Integrated Arts – Entry 3

Arts During today’s lecture and seminar, we focused on how the arts can be integrated in all areas of the curriculum. We focused on visual arts and how Avril Paton’s Window’s in the West (1993) painting can be used as a stimulus and can be particularly useful in literacy. After researching this painting I was […]

Arts

During today’s lecture and seminar, we focused on how the arts can be integrated in all areas of the curriculum. We focused on visual arts and how Avril Paton’s Window’s in the West (1993) painting can be used as a stimulus and can be particularly useful in literacy.

After researching this painting I was able to find out that Windows in the West was painted using water colours and is now bought and owned by the city of Glasgow for the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art and is currently in display at the Kevlingrove Art and Gallery Museum. Paton (2017) explains that the painting took her 6 months to complete from the winter into the summer. The feeling of snow inspired Paton to create this masterpiece.

“Windows in the West” By Paton

As a group we used process, form, content and mood to help us discuss the painting. This allowed us to explore the art work in great depth and detail. This would be a great tool to use with children as they would be giving an informed response using visual analysis to describe the painting.
Using Paton’s painting, we then began to make prints of our own focusing on one particular section of the painting in great depth. To begin we used polystyrene boards to help trace the outline of the building onto the card. We then used our pen to fill in the marks on the board creating a drawing of the building. Using yellow, red and blue ink we rolled this onto our board and then transferred the board onto a coloured piece of a4 paper creating a print. While doing this task, my group was discussing how this would be a perfect task to integrate with literacy in the classroom. We could get the children to create prints of their own based on a story they have created themselves.

Print 1

Print 2 – In this print we added more detail and more colour – Making the print more visual.
As future teachers it is important we allow children to experience the arts through different ways. We don’t always have to deal with textbooks when we study literacy, we can get the paint brushes out and have fun with it. We can integrate the two subjects and make learning enjoyable for the children.

Using the Tallis Habbits Pegadogy Wheel (2017) always reminds me to be persistent and I must tolerate uncertainty.

Drama

When I first heard we were going to be taking part in drama lessons at uni, my legs started to tremble and a feeling of sickness and nerves took over me. When the word drama comes to mind, I think way back to primary school and how I was really never interested in the subject. However, as I know I will have to teach drama in the classroom, I wiped away past experiences in my mind and focused on the future. I was willing to take part and be open to new experiences.

The Curriculum for Excellence (2004) states that when children take part in drama it allows children to have rich opportunities to explore themselves and to be creative.
Through our seminars we have learned many teaching techniques that are illustrated in the mind map that I have created:

Drama allows sensitive subjects such as bullying t be spoken about and put into context. It allows learners to think about thoughts and feelings of others and the learner also has the opportunity to feel what its like experiencing being in other people’s shoes.

References :

Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 3rd October2017]
Glasgow Life (2017) Glasgow Museums – Windows In The West. [Online] Available: http://shop.glasgowlife.org.uk/windows-in-the-west-kelvingrove. [Accessed :3rd October 2017]
Paton, A. (2017) Windows in the West. [Online] Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/prints/windows-in-the-west [Accessed: 3 October 2017]

Integrated Arts Week 4

In today’s lecture the main focus was on Windows in the West a painting by Avril Paton a living artist (1993) a painting made with watercolours and paper. This painting was stimulated from a memory of snow and the feeling seeing snow made her feel. This is a painting, which is currently on display in … Continue reading Integrated Arts Week 4 →

In today’s lecture the main focus was on Windows in the West a painting by Avril Paton a living artist (1993) a painting made with watercolours and paper.

This painting was stimulated from a memory of snow and the feeling seeing snow made her feel. This is a painting, which is currently on display in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Windows in the West is one of the best selling painting in Scotland.

The visual arts workshop was linked to today’s lecture about Windows in the West. This workshop was all about printmaking we concentrated on one specific section of Avril Paton painting. We had the chance to explore this painting in great detail working through a variety of stages with one colour then progressing onto using two colours.

In the next workshop was input of drama. We started off this workshop discussing our feelings of drama and how we would feel teaching drama. I personally feel, as through drama is an area I do not feel confident taking part in as well as teaching. In this input we also focused on the story of the lonely dragon the aim of this was to understand the difference between people, the danger of jumping to conclusion and how to solve problems. We had the opportunity to engage with the first five drama conventions throughout the workshop.

Throughout drama teachers must ensure students are engaged in collective enquiry and exploration (O’Neill, 1987)

Both workshops linked to one another, as there are a number of different stages you must undertake to get to an end production. This is useful to remember in relation to curriculum for excellence. In an art lesson printmaking could be linked to topic for example the Vikings or the Romans. Again for drama linking the topic in using books related the Vikings allowing pupils to use drama conventions.

Reference List:

Paton, A. (1993) Windows in the West. [Watercolours on paper 48” x 60”] Glasgow. [Online] Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/prints/windows-in-the-west [Accessed: 3 October 2017]

Paton, A. (2017) Windows in the West. [Online] Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/prints/windows-in-the-west [Accessed: 3 October 2017]

The Skill of Questioning

The main aim of the chapter is to inform the reader of the skill of questioning by explaining the different types of questioning used in society. Key themes throughout the chapter are education, health care, crime and criminal justice and the use of questioning in everyday life.
Hargie claims that pharmacists asking closed questions could lead to them missing out information. He backs this up by including an example from a study by Morrow et al. (1993) A pharmacist asks a series of closed questions and proceeds to give a product to a client, the client then asks. “What about if you have taken any other tablets?” This then required the pharmacist to reduce the recommended dosage, without this knowledge the client could have overdosed on medicine.
An argument in the chapter that I found interesting was the effect of leading questions on children. Studies show that leading questions can have a distorting effect on children. This has made me think more about the way I would address questions to them.
While I agree with most of what Hargie says I do not find it surprising that social workers mainly ask closed question unlike other councillors. Social workers require accurate and precise information on the children they work with and they are more likely to get this information by asking closed questions. Hargie states that open questions may not be appropriate for respondents with low intellect therefore it is possible that social workers are dealing with clients of a lower calibre.
To help me understand the reading there were a few words that I had to research the meaning of to help me, this included: Stenographer, pervasive, subsumed and abhor
One theory that is explained in the chapter is by Fiedler (1993:362): “The way in which a person is questioned may have a substantial effect on his or her credibility, regardless of what he/she actually says.” I understand this to mean that the way a person is questioned can alter their response.

References

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

Week 3 – Music and Visual Art 26/9/17

VISUAL ART In today’s art lesson, we began by making our own paintbrushes using the materials provided – such as wool, feathers, buttons and cotton wool. This was an activity […]

VISUAL ART

In today’s art lesson, we began by making our own paintbrushes using the materials provided – such as wool, feathers, buttons and cotton wool. This was an activity I had never done before today because in school we were provided only with ordinary paintbrushes. I thoroughly enjoyed this activity and it was interesting to see the variety of creations made from the same set of materials. We discussed that when using a uniform tool such as a paintbrush children are likely to compare their artwork. However, when using a tool created ourselves the product is a result of our own creation and so are less likely to compare the art with others’ as they are all different.

After this we were then read a description of a picture and we each painted our interpretation of it. Today’s activities could relate to at least two of Eisner’s (2002) “10 lessons the arts teach”. One of which being that the arts can be interpreted from many angles and the second being that the arts are about accepting the unknowing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the visual art workshop, the class reassured me that one does not have to be ‘naturally gifted’ to create art. These activities could be easily replicated with a primary class and I think the pupils would enjoy it very much.

Below shows the process of creating my paintbrush and paining and my mixing tray at the end of the class.

MUSIC

In the music workshop, we were looking at finger notes. After a brief introduction of what finger notes are we were given glockenspiels and music and practised in small groups. I found the exercise enjoyable and easier than I had imagined it would be. I have very little experience in music so cannot read music, however, this experience enabled me to play an instrument correctly without having to read sheet music. Drake Music Scotland (2017) emphasise that you do not have to be able to read sheet music to play an instrument as with finger notes “if you can match, you can play!”.

REFERENCES

Drakemusicscotland.org. (2017). Fingernotes – Drake Music Scotland. [online] Available at: https://drakemusicscotland.org/figurenotes/ [Accessed 29 September 2017].

Eisner, E. W. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. London: Yale University Press.

The Visual Arts – Week 2

In the lecture during week 2 we took part in analysing several sections of ‘The Arts in Education’ by Fleming (2012) through the media of drawing or doodling. This exercise allowed us to express ourselves and learn via a different mode rather than just simply reading a passage. I would like to apply this method … Continue reading “The Visual Arts – Week 2”

BA1 Situated Communication Independent Study Task

The main aim of the chapter is to look at how questions fit into different contexts and how these different contexts may change the meaning of a question or the answer required. It is also to show that while, on the surface, questions can seem simple, there is a deeper layer of understanding to them. […]

The key themes in the chapter are: what is a question- the definition of a question, the different types of questions and how we use them and also children and their learning of questions and use of them.

On page 147, Hargie discusses the Clearinghouse probes. He states that while this is useful to gain more in depth knowledge of, for example, an interview candidate, it can sometimes be used incorrectly. He claims that this skill of effectively probing is “at the core of effective questioning.” (Hargie, 2011) This is evidenced by studies Hargie quotes, backing up the idea of a gentler technique.

I would say that generally I agree with this chapter and the ideas outlined within it. Parts of the article I found helpful, for example the section on multiple questions. As I am in future hoping to be a teacher and take my own class, this has helped me realise how to ask questions in a way that will be fully understood by the children. By asking multiple questions I may confuse them and this could affect there education and understanding of the task negatively.

Although I did not explicitly disagree with any particular point in this article, I do wonder if the use of questions is quite as important as the article implies. I feel that there are perhaps other, more important aspects of communication that were not discussed.

References:

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.

Integrated Arts – Visual Arts and Music

As a result of this weeks visual art session, I came to terms with the fact that practising arts in schools is not about getting everything perfect with not a mark out of place, but infact it is about an individuals creativity and effort put into their drawing/painting. During our session of visual arts we … Continue reading Integrated Arts – Visual Arts and Music →

During our session of visual arts we created our own paintbrushes from sticks, feathers, wool, cotton which we used tape to hold together. This showing the importance of stepping away from the normal ordinary paintbrushes where everyone has the exact same but stepping into originality and creativity. Children will enjoy putting effort into something that they made taking great care over the paintbrush and their drawing allowing them to express themselves as a result. However we have to take into consideration that some children can find art an unpleasant subject to do at school and prefer to stick to subjects that require less resources. ‘Some children find art and design lessons frustrating, and would be far happier if there was less mess and greater certainty’ (Kay and Stillman, 2009, p.2).

After making our paintbrushes, we were read out a picture in which we were to try and recreate without seeing the picture. Whilst doing this I was very uncertain I was doing any of it right however I understood that these paintings were to be far from perfect and really enjoyed the session.

Children should be able to express themselves through art and not have the pressure of drawing such a precise detailed drawing and therefore I feel this session would be a great lesson for the children.

The music impute was very engaging and outgoing. During this session we learned how to play the glockenspiel using figurenotes in songs such as jingle bells and twinkle twinkle little star. Previously having a lack of confidence playing this instrument, I would now be willing to teach children how to play and help them with this. I really enjoyed this session of music and cant wait to have more imputes.

References

Key, P, Stillman, J. (2009) Teaching Primary Art and Design. Exeter: Learning Matters

Climate Change Directed Study

Upon starting the Sustainable Development module I was unaware of the environment around me. Whenever I heard the word “environment” in school I assumed negative connotations followed it so immediately switched off. The first two inputs and directed study tasks from this module has encouraged me to take an interest and learn as a student … Continue reading Climate Change Directed Study →

Upon starting the Sustainable Development module I was unaware of the environment around me. Whenever I heard the word “environment” in school I assumed negative connotations followed it so immediately switched off. The first two inputs and directed study tasks from this module has encouraged me to take an interest and learn as a student as well as a teacher the impact which we have on the environment and how we can reduce global problems.

From the clip “Antarctica on the Edge” I discovered that the changes taking place in Antarctica because of global warming has an impact on the rest of the world. As Antarctica’s ice melts we are seeing global sea levels rise and unpredictable weather worldwide. This causes problems for people who live in countries which are low lying and live on the coast. In 2010 an enormous chunk of a glacier at Antarctica broke off. This changed the flow of ice and opened large areas of ocean floor. Scientists discovered that sea water is warmer than expected and there is unusual evidence of melt, by the end of the century Antarctica will contribute to more than an metre of global sea rise. This provides evidence that global warming is occurring and can have a huge impact on people around the world.

My Footprint

My Carbon Footprint is extremely high, 158%. The biggest contribution to my footprint is travel as I commute by car which releases harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere. To help reduce this I could walk or cycle to work as I only work five minutes away from my home. When commuting to university me and two other friends car-pool together which not only saves money but it reduces emissions which are causing climate change. Every year wasted and left over food in the UK represents a huge amount of carbon dioxide emissions. A tip to reduce this is only buy what you need and portion control meals so there isn’t any left over and if there are left overs making the most of your local recycling options. For example, in my local area we have food waste bins so ensuring any food waste gets put into these bins and not just the general bin can help reduce my footprint. Another way to reduce my carbon footprint is making my home more efficient. Wasting less energy by using energy saving lightbulbs, as well as remembering to turn off lights and electrical appliances instead of leaving them on or on standby. Also ensuring every window in my house is double glazed, this will help reduce heat loss in the winter.

From these activities and further reading, I am aware of the importance of teaching climate change and both the positive and mainly negative impacts which our actions can have on the world. As student teachers it is important to understand the importance and encourage the teachings about the difference younger people could make to the environment and take an interest in how they can have an impact on their own future.

Learning Log – Environment

The module Sustainable Development, over the last two weeks, has developed my knowledge and changed my attitudes towards the environment. Beforehand I didn’t really have a full understanding of the topic, ‘Environment’. Whenever hearing about the environment, it was only ever … Continue reading →

Hargie independent study task

To show the importance of questions in today’s society and how they can build up a conversation with another opponent. Also, to raise awareness about how many different types of questions there are but also broadening our knowledge and understanding of when to suitably use these in the right context and manner. A couple of […]

A couple of themes that are presented and are shown clearly in this chapter are

The importance of questions in society (T.V Shows, fashion etc), communication, social contexts

Hargie claims in this chapter that understanding the questions is more complex than what it seems to be. This is backed up by his statement saying (Hargie): “While at a surface level questioning seems to be a straightforward feature of communication, deeper analysis at functional, structural, and textural levels, reveals questioning to be a complex and multifaceted phenomenon.”

An argument presented in this chapter would be the claim that teachers should be trained and should have meaning behind the questions they are asking, and for the teachers to understand the question, so that this will make the children in front of them understand what they have been asked and to also broaden their learning of the world around us. Evidence to support this argument would be: (Saxton 2006:46), that states that if teachers want “students to think about what they are learning so that learning becomes part of their views of themselves and the world, you have to ask questions that will help them understand…and help them think about the meanings being made.”

I don’t agree with every part of the chapter, but there is not a particular part I disagree with in the overall chapter.

Correlation: a mutual relationship

Delineated: indicating the exact position of something

Prosodic: a study of a tune or a rhythm of speech.

References: Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed.London: Routledge.