Today we focused on learning with narrative and visual methods to construct meaning in and through expressive arts.
Originally I thought that writing a text would be the best form of communicating feelings and meanings. However, Diarmuid introduced us to drawing as a form of entry into a text that engages children in a way that they have not been engaged before (McAuliffe, 2021). Portraying messages through drawings is useful for children who do not have english as their first language.
Narrative art tells a story. The artist chooses the space and time and how the story is represented through the artwork (Eskew, 2014, p.4). Children can realise the significance of art in their lives by creating meaningful artwork that is relevant to their lives (Gnezda, 2009, cited in Eskew, 2014).
During the session we were instructed to read an article and convey the message of it through a drawing of our choice. My drawing can be seen below.
The article, by Ami Kantawala, was about the difficulties that teachers face during the ongoing pandemic and how much teaching has changed because of it. The drawing shows how before Covid-19 there was face to face, practical and beneficial learning but there is a crack to represent Covid-19 breaking the routine. On the opposite side of the crack is a teacher sitting alone and unhappy at a computer as she deals with the difficulties of remote learning. I can relate to this as due to Covid-19 I have had to complete university work from home and have missed out on seeing my friends for over a year. Our second year placement is not going ahead either therefore we will not get the classroom experience this year.
I believe that what we focused on this session will be useful to use in future practice to allow children to express themselves and tell stories without the need for words. It may allow them to open up more about their feelings as well as have a more suitable method of sharing thoughts.
The activity completed today achieves the following expressive arts experience and outcome:
Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design (EXA 0-05a, 1-05a, 2-05a).
(Education Scotland , no date).
References:
Education Scotland (2017) Expressive Arts Benchmarks. Available at: https://education.gov.scot/nih/Documents/ExpressiveArtsBenchmarksPDF.pdf (Accessed: 4 March 2021).
Eskew, D.J. (2014) Exploring How Narrative and Symbolic Art Impacts Artist, Researcher, Teacher and Communicates Meaning to Art in Students. Georgia State University. Available at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1165&context=art_design_theses (Accessed: 4 March 2021)
