Today’s input highlighted the clear link between storytelling and expressive arts. The arts can be used as a stimulus for stories and stories can act as inspiration for art.

In today’s visual arts input, we aimed to breakdown the divide between image and text. We used the images we had created in last week’s input to create our own illuminated texts. This involved adding pieces of writing to visual art. As the pictures were of a landscape in the Scottish Highlands, we were asked to write a piece of either personal or creative writing based on this setting. Often, creative ideas are adapted and changed as they go through the creative process (QCA, 2004). Today, we also used dry mediums to enhance our paintings. The before and after of my painting can be seen below as well as the final pieces created by other members of the cohort.

In the classroom, visuals can often be used to stimulate creative writing. Using practices like those used in our workshops gives children complete creative autonomy. Last week, the images we created were completely unique to us and thus, in the classroom would be completely unique to the children. Their creative writing is then led by these images and as such, is, again, totally individual to them. This provides ample opportunity to use both their creative and imaginative skills. Keeping with Curriculum for Excellence’s Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes, this lesson would allow children to harness both their creative and aesthetic skills (Education Scotland, n.d.). This links to the practices used in Room 13 (as discussed in last week’s input). Children enjoy having artistic freedom and being able to create the art that they want, rather than what the teacher would like (Adams et al, 2008). This week, we extended this to other curricular areas, in this case: literacy. As such, I believe these activities would work well in a classroom as children would engage with them more fully as they have chosen what they would like to create.

In this week’s drama input, we saw the first of our micro-teaching lessons. Two of these lessons were centred around books and stories: one lesson was based around the children’s book ‘The Huge Bag of Worries’ (Ironside, 2011) and another involved fairy tales. Through these lessons, we learned about several drama conventions, including freeze frame, improvisation, thought tunnels and teacher in role.

Following these lessons, Andrew then used the story ‘The Tunnel’ (Browne, 2008) to inspire a dramatic scene. The aim of this lesson was to realise the setting and atmosphere described in the story. In this particular scene, one of our characters finds herself in a dark, frightening forest. Andrew had us take on the role of the trees and mimic their movements. The use of music and lighting helped to convey the atmosphere alluded to in the story.

These lessons were enjoyed by all of the participants and research has shown that children also respond well to inputs like this. One child linked drama to being inside a storybook and noted, “the words do not just lie there; they come alive and walk with us” (Miller and Saxon, 2004). These lessons illustrated that stories can also inspire creative arts. They brought the stories to life and allowed us to explore both the stories and the characters in more depth.

Reflections on Micro-Teaching Task
In my group’s micro-teaching task, we focused on the theme of Titanic. We began by introducing the topic, discussing previous knowledge and sharing a few facts and figures. The two drama conventions that we decided to focus on were freeze frame and flashforward/flashback. Thanks to our previous drama inputs, we understood the importance of allowing participants to have a choice in the aspects they choose to explore. Thus, we allowed each group to choose which group of people they wanted to play (e.g. first class passengers, third class passengers or crew members). We then used the freeze frame convention to show what each group of people would be doing at the time of the sinking. Then, teams had to either flashforward or back in time and act out what the lead up to or aftermath of the sinking would look like for their characters.

I believe our micro-teaching input was successful. The cohort seemed engaged and enjoyed the lesson. Preparation for this input highlighted how important it is to thoroughly plan lessons in advance. There were eight people in my group and as such, it would have been easy for some people to get lost in such a large group and not have the opportunity to speak. However, we avoided this issue by arranging beforehand what everyone was going to say so that everyone could be involved. To improve our future inputs, we could use some visual aids to support our lessons. I enjoyed delivering our micro-teaching input as, although I have delivered small lessons and run games and activities with children, I have never done so collaboratively. This gave me the opportunity to do so and developed my teamwork and collaborative skills, in conjunction with the UWS Graduate Attributes (UWS, 2018).

Overall, this input highlighted clear connections between storytelling and expressive arts. One can be used to inspire the other and research has shown that integrated literacy and expressive arts lessons are extremely effective in the classroom and are enjoyed greatly in the classroom.

Reference List
Adams et al. (2008) Teaching Through Contemporary Art: Report on Innovative Practices in the Classroom. London: Tate Publishing.

Browne, A. (2008) The Tunnel. London: Walker.

Education Scotland. (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive Arts – Experiences and Outcomes. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed: 1 October 2019]

Ironside, V. (2011) The Huge Bag of Worries. London: Hodder Children’s Books.

Miller, C. S. and Saxon, J. (2004) Into the Story: Language in Action Through Drama. New Hampshire: Heinemann Educational Books.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). (2004) Creativity: find it, promote it. London: QCA Publications.

University of the West of Scotland (UWS). (2018) UWS Graduate Attributes. [Online] Available: https://www.uws.ac.uk/current-students/your-graduate-attributes/ [Accessed: 11 October 2019]

This week’s input highlighted the importance of ensuring art lessons are not constricted and controlled by teachers. This view can be supported by Csikszentmihalyi (1996) who believes schools can suppress children’s creative spark and curiosity.

Often, teachers can overexplain visual art lessons which forces pupils to make their teacher’s artistic vision, rather than their own. In visual art, this results in uniform pictures being created (see below). I have seen many similar displays in primary schools where each picture is almost identical and does not showcase pupil’s creativity.

In this week’s input we explored Room 13. Established in 1994 in Caol Primary School in Fort William, Scotland, Room 13 is an art studio run as a social enterprise by students within the school. Art lessons should be “learner-inclusive” and child-initiated (Craft, 2007). The studio understands the importance of nurturing creativity and allowing children to initiate learning. It aims to give students creative autonomy and the freedom to focus their artwork on the things they like (Adams et al, 2008, Room 13 International, 2012). This concept has been adopted throughout the UK and the wider world. As of 2006, there were six Room 13’s in the UK: five in primary schools and one in a secondary school (Drummond, 2006).

In our visual art workshop, we adopted some of the ideas raised through the concept of Room 13. Every part of the lesson was designed to encourage creativity and avoid uniformity. Firstly, we each made our own paintbrush out of various types of material (see below). In the classroom, although this may raise some questions among children as to the logistics of using these paintbrushes, I believe children will enjoy the creative and imaginative freedom that this task brings.

We then had a picture described to us by Diarmuid verbally. We did not get to view the picture. Instead, we wrote down the pieces of information that he gave us and worked from there. This meant that we did not try to copy or replicate a picture we had already seen, instead we had to use our imagination and creativity. This part of the task allowed us to develop both our listening and creative skills simultaneously. Furthermore, we were only given four colours of paint to work with: white and the three primary colours: blue, red and yellow. This meant that any other colours we wanted to make, we had to mix together ourselves. In the classroom, this would allow children to experiment with paint and colour. Each of these factors meant that, despite everyone working from the same picture, we all created very unique pieces of art (see below).

Lessons in art and creativity should expand upon the concepts and topics that children already like and enjoy (QCA, 2004) and children enjoy having the freedom to choose what they would like to create (see quote to the right). As such, giving children as much creative freedom as possible within the constraints of education is vital. Thus, I believe using the lesson described above in primary schools would be extremely effective in building children’s engagement in and love for art.

In the case of drama, teachers often lack confidence (Russell-Bowie, 2013). As a result, in many instances drama inputs in primary schools do not stretch beyond annual Nativity Shows meaning children do not have the opportunity to use their creative skills to produce scenes from their own imagination. As a future practitioner, I am grateful for the drama inputs we have received in university as they have helped to build my confidence in teaching the subject.

In this week’s drama input we used drama to explore some historical and modern social and cultural issues. Some examples include: the Holocaust, the Grenfell Tower disaster, immigration and the Me Too movement. We used four drama conventions throughout the input: monologue, voices in the head, slow motion and miming. Monologuing and voices in the head sees characters stepping out of a drama scene for a moment to voice how they are feeling. These conventions encourage children to think beyond the dialogue spoken by their characters and explore their inner thoughts and feelings more deeply.

In all of our drama inputs, we have had free reign over the stories we choose to tell. Andrew will prompt us with overarching concepts and ideas as to the type of issues we could explore within those concepts. However, our imaginations are never restricted by the tasks we are given and we are free to be creative with our scenes. Similarly to the results of our visual arts input this means that, despite everyone starting with the same concept, no two scenes turn out the same. I believe that, like the visual arts lesson, children will respond well to drama lessons that allow them to explore issues that they are personally interested in.

Overall this input demonstrated the damaging impact that teachers can have on creativity in lessons in the arts. If lessons are too constricted, children are simply following a set of instructions rather than letting their imaginations run free. Thus, as a practitioner, I aim to avoid the production of monotony that is pictured above and instead ensure that my arts lessons harness rather than stifle children’s creativity.

Reference List
Adams et al. (2008) Teaching Through Contemporary Art: Report on Innovative Practices in the Classroom. London: Tate Publishing.

Craft, A. (2007) Creativity and Possibility in the Early Years. [Online] Available: www.tactyc.org.uk/pdfs/reflection-craft.pdf [Accessed: 29 September 2019]

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial.

Drummond, M. J. (2006) Room 13 Case Study Report. [Online] Available: room13international.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Room13-Case-Study-Report-Nesta-2006.pdf [Accessed: 25 September 2019]

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). (2004) Creativity: find it, promote it. London: QCA Publications.

Room 13 International. (2012) About Room 13. [Online] Available: room13international.org/about/ [Accessed: 25 September 2019]

Russell-Bowie, D. E. (2013) A Tale of Five Countries: Background and Confidence in Preservice Primary Teachers in Drama Education across Five Countries. Australian Journal of Teacher Education. [Online] Vol.38(7), pp.59-74. Available: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1016005.pdf [Accessed: 25 September 2019]

One of the most striking things that was revealed to me during this week’s workshops was the ability we have to make small things into much larger ideas and concepts.

As teachers, we regularly hear the phrase “I can’t.” In art lessons, there is widespread belief among children that you either can or cannot draw. Older children are particularly self-conscious about their artwork (McAuliffe, 2007). In this week’s visual art input, we explored this issue through the children’s book ‘The Dot’ (Reynolds, 2003). In the story, a young girl named Vashti finishes an art lesson in school with a blank sheet of paper. When questioned by her teacher she says simply, “I just can’t draw.” She is then prompted by her teacher to make at least one mark on the page. Vashti obliges and stabs one dot onto the paper. She returns to class the next morning to see her dot framed on the wall. This inspires Vashti to experiment with her creation and soon she has drawn and painted dots in various sizes and colours and has entered her paintings into the school art show.

In school, I never thought of myself as ‘good at art’, thus, I personally related to Vashti’s story as I often felt ‘stuck’ in art lessons. Consequently, I plan to use this story in my future classroom as it proves anyone can draw and illustrates how wonderful works of art can grow from small, basic mark making while demonstrating the importance for practitioners to value children’s artwork and boost confidence.

Our follow-up task linked in well with the story. We had to use black ink and different parts of our hands to make marks on a page and then, add details to them to create something. Soon we had created an elephant, a factory, two arms hugging and Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series (see below). We were then prompted to look at the marks made by our classmates to see if we could see an opportunity to create something where it had been overlooked by others. Many positive comments and praise were shared amongst the cohort. Allowing children to work collaboratively and critique the work of their classmates will encourage them to appreciate the work of others (QCA, 2004). Simultaneously, the positive comments that are often offered to each other in the process will build their confidence.

In conjunction with the UWS Graduate Attributes, this input allowed me to develop my imaginative and creative skills (UWS, 2018). This task would be extremely effective in the primary classroom; children at all stages would benefit from the imaginative and creative processes that it encourages. I imagine children’s responses to the task to be similar to the original reactions of our year group. Like us, they may initially question the possibility of completing the task and doubt their own abilities. However, with a little encouragement they will be astounded by what they can create. Studies have confirmed that everyone is capable of creativity (NACCCE, 1999). In the long term, it is hoped that tasks like these will show children that art can be created by everyone. This will boost their confidence in their own abilities and can improve individuals’ overall self-esteem.

Often, one mode of art can be used to inspire another. In this week’s drama input, all of our tasks were centred around the painting ‘Windows in the West’ by Avril Paton.

In groups, we were tasked with acting out different family scenarios that could occur in the type of Glasgow tenement building pictured. We used various acting conventions like improvisation, freeze frame, flashbacks and flashforwards. We found there were many scenarios and concepts that can be imagined simply through one picture. The scenes we imagined ranged from happy shared family moments like reading bedtime stories to intense family arguments. On the other hand, some groups chose to use their scenes to explore issues faced historically like poverty and squalor whilst others tackled modern issues like drug abuse, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy and domestic abuse. The arts have significant educational value (Fleming, 2012) and are an excellent way to sensitively explore some of the problems faced by young people. The main skill developed through this drama input was confidence. The overall confidence level of the cohort has grown immensely over the two drama inputs. Generally, the whole class seems happier and more at ease joining in with activities and sharing their ideas and creations.

I have never considered myself to be particularly artistic, however these inputs have illustrated to me that art can be created by anyone and inspired by anything provided you have the confidence to begin creating. This is an important sentiment to echo in the classroom. Teachers must make moves to develop children’s confidence in expressive arts and should encourage their pupils to start small and make just one mark to see where it leads.

Reference List
Fleming, M. (2012) The Arts in Education: An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.

McAuliffe, D. (2007) ‘Foundation and Primary Settings.’ In: Cox, S. (ed), Watts, R. (ed), Grahame, J., Herne, S. and McAuliffe, D. Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum, pp.11-30.

National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE). (1999) All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education. London: Department for Education and Employment.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). (2004) Creativity: find it, promote it. London: QCA Publications.

Reynolds, P. H. (2003) The Dot. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

University of the West of Scotland (UWS). (2018) UWS Graduate Attributes. [Online] Available: https://www.uws.ac.uk/current-students/your-graduate-attributes/ [Accessed: 20 September 2019]