Evocative Objects

“Evocative objects bring together…the inseparability of thought and feeling in our relationship to things.” Turkle, (2012, p5)

Today was the first session in the Expressive Arts and Culture module. I was really looking forward to it as I gained a lot of insight, information and enjoyment last year on the module to do with creativity and the expressive arts. I particularly enjoy music and playing the piano and therefore would consider myself to be quite creative and thus was looking forward to this session as my confidence has certainly grown.

During today’s input we were mainly looking at the potential of using evocative objects within a classroom setting to develop teaching and learning. We were asked to bring an object which was evocative to us personally and share as to why this was the object we chose. I was surprised at the variety of objects that were brought in. For example there was a picture of a wedding, a necklace that was given to the person at birth, sketch books where this person put down their feelings into the pad, a ring and a watch. Every object had a great significance to the person and had its own meaningful story behind it. Everyone had a strong connection to the object and I was impressed with how these objects produced emotive feelings from the individual and as Hesse, Doug, et al (2012, p325) agree that “Objects are rich sources of inquiry; they invite us to observe closely, pose questions, forge connections, and anchor ideas in the concrete.” There was a great deal of discussion around each object.

I brought in for my own evocative object my gran’s watch that I was left after she passed away last February. I have to admit I did find it very hard to talk about this watch as it brought back many happy memories of my gran but also it gave me a feeling of sadness as it reminded me of the times we had together  that I really miss now. I remember my gran wearing this watch often and I used to always tell her how much I loved it and although my gran is not here anymore when I wear this watch strangely it makes me feel closer to her as I try to focus and think about the happy times. Turkle, (2011, p5) puts it succinctly as she says, “We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with.” This certainly is the case with my gran’s watch as when I wear it I think about her and although it makes me sad I still have her memories and that is why I love wearing it. Turkle states further that these emotive objects provide ‘universal powers of evocation.’

Within the classroom setting evocative objects could provide many foundations for several lessons. The discussion alone that would be provided from a classroom of children would develop the HOT skills (Higher Order Thinking) as the children would discuss the what, when, how, where, analysing, applying, evaluating and this would enhance their critical thinking through the use of Blooms Taxonomy Skills (1956).

As the objects are very evocative it would be a super way to provide inspirations for pieces of writing from the learners. They could write a poem or a personal piece of writing on their emotions and how the object makes them feel. Furthermore this could  be transferred over into a piece of art and the children could make, draw or design something related to their object. This would be hopefully straight forward for each child as they would all have their own individual objects and therefore have their own specific starting points and could take their creativity in any direction that they wanted. As Cone (2011, p. 89) suggests that children should be ‘creators of their own ideas’ and as teachers this ‘is one of the most powerful lessons we can teach.’

Using evocative objects within the classroom could be used right from primary one though to primary seven as even in the primary one class when I was on work experience I remember the children bringing in an object that was special to them to show at their ‘Show and Ask’ sessions. The differentiation could be shown as children in middle school could prepare short presentations for their peers on their evocative objects and as the children move into upper school some of the ideas I have mentioned in the previous paragraph to do with personal writing and art could be completed.

We finished off the session today using pipe cleaners and we were asked to be creative and make whatever we wanted. I did find this a lot harder as I wasn’t sure where to start whereas with the evocative object I did have a starting point that I felt comfortable with but as a teacher I realise that ‘Creativity is something that is nurtured,’ Harris (2016, p.55) and as a teacher I need to provide many and varied opportunities for the children to be creative.

References

Bloom,B. S.; Engelhart, M D.; Furst, E. J.’ Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company.

Cone, T. (2011) Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas for Creating Dances. London: Routledge.

Harris , A. (2016) Creativity and Education. London: Macmillan.

Hesse, Doug, et al. (2012) Reflective on Teaching, Learning and Living in Between.” College English, vol. 74, no. 4, 2012, pp. 325–350.

Turkle, S. (2011). Evocative objects 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.