The first visual art session highlighted the significance that “all children, whatever their background or aptitude, have the ability to express themselves through the arts, gaining confidence and a new means of accessing other areas of the curriculum” (Bloomsfield and Childs, 2000, p.2). This was reinforced through a simple drawing task which demonstrated everyone’s capability to draw which became significant for me as I did not consider myself to be artistically gifted. However, from this activity, as a future arts educator, it is essential to ensure children understand that they are “creative artists in their own right, with ideas and abilities that go beyond stylistic copies of adult work” (Bloomsfield and Childs, 2000, p.2), thereby fostering creativity.
Furthermore, by considering the conditions to which displayed pieces of children’s artwork were produced, the extent of teacher intervention was introduced which enlightened me as I was not previously aware of the impact of such limitations. A particular oil pastel creation of a rabbit by a primary three pupil demonstrated how vital the teacher’s role is in “enabling your students to experiment with the arts without the fear of condemnation, and to take risks, to make and to respond to the Arts as they find them. (Roy, Baker and Hamilton, 2015, p.18).
Figure 1: Example of children’s artwork.
The creative process is evident as careful sketching of an outline can be clearly seen followed by the layers, tones and highlights which the pupil clearly gained a good understanding of. This led me to realise the significance in the role of a teacher in not limiting the choices of material available as I remember constructing a silhouette on black paper in primary school which would not be possible on white paper. The pupil’s artwork benefits from the use of black paper to demonstrate the white highlights where necessary. Often, a challenge within the arts is the provision of adequate resources in allowing children to fully express themselves. However, with sufficient resources which do not limit the conditions in which children can work, it provides freedom for self-expression and opens a plethora of creative pathways which children can undertake.
Moreover, this piece of artwork was derivative of the scribbling stage by Lowenfeld and Brittain (1987) in McAuliffe (2007) which made me think of how often it is overlooked as nonsensical, nonrepresentational, random marks on a page which I do not agree as often, adults experience difficulty in deciphering a young child’s drawing.
Furthermore, I felt this stage was the most significant as although children may not be at a stage where they can fully represent their thoughts and ideas, they are able to symbolise, through their own creations, a meaningful message that evokes a strong feeling within them, such as what I assume the pupil’s subject matter was evoked from a personal and appreciative feeling that led to the choice of a rabbit.
This session allowed me to appreciate what children can achieve given the time, resources, and encouragement by the teacher which are essential factors to reflect in my future practice in planning, teaching and assessing of the arts.
References
Bloomfield, A and Childs, J (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School: Dance, Drama, Music and the Visual Arts [Print] Great Britain: David Fulton
McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 2-11 (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum.
Roy, D., Baker, W and Hamilton, A (2015) Teaching the Arts: Early Childhood and Primary Education (2nd ed) [Online] Australia: Cambridge University Press. Available: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZFMQCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA145&dq=blooms+revised+taxonomy+in+the+arts&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxm6jp8u_QAhXnI8AKHZoWAzwQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed: 12 December 2016].
In regards to music education, although this is not one of my strongest subjects, it was incredibly helpful to see the plethora of opportunities music provides and how easy it can be integrated with subjects such as literacy which I previously would not have thought to combine it with. The session allowed me to critically observe how music combined with other subjects can bring together many skills as “connection making is the core mechanism of curriculum integration” (Marshall, 2014, p.3).It further highlighted that every pupil can achieve success regardless of the extent of their musical talent.
As Eisner (2002) established in his principles towards an effective arts educator, I should aim to stimulate these same emotions and personal connections to allow children to demonstrate self-expression in their artwork. I think the main issues arises when children are limited to observing from a particular artist or famous painting to be left to create their own reconstruction of it as this takes away from the creative process, children may appreciate and enjoy it less because of such a restriction, they are not free to explore or develop their own artistic skills as following an artist’s particular techniques may be compulsory. “This strategy belies the principles of good art teaching in every respect” (Callaway and Kear, 2000a, p.9).
In addition, Fleming (2012) further widened my view on justifying teaching the arts as my own opinions remained within the arts providing a different medium from where children can learn through, as well as it being a thoroughly enjoyable experience to divulge children in. This view was challenged by Fleming (2012) which caused me to question and think deeper as I have come to understand the equal importance of the arts to other more academic subjects. Also, through McAuliffe (2007), the variety of media that can be incorporated within each discrete section in Lowenfeld and Brittain’s (1987) stage theory that is both progressive and scaffolded led me to feel enlightened that the arts provided so many opportunities.
Lastly, my understanding of children’s development throughout the stage theory needs to be deepened as well as how different teaching approaches has impacted children at different stages, especially in less visual arts such as music and drama education, whether teacher intervention has proven successful or not.
References
Callaway, G and Kear, M (2000a) Teaching Art and Design in the Primary School [Print] Great Britain: David Fulton Publishers.
Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach. London: Yale University Press
Jones, R and Wyse, D (eds) (2013) Creativity in the Primary Curriculum (2nd ed) [Print] Oxon: Routledge
Marshall, J (2014) Transforming Education Through Art Centered Integrated Learning [Online] Available: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54cfc63de4b08a9c05c7b299/t/55ad8587e4b099ab1ca12d0e/1437435271198/Integrated_Learning_and_Transforming_Education.pdf [Accessed: 12 December 2016].
McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 2-11 (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum.
