Integrated Arts in Education

This week in Integrated Arts, we focused on interpretation of images. This was done through using our imagination and creativity, by looking at different pictures in depth.

In art we printed ink from our hands onto a piece of poster paper and drew what we could see within. For example, I used the side of my hand to create a thick, curved line and transformed it into a butterfly by drawing wings. Through a demonstration task this emphasised that everyone uses their imagination differently as everyone had different ideas of what they could see in the print. We discussed the idea that something as small as a dot or a mark could end up as something much bigger and more creative than intended. This allowed us to be creative as we generated individual, unique ideas (Education Scotland, 2013).

As a future teacher, I liked the idea that it could be so simple in order to create effective artwork as all we used was ink, paper and a pen. Kear and Galloway (2000, p5) state that “the arts can be noisy, messy and profligate consumers of time, space and resources”. Therefore, it is important to remember when teaching art within a classroom it is crucial to dedicate time and attention to being active and creative, as well as encouraging the use of aprons to prevent pupils from being covered in paint or ink. If I were to do a lesson like this I would ensure that pupils had time and space to be messy as when we participated in the task in University it required thinking time and space to print.

In addition to this, if I were teaching this with a younger class I feel that reading the story ‘The Dot’ would be appropriate as it emphasises the idea that no art work is bad art work. This is a simple, visual book that I believe children could get a lot out of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5mGeR4AQdM

 

           

In drama we looked at ‘Windows of the West’, a painting by Avril Paton. Similar to art, we looked deeper into the image and used our imagination to think about what could be going on within the painting. In this case we had to think about what could be happening within the tenements in the painting and act out our ideas through a frozen image, freeze frame and improvisation. This was an interesting task to do as everyone had different storylines and no two preformances were the same. As a future teacher I think that this lesson would be appropriate for middle/upper school children to do as it allows them to work from a stimuli and use their collaborative skills in deciding what ideas are discussed and how they are portrayed. This idea is supported by Education Scotland (n.d., p7) as the Expressive Arts ‘Experiences and Outcomes’ state “Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express my ideas, thoughts and feelings through creative”. This allows pupils to use their imagination and interpretation skills to develop a drama piece supporting a specific topic.

I believe both tasks we did today would be effective and appropriate to do within a primary class as they allowed us to use our imagination, get messy and be creative. According to Fleming (2012), teaching the arts can provide feelings of happiness and fulfilment, allowing individuals to develop their imagination and creative skills. Taking part in these activities differ to the typical work within a class so I think that most pupils would respond well to it as it is different and allows them to be more involved and effective learners- as promoted by the Curriculum for Excellence.

In order to improve, I feel that I need to work on becoming more confident when participating in the creative process and stop comparing my work to my peers. I struggled to use my imagination fully when participating in art, however, after attempting it a few times I became more comfortable and was able to complete the task. I aim to become more confident by participating in every workshop to the best of my ability to allow my confidence levels to grow.

 

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: 20 September 2019].

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

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

This week in Integrated Arts we focused on visual arts and drama. We discussed the importance of encouraging creativity and involvement within expressive arts within the classroom. Personally, I am keen on improving my drama and art skills as these are subjects I do not currently feel are my strong points and are out-with my comfort zone, however, I am hopeful that by the end of this module I will have the confidence and strategies to feel more able to teach them.

In art we explored art work from different age ranges. One piece that stood out to me was done by a middle school pupil who had created a picture of a sunset. I believe that pastels had been used and smudged in order to blend and mix the different colours, creating the art work to appear bold and bright. It was obvious that this art work had been done over a longer period of time and had not been rushed, therefore, this suggested to me the importance of planning art lessons to allow children to continue on with their work progressively instead of rushing a lesson in order to allow them to see the progression of their work. Some children thrive within expressive arts and I think that it is important that they should be given an opportunity to experiment within the arts, and allow them the resources to do so.

In addition to this, the drama workshop made me realise how important it is to come out of your comfort zone when participating within different expressive arts, both as a pupil and a teacher. ‘Teaching Art and Design 3-11’ , states that when young people are more aware of other peoples work this can enhance feelings of self doubt (McAuliffe, 2007). In response to this, as a future teacher, I would encourage pupils to work together and try different drama skills or art tools and techniques. This enables them to broaden their skills and hopefully build confidence from doing so. I would also enhance the SHANARRI wellbeing factors to ensure that all children are included and respected. In reference to Tan (2007), as a future educator I believe it is important to commend effort and hard work in order to build pupil’s confidence.

The drama workshop highlighted different drama conventions that we might do with a primary class, such as ‘teacher in role’. This allowed me to understand how enthusiastic and involved a teacher must be when teaching drama as your attitudes will reflect on the pupil’s thoughts towards it. Grohman and Szmidt (2013) suggest that when teachers have negative attitudes towards teaching subjects, this can rub off on their pupils. Therefore, even though personally drama is not my best subject, I understand that I should remain professional and open to teaching it to allow pupils a well rounded learning experience.

Both workshops allowed me to see what kinds of things are expected when teaching expressive arts. I acknowledge that the role of the teacher when teaching expressive arts is vast yet important. This was a beneficial insight as I am more aware of what sorts of things I expect to see when on placement, as well as types of lessons that I could demonstrate.

 

References-

Grohman, Magdalena G. and Szmidt, Krzysztof J. Teaching for Creativity: How to Shape Creative Attitudes in Teachers and in Students. In: Banks Gregorson, M., Snyder, H.T., Kaufman, J.C. (eds.) Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity. [Online] Available: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-5185-3_2.pdf[Accessed: 4 December 2019].

McAuliffe et al. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In: Cox, S. and Watts, R. Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

Tan, A. (2007) Creativity A handbook for teachers. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co.

 

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