Month: October 2019

This week in Integrated Arts we looked at Norwegian aesthetic, music composition and how we can incorporate outdoor learning with art. These inputs were practical and engaging which I enjoyed and got a lot out of.

In the lecture we were spoken to by 4 Norwegian education students. They explained the Norwegian education systems, discussed their student life and spoke about their experiences of expressive arts. It was interesting to hear how different their education system is, for example, children start school when they are 6 in Norway and outdoor and physical education are promoted much more there than they are here.

In art this week we focused on outdoor learning and land art, inspired by the works of Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Long. This was enjoyable as it allowed us to get out of the art class and use materials that would not necessarily be found within a typical classroom. Koster (2011, p229) supports this idea by stating that “visual art can be made from almost any material possible”. My group decided to use pebbles, leaves and twigs in order to make the outline of a clock. We emphasised the idea of relating it to climate change, implying that we only have a short amount of time to change our actions before the damage is done and our actions are irreversible. This relates back to last weeks art lesson where I focused my print making on climate change and making links between art and social studies. We also agreed that the ‘clock’ we made could also be used to try and further children’s understanding of telling the time as it allows them to see a visual aid to support their learning. If I were to do this with a class I would bring pens to write the numbers on the pebbles in order to make it clear what stone represented each number of the clock. This lesson promoted the importance of outdoor learning, as these experiences are usually the ones that young people remember (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010), and emphasised that outdoor activity can “make learning fun, meaningful and relevant for children” (ibid). This is highlighted how crucial it is to allow pupils the opportunity to take their learning and creativity out with the classroom and into new, unusual environments and use materials that they do not have daily access to within their everyday class.

In relation to the lecture, the Norwegian students discussed ‘seasonal pedagogies’, an idea that I was unfamiliar with. I thought that this was a clever way to link learning and seasons/weather together, for example, allowing pupils to work in teams to make igloos in the winter. I think that this is a pedagogy I would like to research more on and take into account in my further teaching practise.

In addition to this, music was also a very practical workshop that involved us creating our own autumnal songs on the tool Garage Band. This links to the idea of the outdoors as we focused on a certain season and had to think of sounds associated with the season in order to put them into our music. I was fairly comfortable using Garage Band as I had used similar tools when studying music throughout school, however, I think that if I were to use the tool with young people it would require a lot of demonstration and support.

Within the piece of music I created I had to think about what sounds I associate with autumn, so I inserted clips of rain, wind and crunching leaves. I found this task to be interesting as it allowed us to play about with different sounds and instruments and layer them together to figure out what sounded good together and what did not. I feel that I worked on my creative thinking skills by using the keyboard on the app and creating a tune as well as layering sounds. I think that this would be an effective lesson to do with senior pupils as the app could be very fidgety and tricky to use, especially when trying to copy audio clips from online. However, I think if the task was well explained and you were doing it alongside the pupils then it is more likely to be successful. Initially I did not understand why we were using Garage Band as I have never seen these tools being used within a primary school but I understand that it allows pupils access to use their creative process. After participating in the lesson, I feel that it would be an effective resource to use, yet I would would need to be mindful of the different materials available before planning a lesson like this as not all schools have regular access to laptops and iPads.

This week in we participated in music and visual arts, both workshops that I thoroughly enjoyed. Both classes  were very practical and hands on which I appreciated as it allowed us to learn and experience the art forms through practice.

The music workshop focused on our learning of beats and rhythms by looking at note names and values. Due to having previously studied music before I was aware of the musical concepts discussed, however it was beneficial as they were referred to in a way that young people might pick up easier, such as referring to a crotchet as a ‘square’ and a quaver as a ‘circle’. This was done because the word square has 1 syllable and therefore we played 1 beat, whereas the word circle has 2 syllables so we played 2 beats. Although these may sound like simple ideas, they were ideas that I had not thought of before and therefore I found them useful to learn as they would be beneficial when putting music into practice with a class. We continued on to the practical side of the workshop by using beaters and drumsticks to sound out different rhythms by hitting them off the ground. If teaching this to a primary school class I would be mindful of giving out instructions before handing out instruments as the children may fidget with them and become distracted. I would also encourage them to participate by marching, clapping the rhythm and then using the instrument, this way they understand what the rhythm is supposed to sound like before getting a hold of beaters. Before handing out instruments I would also do a ‘fist of five’ to ensure that all learners are ready to move on to the next stage of learning.

Art this week was also very practical as it involved print making. We were given the task of coming up with a poster on a world issue and base the design on the works of Bob and Roberta Smith. I focused my poster on climate change as this is a current issue that I feel strongly about. In order to create the poster, we had to write out our phrase out onto an a4 piece of paper and then carve it into a piece of polystyrene, choose ink and coloured paper that contrast each other and then roll the ink on the polystyrene to allow it to print. I think that by doing a task similar to this one would be a really effective lesson to do within a class, especially with middle or upper school levels as part of the task could be fiddly and younger pupils might struggle with the literacy side of it. However, it is important to acknowledge what age and stage pupils are at when adapting lessons to their capabilities (Penny et al, 2002). Therefore, in order to adapt this task to a younger audience, it could involve drawings rather than writing but may require help from teachers, assistants or older pupils when it comes to the carving. The task also required a lot of space and had the potential to become very messy so this would be important to take into consideration. In relation to Room 13, this task was very personal and creative, therefore if implementing it in a class I would encourage child led learning and creativity by letting the pupils research an issue, design their poster, pick the colours they want to use and allow them to print it themselves. This could be done over a number of lessons.

undertake a task at a level appropriate to their capabilities

   

I have identified that the two workshops connect through the use of literacy, for example, in music we used syllables when learning notes and values, and in art we used our literacy skills to write out slogans for our posters. It could also be argued that maths and social issues were also explored in these lessons as we counted beats and understood note values in music and looked at current global issues in art. Therefore, it could be argued that both lessons incorporated a range of subjects into the work, which is supported by the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). The CfE ensures that “connections between all aspects of learning” should be maintained and supported (Scottish Government, 2008). Therefore this was shown through the overlaps of topics within different learning areas, such as art, literacy and social studies.

In reflection, I think that this week has been my favourite input of the module so far. I enjoyed that both workshops were so practical and could see the tasks we were doing succeeding in a class, therefore it helped with ideas on how I would implement a similar lesson. In relation to art, I can feel myself becoming more confident and open minded to the subject as I have never enjoyed art lessons previously yet I am beginning to enjoy participating. As for music, I enjoy the subject  and feel confident when participating in the class, however, the language used this week highlighted to me how important terminology and can be and how simplified language may be easier for pupils to use to adapt to music. In order to improve, I need to try and remember the new terminology and relate it to a level that younger pupils can effectively understand. It also emphasised the idea that noise within a classroom is not always a negative, especially when focusing on music, and in this case a noisy classroom can be seen as a productive classroom (Daubney, 2017).

 

References-

Daubney, A. (2017) Teaching Primary Music. California: Sage Publications Ltd.

Penny et al. (2002) Teaching arts in primary schools. Learning Matters Ltd: Exeter.

Scottish Government. (2008) Curriculum for excellence building the curriculum a framework for learning and teaching. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/btc3.pdf [Accessed: 15 October 2019.]

This week we started the music section of the module and discussed why music education matters. Through this we reflected on our own musical participation, and looked at different ways of getting pupils involved with music. Being involved with music has many benefits, for example, playing an instrument can stimulate the brain and enhance memory function, which are crucial for developing maths and science abilities (Classic FM,2018). In addition to this, Baker’s (2011) study shows that pupils who participated in music outperformed peers in maths and literacy. Music also has the ability to boost confidence levels, relieve stress and heighten creativity (Classic FM, 2018). Therefore there are many positive reasons why pupils should be encouraged to be involved with music in some way.

I have always enjoyed music and studied Higher music in school so I was excited about starting the musical section of this module. During our workshop we listened to different pieces of music and thought about how they made us feel. This links to experiences and outcomes within the Curriculum for Excellence as it states “I can respond to music by describing my thoughts and feelings about my own and others’ work” (Education Scotland, n.d.).  After listening to all 5 pieces, we rated the songs from 1-5 of enjoyment and explained why we felt like that. I think this would be a good form of assessment for pupils to do as it allows them to reflect on their emotions and thoughts of different genres of music. This was an interesting task as everyone had different reactions and feelings towards certain songs, especially the classical pieces.

We were tasked to get into groups to create a storyboard on what we could visualise when listening to a piece of music. Some members within my group struggled with this task as it involved listening to  unfamiliar music in order to create a story. This task was interesting as some of my peers had similar ideas as to what they could imagine when listening to the song, whereas others were completely clueless. Personally, because the music was unknown to me, it was more difficult to imagine a story whereas if it was a well known piece it might have been easier to think of associations. This highlighted the importance of child led creativity, linking back to the idea of Room 13, as without the opportunity to be creative, everything would be bland and the same (Hickman, 2008). I feel that the tasks we worked on were challenging for many people within the cohort and therefore some primary aged children may struggle doing this task, however, I think if an appropriate, short song was chosen then it could be successful.

 

Drama this week was a continuation from last week by looking at different groups micro teaching lessons. This links to the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes as we experiences being a part of an audience for other groups (Education Scotland, n.d.). I found all the lessons to be well presented and engaging, especially the group who focused on the movie ‘Inside Out’. Personally I think it was a good idea focusing on a relevant movie as children will be aware of it and the majority will have seen it. It would allow an opportunity to focus on the movie in other subject areas, such as health and wellbeing by discussing emotions, art to create paintings or models of the characters, and music by looking at pieces within the movie. This allows pupils the opportunity to work around a storyline that they are familiar with, allowing ideas and feelings to be shared. As previously stated, it was interesting to watch how different groups interpreted the task and instructions as everyone had different ideas when presenting.

To finish the lesson off we briefly looked at the drama convention ‘roll on the wall’. As a class we read the book ‘The Tunnel’ and were given the task to get inside the minds of one of the characters and write their feelings about the other character, and then how the other character perceives themselves. Having read the book I think that this would be an engaging task to do with a middle school class as it involves the process of reading the story, acting out different conventions and then reflecting on different characters feelings and discussing why they feel the way they do. This is a task I think I would feel comfortable teaching as I fully understood the aims and instructions of the lesson.

To conclude, both drama and music shared the common theme of individual creativity as in both workshops everyone had different ideas over the information given, for example, the music, instructions and story. I found music very engaging and feel that I would be able to adapt the activities we did in the workshop to suit a primary class. Over the course of the 6 weeks I have spent in drama, I feel that my confidence levels have increasingly improved. When I first started the drama section of the module I was unsure and felt very awkward and uncomfortable about presenting in front of my peers, never mind teaching it. However, after looking at different lessons, conventions and activities,  I now feel much more able to teach a drama lesson and am hoping to observe one when on placement.

 

References-

Baker, R.A. (2011) The Relationship between Music and Visual Arts Formal Study and Academic Achievement on the Eighth-Grade Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University.

Classic FM. (2018) 10 reasons you should take up a musical instrument.[Online] Available: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/reasons-to-play-a-musical-instrument/ [Accessed: 10 October 2019].

Education Scotland. (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed: 10 October 2019].

Hickman, R. (2008) Research in Art & Design Education: Issues and Exemplars. Bristol: Intellect Books.

This week we focused on bringing the arts ‘to life’. This was done through personifying our art work, and creating dramas around different books.

In art we continued with our artwork from last week and brought our work to life by adding thoughts, feelings, poetry and lyrics to it, allowing it to stand out and be personified. I focused on adding song lyrics and Scottish poetry as I found it easier to relate back to my work. When doing this I found lyrics and poems to do with each part of my artwork and wrote it around that area, for example, I wrote lyrics from the song Loch Lomond around the water section of my painting. This links to the expressive arts ‘experiences and outcomes’ as it states “Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design” (Education Scotland, n.d, p4). This was done through using imagination, interpretation and literacy skills to display words, thoughts, and associated ideas within the painting, bringing it to life.

I found this task to be more challenging than last weeks as it involved being creative with words, thoughts and feelings and relating them back to what we saw within the artwork. I did not fully understand the purpose of this lesson and found it to be difficult to think on the spot, however, I found that by referring to poetry and song lyrics that I found online, this was made easier instead of using my own thoughts.

After we had completed our artwork, every picture from both sections were displayed around the room. This reinforced to me how crucial it is to display children’s work as it allows them a feeling of self achievement and development. This is something that I aim to promote when doing art and visual work as it promotes the child’s learning.

In drama we focused on micro teaching this week. Each group was given the task to create a drama lesson and implement it to the class. My group focused on bringing the book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ to life. We based our lesson on early/first level pupils and found learning intentions and success criteria to support the lesson. Within our lesson we focused on 3 drama conventions- flashback, freeze frame and monologue, and used these to get everyone to act out different parts of the book. If I was to do this activity within a primary school, I would read the book with the whole class so everyone was familiar with the story. I think that doing a follow up lesson, possibly focusing on art, could be effective. This could be done by using different materials to create the settings within the book, for example, using charcoal to enhance the darkness of the cave.

DramaPresentation

I found this task to be challenging as the lesson was aimed at young people whereas our audience were people our own age and therefore I felt awkward at times as we did not want to be patronising with what we were saying. However, I think that the book we focused on would be an appropriate story to look at with young people as there can be a lot of interactive tasks and activities you could do before and after the lesson. Graigner (2003) suggested the idea that learning through stories can enhance our ability to develop ideas, make links and connections to our feelings, as well as using our creative abilities. This backs up the idea that by focusing the lesson on a well known storybook, children may respond well to it as they can be more creative and use their understanding of the story to reflect on their thoughts and feelings. This task highlighted me how different it is to stand up and teach a lesson on drama than it is to sit and participate and reaffirmed to me how much more I enjoyed teaching the lesson over participating. Although it was challenging doing a task aimed at children with adults, I felt a lot more confident presenting a lesson than I do when participating.

The planning of this lesson gave me a taster into what it could be like organising lessons. It involved collaboration and communication skills to be put to use due to working with a group of 5 other people to implement the lesson. It allowed me to become more familiar with benchmarks, experiences and outcomes, as well as creating our own learning intentions and success criteria. One thing I would do differently if I were to do this again would be to include some form of assessment, possibly 2 stars and a wish or writing any questions or queries on post it notes, to allow feedback and offer individuals self evaluation.

Overall, I got a lot out of this drama class as it allowed me to work within a group and create a lesson that we then had to implement in front of an audience. I found this to be a beneficial task to do as it gave me the experience of working within a group to collaboratively decide on what we wanted to focus our lesson on, decide what drama conventions we felt were appropriate to use and when, and actually present the lesson. It gave me the experience of planning and implementing a lesson within a group before I start placement, so I now feel more confident in creating and teaching a drama lesson. Personally, once I had done some research into songs and poetry I could use to describe my artwork the task became much easier. However, the resources of iPads and computers may not be as readily available if doing this with a class and I think that this would have to be taken into consideration if doing a similar activity. If I were to do this same art lesson with a class I would print off different Scottish poems and song lyrics that pupils could either use or get inspiration from as I think that this would help get started with the task as teachers have the role of “providing resources, images, helpful tips and encouragement” (Penny et al, 2002).

References-

Education Scotland. (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed: 15 October 2019].

This week in Integrated Arts, we focused on Room 13. Room 13 is “an independent art studio project, which the pupils run entirely themselves” (Education Scotland, 2018). Room 13 emphasises the idea of child led learning as the idea involves pupils having a ‘safe space’ where they can be as creative as inventive as they want. I think that schools having a ‘room 13’ is an effective idea as it provides pupils with a creative outlet where they can get as imaginative and messy as they want, however, I understand that they are cost effective and would require funding, space and adult supervision which may be unavailable.

During our art workshop this week we used different materials to create out own ‘paintbrush’ and used this to paint a picture. My paint brush was made from cut down sticks and tied together by a piece of string on top of a larger, thicker stick. This was an interesting task to do as everybody had different views of how they wanted their brush to look and therefore, everyone had different results. I think that pupils would enjoy this task as it involved being inventive and using their own ideas as to how to design their paintbrush. I found this task to be a challenge as I was unsure how to put my creativity into making something I was already familiar with. I struggled trying to distance myself from creating a typical looking paintbrush so tried to use materials that I would not have necessarily thought of as being tools to paint, such as twigs.

        

When it came to painting, we were given a list of descriptions of what the picture was to look like. I imagined the picture to involve a blue sky with green hills and a loch between them, however, this was fascinating as everybody took these descriptions and imagined something different, so similar to the brushes, no two pictures looked the same. Due to everyone having different painting tool, this created different brush strokes on the page, as some people had used wool, sticks and paper. We were only provided with primary colours to paint with so in order to create the colours we wanted we had to mix them. I believe that this would be an effective lesson to do with an older primary class, especially creating the paintbrush as it allows them to use their thinking skills in order to decide what they want their brush to look like, what materials they are going to use to create it and how they are actually going to do it. I found this part of the task quite fiddly and therefore might be a more appropriate activity to do with an older class. I also think that giving a description of a painting would be an interesting task to do with a class as the results would all be different and personal. In terms of assessment, I think pupils could use ‘think, pair, share’ to discuss their list of instructions to ensure that they are not missing anything significant  from the descriptions of the painting.

To begin with, I struggled to understand the purpose of this task, however, it was later made clear when we used it to paint as everyones pictures were different due to interpretation of the picture, the texture, colours and layout. In order to improve I now recognise that I need to stop overthinking everything I do and stop comparing it to the work of people around me, especially in art. I need to let myself use my own creativity, even if the result is different to others.

   

The drama workshop this week involved looking at historical and controversial issues, such as World War 2, refugees and the ‘Me Too’ movement. These could be important topics to discuss with older pupils, especially through drama as it allows them to get into the mindset of different kinds of people in different situations. However, I think these issues would need to be approached with care, respect and seriousness as they are touchy subjects for many. Similarly to art, it was fascinating to see how groups interpreted the topics into drama as as “drama means different things for different people” (Kitson and Spiby, 1997). It was clear that when discussing World War 2, some groups had similar ideas over the topic but no 2 groups dramas were completely identical.

This week we practised voices in head, mime, monologue and slow motion. These are all techniques that I think would be effective when practising drama within a classroom, however, I think when looking at such serious issues, a prior lesson on what these issues are could be implemented in order to give them more of an understanding as to what is happening and how they might feel.

I feel that both workshops could be modified and effectively used within a classroom. I think that the tasks could be very ‘child led’, rather than teacher lead by allowing them to use their own initiative, thoughts and feelings around the work they were doing.  This idea is supported by Kear and Callaway (2000) as they encourage teachers to take a step back and enhance children to take lead of their learning, ultimately empowering pupils to take ownership of their work. Therefore, I understand the importance of allowing pupils to take the lead of their own learning when appropriate.

 

References

Education Scotland. (2018)  Room 13. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/Room%2013 [Accessed: 25 September 2019].

Kear, M. and Callaway, G. (2000) Improving teaching and learning in the arts.London: Falmer Press.

Kitson, N. and Spiby, I. (1997) Drama 7-11: Developing Primary Teaching Skills. London: Routledge.