Integrated Arts – 20/11/18
This week was the final class of the module. It included perfecting our dances and getting them filmed in the dance workshop and learning to play the ukulele in the music workshop.

In dance, we continued from the week previous and practised our dance routines to the point they were acceptable to be filmed. The class had time to work in their groups to make sure all the moves were correct and in time with the music to make sure the overall dance was a success. Then the full class came together and made up a starting piece to the dance where everyone in the section danced at the same time. The moves were simple but effective with such a large group and the lecturer was pleased with the outcome of the full class dance section. Performing this dance this week was a lot different to other weeks as we were being filmed. For many in the class, this put more pressure on them to perform well while dancing and being recorded. Even though this did make some people uncomfortable, it was important to remember that it was all for a bit of fun and no one else would see the video except the people in our class. The full experience is to aid us teach our future classes and to give us ideas on how to teacher Expressive Arts classes without feeling nervous or self-conscious.
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In our final music class, we learned to play the ukulele. I found this exciting and intriguing as I have always wanted to learn how to play a stringed instrument. The importance of music education has been echoed for years and there are numerous benefits that come with the teaching of music. However, in the past many authorities did not see the importance of music education. “Music education has always required advocacy to solidify its place in the school curriculum. Music teachers are increasingly called on to justify their existence and importance in the schools,” (Elpus, 2007). In these rapidly changing times, the importance of teaching education is huge, especially in primary schools. With the wide variety of musical opportunities open to children, it is fundamental too take hold of any chances that are available when teaching Expressive Arts. In the class, we got taught the chords that are on the ukulele and practised simple songs to help the understanding of each chord and putting them all together. At the end of the lesson, the lecturer put up the chords to “Last Christmas” by Wham! and as a class, we played through the full song. It was beginners’ level however, it was thoroughly enjoyable as I had never had the opportunity to play the ukulele before. Taking away from this lesson, I know now how to make learning an acoustic instrument fun and interesting for the class. Using instruments which are a bit more obscure and unique can encourage children to be creative and imaginative and motivate them to be more musical and try other instruments.

References
Elpus, K. (2007). Improving Music Education Advocacy. Arts Education Policy Review, 108(3), pp.13-18.

Integrated Arts – 13/11/18
This week’s classes focused on drama and dance. In drama, we did a micro-teaching lesson to the rest of the class in groups. In dance, we began to choreograph a dance to Christmas music using some parts of a routine we had learned weeks previous.

Our micro-teaching lesson was based on a book called, “The Wee Lassie That Swallowed A Fly”. One member of the group read the book to class, pretending they were primary aged children and we were teaching them in a drama class. For many, it was one of the first times teaching in front of many people, meaning some were not as prepared as others. As a group, we chose which drama techniques we would use to complement the activities we would do with them. The group used mime, improvisation and voices in the head which all helped deliver the lesson effectively. Much of the class found that using a book to create a drama lesson was very advantageous for planning and delivering the session. This can be helpful for both the teacher and pupil as bringing in a book the class are already doing in literacy may help them have a deeper understanding of the book, the characters and anything else relevant. For the teacher, if the confidence levels are low and it may be hard to find creativity for the lesson, relying on the class book will be helpful and there will be reassurance that the lesson will be educational for the pupils. “Drama fosters literacy because it allows students of any age to become part of the learning process.” (Macro, 2015) Involving literacy in drama broadens the thought process for any child, which can then be applied to any other area of the curriculum.

As it is near Christmas, our dance lecturer decided to make up a dance Christmas themed. This involved including the dance routine we made up in groups a few weeks previous and add in new moves we were creating this week. To make up these certain Christmassy moves, each group got asked to draw a picture of what they think of when Christmas is mentioned. The results of this were varied and the moves we were left to make up were; lights, mistletoe, bells, Christmas trees, angels, penguins and reindeers. This meant our dance would be very different from the other section, which is good as we wanted individuality and creativity. When the full dance was brought together, each group had a chance to perform their own dance in the middle of the class. Again, for many, dancing is not a strong point, and some do not enjoy dancing seriously in front of a big group. However, personally, I have a background in dance for many years to enjoyed performing and helped lead my team through the dance. The finished product of the full class’s dance was a lot of fun and very enjoyable. We had it filmed which is a nice thing to look back on in the future.

Overall, both drama and dance this week involved the full class to be confident enough to deliver in front of a large group of people. Even though some do not enjoy this, doing things like this repeatedly will in turn build confidence and self-belief so that when it comes to teaching our own class, professionally, it will not be as difficult, and we will have more experience to rely on.

References
Macro, K. (2015) Drama as literacy: perceptions of an interactive pedagogy. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. Vol.20(3), pp.337-339.

Integrated Arts – 6/11/18
This week’s class involved music and visual arts. In music, we made instruments from basic materials which can be easy for children to make in class. During the visual arts class, we watched a video of Professor Tim Ingold at the “Thinking Dangerously in Teacher Education” conference.

Tim Ingold believes there are two different meanings of education. The first being the “conventional” meaning which is to instil authoritative knowledge into young people. The anthropologist suggests that this is the more traditional way of teaching and educating younger generations. The seconds meaning could be that teachers take the hands of the children they teach and “lead them out into the world”. This can be unknown territory for both the teacher and the pupil however it is essential to find a balance between the first and the second meaning of education. Ingold’s main purpose of his talk is drawing in both children and adults. He believes that many people see drawing as an art that children “grow out of” and many adults are adamant that they are unable to draw. However, Tim Ingold says that the number of adults that say this only believe this as the result of their drawing does not resemble what they set out to draw. He continues with his talk and emphasises that children should have the freedom to express themselves and draw whatever they want (Ingold, 2013). They should not shy away from the unknown before they start, and it certainly should not cease adults from expressing themselves as well. Letting children start from nothing and giving them the tools to be able to flourish and create things while being imaginative is essential in an Expressive Arts lesson.

In the music workshop, the lecturer decided that we were going to make our own instruments out of basic materials. We made a banjo, made from paper plates, wooden sticks and elastic bands. Additionally, we made a harmonica from lollypop sticks, small straws and small elastic bands. The lecturer showed the class how to make these instruments, but we could choose the colours, shape, size and design of both our instruments so that they were unique and individual.

This lesson was fun and creative. It was pupil-led, and we were left to make these instruments exactly how we wanted them to look. For a class of my own, it would be an excellent way of introducing other instruments to the pupils, letting them be creative and giving them freedom to make things without following design instructions. Not one person in the class had instruments identical, which is the aim when combining two art forms together. By including visual arts in music, it opens a variety of creativity for the child and make them aware that, when it comes to these two art forms, they can be as creative and as free to express themselves as they please.

References
Ingold, T. (2013) Thinking Dangerously in Teacher Education. Conference at

Integrated Arts Blog – 30/10/18

This week’s session consisted of music and drama. In drama we focused on Halloween and how we can dramatise it. In music, the lecturer taught us how to be creative on Garage Band in the mac lab.

In the drama workshop, we were taught about the subject within the wider curriculum. Many teachers who do not have a background in Expressive Arts, are conscious of both the theory and practical side of drama. “Drama means different things for different people.” (Kitson and Spiby, 1997) This means that even if a teacher is not confident with the subject, they will be able to add individuality to it and this will enable them to be comfortable when teaching drama as they can go at their own pace and use their own teaching style. Within the lesson, the lecturer focused on Halloween and haunted houses. In separate groups we had to use different drama techniques to deliver a short piece about a haunted house. These techniques include role on the wall, miming, freeze frame, monologues and voice in the head. Each person in the group had a different character and had to portray their feelings and actions through one of these techniques. This was an effective way of learning, because as teachers we will be constantly learning as well as teaching our pupils, therefore it was important that we shared all our ideas to enhance the learning of everyone in the class. “In drama, ‘everyone is a student, and everyone teaches’.” (Booth, 2005) Letting the pupils be creative and imaginative, and letting them express themselves freely in class can aid your own learning as a teacher and your confidence when teaching.

In the music workshop, we were in the Mac Lab and used an app on the computers called Garage Band. This app allows you to create and edit songs, which would be great to do with upper classes in primary. We were taught all the different sounds and instruments we can use on the apps, and how to cut and paste parts and put it together. Even though the start of the session was led by the lecturer, we were able to make our own song, from scratch and make it very individual. This links with the drama workshop, as even though the lecturer had a good knowledge of the app herself, while having a deeper look, the class found different things that the lecturer was not aware of. Therefore, this means that the lecturer is continually learning while teaching at the same time. The freedom we had while on the computers allowed us to be as creative and imaginative as we wanted, which is key when teaching any class Expressive Arts, it is all based on widening their imagination and opening up a new world of creativity that they might not have experienced in literacy and maths, but can certainly use when from now on when learning these subjects.

Overall, the teaching in each lecture was based on both the teacher and the pupils being the leaders and allowing room for creativity in the arts during the teaching and learning of the subject. It is essential that this is the teaching style when delivering these subjects as it will produce greater results and make the subjects more interesting and enjoyable for the teacher and the pupil.

References

Kitson, N. and Spiby, I. (1997). Drama 7-11: Developing Primary Teaching Skills. 1st Ed.
Booth, T, Booth, W. and McConnell, D. (2005). The Prevalence and Outcomes of Care Proceedings Involving Parents with Learning Difficulties in the Family Courts. 1st Ed.

Integrated Arts – 16/10/18
This week was the first week of the drama input. Drama is a subject not everyone was as confident in however the lecturer made it fun and interesting which made us all feel at ease.

We looked at experiences and outcomes in Expressive Arts, which should be involved in any lesson, so teachers are able to follow the curriculum guidelines. These experiences and outcomes are helpful to teachers who do not have a lot of confidence or background in drama and allow them to build their lessons off what the children are expected to experience. It was illustrated to us the importance of Expressive Arts in drama, as well as in music, dance and visual arts. “The inspiration and power of the arts play a vital role in enabling our children and young people to enhance their creative talent and develop their artistic skills” (Scottish Executive, 2006) This can be said for any Expressive Art, however in drama, children have the opportunity to be so creative and imaginative that they can be pretend to be someone else. This is educational for the pupils as they have a chance to channel something different inside them which they might not have had the opportunity to do before. Drama is all about expressing yourself in a way one did not know was possible, therefore it is important to let children be active and free during a drama lesson, so they can achieve their full potential within the subject.

The lecturer showed us a picture of an old tenement building in Glasgow. The building was tall and had numerous windows, all of which were owned by different people. All these people lived separate lives and not one story was the same. Our task, pretending we were pupils, was to imagine we lived in one of the flats and make up our own story using specific drama techniques. These techniques were; improvisation, thought tracking, still image, flash forward and flash back. As the short drama progressed, in groups, we had to start with either improvisation, thought tracking or still image, and then add in both a flash forward and flash back. This allowed us to be more creative and imaginative, and forced us to work together and listen to everyone’s ideas to allow for the best possible results.
Drama in education is so important. It includes both the teacher and the pupil to be teaching and learning.

For teachers who do not have as much background knowledge as others, it is essential for them to not too feel under pressure when teaching a class. The lecturer gave us lots of ways of being creative and imaginative while teaching a class that can ease any dread or uncomfortable feelings towards teaching the subject. The goal is to be as creative as possible. Children will love the chance to do something different and often, will help you increase your imaginative skills as they will always come up with different ideas that one might not have thought of before. The teacher is always learning, and some activities can be pupil-led, to aid their own creativity.

References
Scottish Executive (2006). A Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 3-18 (1) Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/btc1.pdf [Accessed: 12 December 2018].

Integrated Arts Blog – 9/10/18

The music workshop this week involved primary school pupils teaching us how to play instruments that they are learning in class. The children brought in string instruments like violins, violas, cellos and a bass. Each child had been assigned one of these stringed instruments a few months before and the class had been practising short tunes and songs that they could present at different functions. To start with, the pupils taught us how to hold the instruments properly. With the violin, it is important for it to be held properly as it is so light it can be easy for it to be used wrong. After learning the first step, we learnt how to play the notes A, B, F and G, which were the basis of the songs that the primary children knew. Some of the pupils took to learning a new instrument very well and others even had private tuition in stringed instruments, however the pupil I was paired with has cerebral palsy and so found it difficult to hold his violin properly and sometimes keep up with the rest of the class. It was hard to see him struggling to communicate with others, however he was the best that he could be, and his peers were very supportive in everything he did. I had never even picked up a violin before, never mind played one in a group, so this experience was very intriguing and educational for me. It is something that is fantastic to teach to children and an excellent opportunity to open to primary school children as they can progress throughout school and it lets them find hidden talents, they would not be aware they had if they did not get involved in the arts.

The dance workshop linked in well with the music workshop beforehand. Within this workshop, the content was very much “pupil led” as we had to make up our own dance moves instead of the lecturer telling us what to do. The lecturer gave us numbers from 0-9 and we had to make up a different move for each number. This allowed us to be creative and different which was exciting for the whole class. We got into groups from the week previous and all got given these dance moves but in a different order. We had to practise these moves and then add them onto out routine that we had already began to make up the week before. It was clear who was confident with different moves and who was conscious of being different with the people around them. For many in the class, the thought of teaching dance in the future to our own class fill them with dread. “Within the arts dance education has often been given the lowest priority. When not part of the arts, dance has been taught as part of physical education or music education, if at all,” (Gilbert, 2005). However, by having these experiences within university, our job as future primary teachers is to boost our own confidence in dance and make dance more important and highly thought of with in Expressive Arts. It is all about doing something different for the students to make sure their learning is fun and interactive.

References

Gilbert, A. G. (2005). Dance education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance 76(5): 26–35

Integrated Arts Blog – 2/10/18
This week involved “Room 13”, doing art inspired by Bob and Roberta Smith and the first input of dance.

The lecture focused on a school in Fort William in the north-west of Scotland which had a spare classroom used only for art. The room allowed pupils to be expressive and very creative with their drawings and paintings. Not one of the children’s paintings were the same which meant there was a lot of individuality and there was plenty of space for their own imagination to come through. “Room 13 is a social enterprise model of art education. Where this model exists, socially engaged and enquiry based pedagogical practices flourish.” (McAuliffe,2013). Learners manage their own learning and have ‘creative autonomy in determining the subject, media and direction of their work’ (Adams et al, 2008) The students doing art in this room are in control of their own learning and it can help their creativity flow into other subjects. I feel “Room 13” is very important to have in other schools, it has had clear benefits to the pupils working within this environment. It can let children who have development needs in other aspects of the curriculum, like numeracy and literacy, thrive in this area and improve their confidence. This is very beneficial as it provides extra opportunities for these children who might not have had these experiences before.

Visual arts was the first workshop. We focused on making “Slogan Art” inspired by Bob and Roberta Smith (which is his fictional name, his real name is Patrick Brill). We had to think of inspirational quotes to trace through polystyrene and then paint so it will hopefully in print onto a sheet of cardboard. I chose “Think Outside the Box.”

This could be linked well to the “Room 13” as we could choose any slogan we wanted, choose the colours we wanted and go at our own pace. If a child was given this task, it would enable them to choose exactly what they create and allow them to be creative in both their writing and their artwork which is also integrating arts with other important aspects of the curriculum, therefore making their learning more interesting. This task linked in well with the lecture and with the second workshop.

The second workshop was the first input was dance. The focus of the workshop was knowing the different parts of your body, bones, organs and ligaments which are in use when you do physical exercise. Another part was working in groups and getting a list of types of dance moves, but we were allowed our own specific moves within the types of moves. This allowed us, the learners, to control our own learning and add individuality into each of the different moves. This linked in well again to the “Room 13” lecture and the visual arts workshop as it was, theoretically, “pupil led” and there are lots of opportunities to be creative.

There are clear links between visual arts and dance. Dance could also be considered a visual art as it is all about formation and is seen by an audience. There are lots of different types dance which vary in very different things. Visual arts are the same and no one piece is the same. Both art forms can be original and unique which help people who have deep interests in these arts become more confident and creative.

References
Adams, J (et al) (2008) Teaching Through Contemporary Art: Report on Innovative Practices in the Classroom. London: Tate Publishing
McAuliffe, D (2013) Art and Design Education. In T. Bryce and W. Humes (et al eds.) Scottish Education (4th Edition): Referendum, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Pres

Integrated Arts Blog – 25/09/18
This week really focused putting on different art forms together.

The lecture was based on “using stimuli to engage the arts.” This would be the likes of involving literacy and numeracy within the arts and making them more interesting for the children learning. One thing focused on was the Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter” and the different ways it has been adapted to make it more interesting to learn. Composer, Malcolm Arnold, had a different take on the poem and remastered it by animating the poem and adding music to it. This can make the literature more interesting and intriguing to study and it also lets the pupils add their own twist onto it and their own perspective on the poem. The music helps tell a story that the pupils might not see to begin with. It helps children understand the meaning of the literature and the animation helps tell the story of the poem which assists the child to realise that literature is not always the same thing and by adding art and music to the subject it can be a lot more interesting.

The music workshop was related to music telling a story. We listened to several pieces of music and had to write down how it made us feel. This made us think carefully about how different types of music effected our thoughts on things and how we related certain songs to various emotions. After that, we listened to a longer piece of music which varied in pace, sound and feeling. We then got into groups and had to create a story influenced by the music and how the tone and the speed of the music can make the story change instantly and unexpectedly. This could be integrated into a child’s writing as they can do creative story telling just by listening to one piece of music. We found that every group had a different story to present which reflected on how each person heard the music. Using this music can inspire us to think creatively through literacy and art.

In the arts workshop, we learned about Rod Taylor’s “Process, Form, Content and Mood.” We can use this model to help discuss and interrogate art objects with children. We looked at a picture of a white glove with one finger missing and that finger was red. As we did not know the background of the picture, we used Rod Taylor’s model to question the picture more and further our understanding of the art. Some questions asked in the model would be:
• Process – “What skills must the artist have possessed or required to produce such a work?”
• Form – “Does one colour predominate or do two or more have equal significance?”
• Content – “Was the subject matter observed directly, remembered or imagined?”
• Mood – “Does the work affect you, the viewer, in any way?”
These were only some of the questions for each section and it was clear that this model was effective in helping us question a piece of art and making us look for a deeper meaning within the artwork.

Overall, using art forms in the other parts of the curriculum is essential as it can make the learning for the child so much more interesting and pupils within the class will definitely be more engaged when doing literacy or numeracy if the material provided is just that bit different and fun.

Integrated Arts Blog 18/09/18

Creativity is something that is vital within the curriculum. It can be used in any subject and offers huge benefits to a child’s learning as it allows them to add their own personality and view on things which lets there be some individuality added to all aspects of their education.

This lecture was based around “Creativity Across Learning 3-18”. Various things were looked at during the lecture in terms of creativity however one thing mentioned was psychologist Csikszentmihalyi views on the topic. “So, the first step towards a more creative life is the cultivation of curiosity and interest” Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity – Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, New York: Harper Collins. If a child wants to be successful while being creative, there should be an initial want to be different and to step away from the ordinary. This linked in well with our first workshop of the day which was music.

In this workshop, we were shown a music website for schools called Charanga. (https://charanga.com/site/) This website provides different teachings of music for each level of school and comes with different activities and instructions to help give pupils the best learning. After this we were all given glockenspiels and were told to do an improvisation solo for 32 counts. This meant we had to be creative. This linked in well with the theme of the lecture and Csikszentmihalyi’s quote. There was curiosity towards the task and interest to make your own solo different compared to everyone else’s. The task made everyone a bit apprehensive to performing individually in front of the full class but nevertheless, it was a chance to be creative and add some individuality to the song.

This also linked well the art workshop we had afterwards. In this workshop, we created our own paintbrushes with various materials like wool and straw. This could be a very creative task to do with primary aged pupils as it allows them to do anything they want to an originally very basic item. The next activity was painting with the brush we had just made. We were told a scene and had to paint it how we imagined it in our minds using only 4 colours; red, blue, yellow and white. This meant we could make a variety of colours with just a small selection to begin with. The task also meant we had to be imaginative and creative which led to everyone’s paintings to be very different. Individuality and creativity were key parts of the lecture and both the workshops and provided a different perspective on how to teach children the arts. Everything does not need to be restricted to black and white and the rules do not always need to be followed, especially when teaching such a diverse subject. However, it is important that other subjects receive the same amount of creativity as it will aid the children’s learning and help them become more interested in education.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity – Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, New York: Harper Collins.