This week we had two workshops, an art workshops and a music workshop. Both workshops were very interactive and practical. I thoroughly enjoyed both of the workshops and I found them very beneficial for my own knowledge and understanding and also for my practice as a teacher.

In the first worskshop, we were learning about fugue notes as a class. I had never seen figure notes before despite taking music for 6 years as a subject in secondary school. I suppose this is one of the misconceptions in music, that everything needs to be played by following black and white sheet music. I found the figure notes very easy and interactive to use no I would love to use these with a class of my own. Figure notes are easy for children to use as it is simply a labelling process of colours and shapes. It is also less daunting for children that sheet music.

Pictures of figure notes and the tunes we were playing.

I enjoyed playing the tunes on the glockenspiel as it brought me back to being at school. I initially found using the figure notes quite hard because I was so used to playing with sheet music, however, with a bit of practice I found it easier to adapt to using the figure notes.

I like using the figure notes because no prior knowledge is required to play and instrument with them. If a group of adults who have little to no prior knowledge can play using figure notes then anyone can, including children who have never played an instrument before. With time and practice,any child could play music using figure notes. In this day and age,children should be able to be involved in everything despite level of skill and using figure notes there is no limitations to playing music.

In this session we also took part in a class improvisation of ‘Hit the Road Jack’. We were each asked to complete an improvisation of 16 beats using the pentatonic scale which consists of 5 notes. I enjoyed this activity because I felt more confident after taking part in it. This would be a good lesson to teach in a class because it would help build confidence in children as the notes used all sound good together and so whatever the children play can’t sound wrong. There isn’t no limitation to what they can play, they can play as simple or as fancy as they like.

I throughly enjoyed this workshop because everything that we participated in, I think I would use with a wide range of primary children of all ages. I think that this would keep children engaged in the learning because it is extremely fun and practical.

 

In workshop 2 we were in the art studio again. Firstly, we were asked to focus on creativity around painting. At first, I wasn’t really into the idea as it was very messy but as the activity went in, I just got into it and thought to myself, just let your hair down and have fun with it. I realised in this workshop in particular that there isn’t a real need for art in education because this might be the only opportunity that children get to be truly creative and have the chance to get messy as they may not be allowed to at home.

So, first things first we made our own paintbrush. I made my paintbrush from a variety of materials, this included; willow for the base of the brush, cotton wool, wool, string, foam shapes, feathers, sellotape and masking tape. I loved making my own paintbrush because it allowed my personality and creativity to shine through by adding different element different to a mainstream, stereotypical paintbrush.

Here is the process of my paintbrush being created.

 

 

As you can see in the pictures above, the process goes from step to step by adding different elements that can be used for different parts/techniques when painting. For example, I used the Pom Pom at the end of the paintbrush to try and create the ‘whispy clouds’ in the painting.

I learned from this activity that it is important to let children make their own paintbrush because it can be daunting for a child to paint with a mainstream paintbrush because it signifies detail and standards that they may not be able to deliver along leading to a feeling of failure in the child. There is also comparison to other children’s work, whereas, by using there own brush, there are no expectations and it allows a child to show their personality.

moving on to the actual painting. We were asked to paint a described landscape scene with hills, a river, rocks and so on. I wasn’t looking forward to it at first because it was very messy and it wasn’t what I was used to. However, I got stuck in and thoroughly enjoyed getting a bit messy and creative. I also found that by having limited colours (red,white,blue and yellow), I engaged more with my sense of creativity. I was mixing colours to try and create more colours instead of going and getting the colour from a bottle which was really fun. At first I was mixing the colours together on a palette but eventually gave up and just started mixing the colours together on the page to see what I could create. It was fun and enjoyable to get messy and experiment with colours as there was no expectations. It was my painting to experiment with.

This is something I would absolutely love to carry out in a class because I never got to do anything like this myself in primary school.by carrying out a lesson like this, it will allow children to feel proud of their work as no ones is the same. It encourages individuality and personality to shine through in children by using art work. It is important to be mindful as student teachers that without creativity, there would be no distinction between humans and other species and therefore, creativity is the pathways to a more fulfilled, satisfied and distinguished life (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013). It is evident that if creativity is allowed from childhood it will progress into adulthood, allowing many benefits to arise.

From both inputs today, it is clear that their is a link between creativity and the unknown. In visual arts, their is creativity in the sense of creating a paint brush of your own desire as well as interpreting art in your own way. In the music workshop, their is a link to creativity through the improvisation activity, creating a tune from your own mind. Their is unknowing established in these activities as children probably won’t have been exposed to them before. As well as this, their is the mess element in the visual arts that children may not have the opportunity to be involved with and so children may feel intimidated by the mess.

This activity is a very simple technique. However, to make our own paintbrush and mix our own colours is effectively promoting creativity as well as confidence and individuality in both adults and children. The activity is also extremely fun and engaging for children!

Here is the process of my painting below.

In this picture below, I noticed again, that interpretation was totally different and there was individuality in the different paintings. There is no way we can compare these pieces of art as every one is different but has beauty,meaning and skill behind it.

In conclusion, I referred back to the Tallis Pedagogical Wheel.

I looked at the persistent and inquisitive categories in the Tallis Wheel because I was tolerating uncertainty by having a tolerance for mess that I wouldn’t usually have and I was exploring and investigating by experiment with colour and textures.

References

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

Tallis, T. (2013) Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html. [ Accessed on 6th October 2017]