Integrated Arts

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.

Integrated Arts- Week One

During my time at primary school I thoroughly enjoyed the arts, and was involved in the school’s drama productions and was member of the school’s choir, by participating in these extra-curricular activities I increased my confidence and self-assurance. However, when I went to secondary school I gradually fell away from the arts related subjects and … Continue reading Integrated Arts- Week One

The thought of teaching the arts makes me considerable apprehensive, due to the little knowledge I have in regards to the arts. But during the first week of the Integrated Arts module I have learnt a sufficient amount, which has made me feel more confident and relaxed about the prospect of teaching the arts.

The focal points of the lecture and workshops where art and music. During the art inputs, we explored the importance of children’s creativity, which children can illustrate from a very young age. What I acquired from this was, as a prospective teacher it important when planning art lesson to allow children the chance to exhibit their own imagination and creativity.

“Planning, teaching and supporting learning art it is important that you consider the aspects of creativity so that children have the opportunity to respond their own creativity€ (Edwards, 2013, P.11)

In addition to this, it foremost to value and merit children’s art work, this can be done by asking them to explain their art work to you. In art, it significant to bear in mind that there is no wrong method or way, but any piece is correct and worthy.

During the music input we explored music appreciation, similarly to art it is important to create a creative learning environment, were mistakes are allowed and praised. Also during this input, we investigate the significance that music can have on other curricular areas such as numeracy and literacy. Using music and literacy in groups we constructed a story board, this was completed my listening to a seven-minute-long track that did not have any lyrics. By doing this we were able to listen and erect our own thoughts on the track and brought our ideas together to create a story. This can also be done using digital literacy (sound and visual) and can be an effective and creative lesson to engage children with music and literacy.

The initial week of integrated art I feel I have been able to amplify my universal arts knowledge and look forward to the coming inputs.

Reference

Edwards, J. (2013) Teaching primary art. 1^st ed. Oxon: Routledge

Week 1 – Music and Visual Arts 12/9/17

Prior to this module, I was apprehensive as I was unaware of exactly what it would involve and did not have a particularly positive experience with the arts in school. […]

Prior to this module, I was apprehensive as I was unaware of exactly what it would involve and did not have a particularly positive experience with the arts in school. Following our morning lecture discussing what the module would encompass and what was expected of us I felt at ease, ready to open my mind to the arts and get fully involved in the workshops.

Music

In the music workshop, we listened to a ten-minute clip and worked, in groups, to create a story board we felt best represented the music. Our group had many ideas but focused on the idea of two fish, one of which is eaten by a shark only to later be released. The two fish are then reunited and live happily ever after with one another. Bloomfield & Childs (2000) explain that the arts provide opportunities for individual interpretation, this was apparent in the workshop as each story was created based on the same piece of music but varied between groups.
However, almost every story shared the commonalities of suspense and happy endings. This task gave me my first insight into how the performing arts can interlink as this was not only a music task but also involved art and could branch out further across to the curriculum to the likes of literacy.

Art

To begin the art workshop, we were asked to write down the positive and negative experiences we had with art as a learner. I was one of many who had a largely negative experience with art in school, I found it was very direct with little chance for self-expression and was restricted by time. We discussed that young children’s ‘scribbling’ is art to them – a representation of how they see the world – and so it is important to show interest and listen to what they say about their drawing (McAuliffe, 2007). As a result of discussing our personal experiences with visual arts I felt ready to focus on having a positive experience and ensuring my pupils have an enjoyable experience in the future.

Reference List

Bloomfield, A and Childs, J (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton Publishers.

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

The Arts can be seen as a way of expressing yourself through various mediums. It can be seen to have a positive impact on your emotional, mental and physical health. I was keen to learn that throughout this module we will be extending our learning in vast areas of the arts such as: visual, music, … Continue reading “Integrated Arts”

When I was a child I was very involved in creative arts. I was part of the junior choir at school which allowed me to increase my confidence and self-esteem. We often sang at church events, coffee mornings and also got to perform in Paisley Town Hall at Christmas time. It was such a fun experience that made school a more interesting and enjoyable time. I was also part of my local dance club which I found was a new, imaginative and creative way of expressing my feelings and emotions but in a beautiful, exciting and different way from what I was used to. I found that being part of the art of dancing allowed me to not only grow as a person but allowed me to flourish and learn more about being open-minded as well as developing my imaginative and creative skills.

In this weeks lecture we were introduced to ‘Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel’ (Thomas Tallis School, 2017). I had never heard or came across this tool before until we began this module. This wheel was created to enable educators to explore the arts and implement habits-related strategies into the classroom. Personally, I found that this wheel has provided me with information and ideas of how to implement the creative arts within an educational setting. It has made me feel more confident and open-minded in how with the arts there isn’t always a set answer like there is with subjects like maths, but how there is a sense of the unknown but that’s okay.

Finishing on this, I feel like already just after one lecture I feel more confident and able in teaching arts within the classroom. It has opened my mind to the many different areas of arts and how there is so many fun and interesting ways to teach it to children. Arts is such an important part of the curriculum that I feel is sometimes forgotten about but it’s crucial to a child’s development.

References:

Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 16 September 2017]