This week in class we were learning about how children develop their skills through art with the incorporation of literacy to aid our own understanding of this. We started by reading an extract from Flemming, M (2012) The Arts in Education. We were asked to annotate drawings on the paper to describe the nature of th extract and illustrate the feelings and findings behind it. I found this method particularly interesting and also helpful. I had never used this method of learning beforehand so this allowed me to visualise what the paper was meaning and talking about instead of trying to write down more words.
From a teaching perspective, this activity has allowed me to think more about how cross curricular activities can be fused together through subjects such as art, literacy, mathsm science etc.
Later on in the afternoon we had the opportunity to look and a different variety of children’s art work from different stages of learning. We then talked about the different stages of children’s learning and development through art work. There are three different stages associated with child development through art and design. These ar 1- The scribbling stage (2-4 years) The Pre-Schematic stage (4-7 years) and The Gang Stage (9-12 years). (Mcauliffe,2007).
The Scribbling Stage
The scribbling stage takes place mainly between the ages of 2 and four. This stage consists mostly of lines and what are considered scribbles. Many people view this as work not worthy of being art as thee is no meaning to it and no detail to it. I chose a picture that stood out to me in the art collection because of the bright colours. It is clear that this child has been trying to express feeling or emotion, or simply trying to express what their favourite colours are. Whatever the meaning, it isn’t clear that there is meaning behind the art work.this should always be shown to a child that you are interested in their work and that their work is valued and not just disregarded.
Towards the end of this stage children begin to focus more on specific details of objects they are using in their artwork. For example, a child could be drawing a dog and will draw, eyes, a tail, ears, mouth etc but will perceive the detail of things such as claws and fur as well as in the pre-schematic stage.
.
The Pre-schematic Stage
This stage normally takes place between the ages of 4-7. This is the stage when children start to add in more detail to their art work and this will progress as they move through primary. Children are still likely to experiment with their art work at this stage but there is a bit more teacher input and more structure as classes are more structured in this stage of primary school. Many people argue that it is teacher influence which encourage children to add in more detail or create art in certain ways due to deadlines or a strive for certain objects/certain looks due to class projects or topics.
For example, the first picture below is an indicator of the start of the pre schematic stage as the painting is sort of free flowing and imaginative. The piece also looks to have had a lot of time spent on it and uses a wide range of colours with quite a lot of detail in it. however, the second picture shows to have been drawn in pencil at most parts, if not all and then been drawn over in pen. This drawing also could be part of a religious wall display and so could Ben expected to look a certain way for display purposes. Hence, suggesting that the imaginative side of children’s art is being reduced towards the end of the pre-schematic stage.
The Gang Stage
The final stage of child development in art is The Gang Stage which usually occurs between the age of 9-12). In this stage of development, children are most likely to add even more detail into their work and still spend time on their work. However, many children become disheartened with their work due to the expectations set by teachers for their art work to look a certain way and to have certain fine details. For most children, this is not expressive of their true capabilities in art and many children tend not to engage in art after primary school due to self view as not having the skills to produce ‘quality art’.
I have chosen this piece of art work to represent this stage as it shows the progression of the use of colour and tone along with the use of much finer detail than the previous stages in order to produce a quality piece of art. I believe that this is he most important stage also, for teachers to provide children with a lot of support in the arts as it will help children become more confident in their art work in the future. However, I understand that this may be difficult for schools because of a lack of specialist subject knowledge in art by primary teachers and so art may end up getting lost and looked at as not of as much importance as many other subjects take over that are considered more important in many people’s eyes.
In conclusion to this weeks lecture and workshop, I have realised that there are multiple ways that children can learn through art which can be introduced in cross curricular activities, just like the way I learned a new technique to understand something easier by drawing what I was reading. This could be incorporated though literacy, maths and a wide rage of subjects.
I now understand how important it is to support children through their art work and how valuable and important it is to allow them to be creative and expressive through their own art work. Csikszentmihalyi (1996) states that creativity can be stimulated through surrounding environments. Hence, it is important that educators provide an environment that learners can gain positive experiences and opportunities which will help the child develop in the arts and in social and personal skills. By effectively practising this, I can ensure that I will be doing my best and using all the skills I can to provide children with a quality education that is fun and expressive through art.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity – Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, New York: Harper Collins.
Fleming, M.(2012). The arts in Education: an introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.
McAuliffe, D.(2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. Cox,S, Watts, R., Grahame, J., Herne, S. and McAuliffe, D. (eds). Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum. pp:26-29
