continuum.