Blog 3 – 24th September 2019

Our focus within the lecture today was based on Room 13 which has been running since 1994. Room 13 is based on the 13th Room in an old abandoned school where pupils created art however although that school no longer exists, the practices are still being continued. Room 13 allows pupils to determine their own learning as the product of their work will be more richer (Halliday et al, 2018). Room 13 allowed pupils to gain critical thinking whilst doing art work as they are having to select the correct resources to bring their vision in their head alive on paper.  Room 13 highlights the importance of never allowing two pupils to create the same picture as you are denying their individuality and minimising their own success to create their own image (Williams, 2017).

During the Art workshop, we created our own paintbrushes individually. We use small paintbrushes within art lessons as they are easier to handle, less messy and they are all the same therefore pupils aren’t pressured into having a better picture. This takes pupils away from the standard paintbrush expectations. By creating our own paintbrush, it tested our imagination and critical thinking skills as it was so important we used the correct materials as we had to use our paintbrushes to create a picture. Here is my paintbrush:

When creating our picture with our paintbrush, we were only given primary colours. It is important when doing a task like this to not use paint pallets as it prevents teachers from avoiding Art in the classroom because they have to clean up the mess therefore if there is no paint pallets there is no mess and this then takes away the issue for teachers.

Our task was to create a Scottish Highlands painting with our paintbrushes. We were asked to listen to a short passage and then create our own version of the passage with our imagination of what the passage would look like on the paper. For example we were told things such as :

  • It was green, hilly and beautiful
  • There was trees
  • The upper third of the picture is the cloudy blue sky
  • There were mountains to the left
  • A loch running towards the left
  • The ground was very dark and rusty

Here is the start of my painting which was my interpretation of the passage:

This activity was a problem based activity as we didn’t have to ask to re-hear the story as we used our own imaginations to create our own pictures on what we thought the Highland passage would look like. I would definitely try this activity in the class as it develops play as pupils are able to play about with resources and materials they think are beneficial for their picture and brings the passage to life by using their own imaginations (Sharp, 2001).

Our drama workshops were based on History controversy. We worked on our new drama conventions such as:

  • Mime – Acting out a scene without speaking
  • Monologue- When one person speaks within the drama and explains how they are feeling
  • Voices in Head- When two people speak. One person explains how they feel about something and the other explains how they feel with a contrasting opinion.

                                                             

The first history image we were to portray was based on WW2 and the treatment of the Jewish people. Within our short scene, our group created the picture of a Jewish person walking into a shop. We used the monologue drama convention to indicate how the Jewish person felt when they were forcefully kicked out the shop for being Jewish.

The second scene we created was based on the disaster that occurred at Grenfell Tower when it was burnt down. We created the scene of a family having different opinions by using the voices in head drama convention to indicate that the kids wanted to stay there with all the toys and their friends however the Mum and Dad wanted out the tower as soon as possible to keep their family safe.

By completing this activity within the classroom, pupils are able to develop an understanding of what happened in our world by creating role play about injustices people have faced across the world (Gabora, 2017). It also them to identify the impact they can have on certain peoples lives.

Overall, it is crucial that as teachers we never expect pupils work to look the same as everyone’s imaginations are different and unique. Also to ensure that you don’t show pupils what to do but to tell them so that they can come up with their own ideas rather than someone elses .

 

REFERENCES

 

Gabora, L. (2017) What Creativity Really is- and why Schools Needs It. [Online] Available: https://theconservation.com/what-creativity-really-is-and-why-schools-need-it-81889. [Accessed: 24th September 2019].

Halliday, A.J. Kern, M.L. Garrett, D.R and Turnbull, D.A. (2018) The Student Voice in Wellbeing: A Case Study of Participatory Action Research in Positive Education. Journal of Educational Action Research. [Online] Vol.27(12), pg. 173-196. Available: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09650792.2018.1436079. [Accessed:24th September 2019].

Sharp, C, (2001) Developing Young Children’s Creativity Through the Arts: what does Research Have to Offer. [Online] Available: https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/44420/44420.pdf [Accessed: 24th September 2019].

Williams, M.K. (2017) John Dewey in the 21st Century. Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education. [Online] Vol 9(1), pg. 91-100. Available: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1158258.pdf [Accessed: 24th September  2019].

 

 

 

 

 

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