Session 2: 17th September 2019 – From Small Acorns, Big Oaks Grow

Drama, Visual Art

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.

Windows in the West – 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]

Session 1: 10th September 2019 – Introduction to Integrated Arts

Despite the Scottish government claiming that creativity lies at the heart of Curriculum for Excellence (Education Scotland, 2013), one of the most striking things highlighted through both today’s art and drama inputs was that the arts are regularly discarded in Scottish education. As children progress through school, they receive far fewer expressive arts lessons and activities. Any creative tasks that older children do have are teacher-led (McAuliffe, 2007) which stifles rather than boosts their creativity.

In our drama input we discussed some of the issues surrounding drama lessons in school. However, many of us recounted that we had very few drama lessons throughout primary school and those who could remember having them recounted feelings of hopelessness when those who were good at the subject were favoured. This week, we explored five different drama conventions and tools that we could use in the classroom: improvisation, teacher in role, hot seating, thought tunnel and freeze frame. The aim of these is to build all children’s confidence in and love for drama.

In today’s art and design input, we looked at a range of art made by children from various age groups and focused on the progression of children’s artwork as they transitioned from early years to upper school. From the art pieces created by children in the youngest age group, it is clear that these children had complete creative control over their pictures with little or no input from teachers. The two pieces below represent a floating house (see Picture A) and two people (see Picture B). In the past, these types of drawings would have been branded scribbles and pre-representational (McAuliffe, 2007). However, despite bearing little or no visual resemblance to the objects these children claim to have drawn, when these drawings are discussed with the children there is often found to be deep meaning behind them. This view can be supported by Booth (1995) who claims visual art allows children to make meaning in their experiences and the world around them, highlighting its importance in the primary curriculum. This illustrates the importance of valuing children’s drawings and prompting stimulating conversations surrounding them with the child.

Picture A
Picture B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As previously stated, from our discussions we concluded that older children have far fewer art lessons. This became apparent when analysing the work of older children. We found that there was far more value placed on written work (see Picture C below). Where art lessons had been taught, these were adult initiated. Children had clearly been tasked with creating artwork for a specific purpose rather than having free reign over their creations (see Picture D).

Picture C
Picture D

I believe that the creative autonomy offered to children in the early years will inspire and encourage children to create. They are in complete control of the art they produce and are not restricted by lesson plans or the expectation of any artistic technique. Thus, they can develop both an appreciation for and a confidence in their artwork. However, as we found today, as children progress through school art lessons are often constricted by teachers. These children may become disillusioned with the creative process as they are being forced to create something rather than being offered the freedom to make the things they would like. Research has found that as visual art lessons begin to demand more technique and ability, children begin to feel less confident in their artwork. The pressure caused by high expectations can make children feel frustrated (QCA, 2004) and discourage them from engaging in art lessons and harnessing their creativity as they feel their art is not good enough.

A decline in confidence also brings a fall in engagement. As a practitioner, these inputs highlighted the importance of allowing children of all ages to be creative. It also illustrated the need to show value in all children’s work, regardless of artistic ability.

I enjoyed the extensive and thought-provoking conversations that occurred throughout this input. They highlighted issues surrounding the arts that I had not previously considered. As such, one of the main skills developed this week was communication skills. Communication is a very important aspect of classroom activity (Pollard, 2008) and therefore, teachers must be good communicators.

Thus, lessons in both the visual arts and drama can boost children’s confidence and help them develop vital skills for later life. However, they continue to be neglected throughout primary education. Therefore, it is important as a future practitioner I value the arts and ensure they remain a regular part of my lesson plans.

Reference List
Booth, D. (1995) Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads: Reading and drama in education. Theory Into Practice. [Online] Vol.24(3), pp.193-198. Available: EBSCOhost Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. [Accessed: 11 September 2019]

Education Scotland. (2013) Creativity Across Learning 3-18. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/cre39-impact-report.pdf [Accessed: 10 September 2019]

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.

Pollard, A. (2008) Reflective Teaching: Evidence-informed Professional Practice. (3rd ed). London: Continuum.

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