Introduction to Integrated Arts

Visual Art

I was really looking forward to starting the integrated arts module due to having a particular interest in music. However with visual arts and drama I was slightly apprehensive about starting due to the fear of performing in front of people.

The main focus of the lecture and workshops today was looking at the importance of the arts within the classroom and how every child’s work should be seen as significant and important. Their creativity should always be encouraged and cultivated especially within the classroom. Csiksgentmihalyi, (1996, p.1) points out that  ‘Without creativity, it would difficult to distinguish humans from other animals. Creativity leads to a fuller, more satisfying life.’ Thus within the classroom there are many and varied opportunities through creative arts to be creative and lead a richer life.

In the first part of the lecture we looked at the Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel to show how the arts help to be  imaginative, inquisitive, collaborative, persistent and disciplined. I was amazed at how much the arts contributes to the development of a child. Referring back to Csiksgentmihalyi, (1996) with the importance of creativity this Tallis Wheel agrees as the inquisitiveness of a child would be developed by ‘ask, wonder, question, speculate, investigate, examine and explore.’ This has shown me the importance the arts can have on a child’s  creativity and this is only one aspect of the Tallis  Wheel that I have considered.

In the visual arts workshop we were shown the importance of how every piece of mark making is important and portrays a message by the illustrator.  Our lecturer took a piece of A3 paper and drew scribbles and marks on it, proceeding to show the class his work where one of the students was to put the work in the  bin. This was to show how the child would have felt in that situation. I will now be very aware in class that no matter what a child produces, I will discuss it with them, build their confidence by praising them and challenging them to provide more detail or enhance their drawing somehow. Everyone has their own interpretation of their drawing, we can all draw no matter our stage and age, although some are more confident than others.

Music

In the music workshop we listened to five pieces of music that were all completely different and had to describe how the music made us feel. This would enhance the children talking and listening skills within the classroom and therefore there would be learning across the curriculum as this includes literacy skills.  The next music activity showed me that we all have different ideas and preconceptions that manifest themselves in our thinking about different things. Today we had to work in groups and listen to a long piece of music and make a story that represented the different aspects to the music. This was a great imaginative activity that children could work on to express their creativity and realise that there is no right or wrong answer therefore it would build up their confidence especially for the children who struggle in other areas of the curriculum for example maths or literacy but here their imaginative ideas would be valued and they would feel a sense of importance and belonging. Again reinforcing the Tallis Wheel of collaboration by sharing discussing and co- operating as an equal within the group.

Finally we briefly looked at how arts help with health and wellbeing of the child. Looking at the poster below you can see that art benefits through care environments, medical training, art therapies and everyday creativity projects to mention but a few.

Therefore after the lecture today, I have come to realise the significance of my role as a teacher that it  is crucial in the development of integrated arts as McAuliffe, D(2007, p.29) states ‘The teacher’s role is to interact with individual children who are finding their own identity, their own means of understanding and communicating and their own powers of creativity.’

References

Csiksgentmihalyi, M. (2013) Creativity Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Harper Colins

McAuliffe, D.  (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching in Art and Design 3- 11. London: Continuum

Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 5th November2017]