Visual Arts

In this workshop our class as a whole, analysed children’s visual art work, art created by 3 year old ranging to work created by the senior phase of secondary school. I found it very interesting to see how the children’s ability within the arts develops over the years. As well as seeing that everyone has  their own unique way when it comes down to expressing themselves in the arts.

From an early age children enjoy making marks. This is closely linked with a number of stage theories by the work of Lowenfield and Brittain (1987). The 4 stages are closely linked with children’s age for example the pre-schematic stage is where children from ages 4-7 are seen to perform. However, as the times have moved, as educators we tend not to slot children into these stages as we appreciate that children come from different backgrounds, cultures and often progress at different times as one another.

It is important that we also make cross curricular links with the expressive arts. As numeracy and literacy often take priorities in the classroom, it is important that we can incorporate the arts into these areas of the curriculum. This may help children understand areas that are more difficult for them, and they may also find enjoyment in an area of difficulty. As educators we can set different tasks for example giving children a story and then asking the children to draw pictures over the words which might engage the children. We want children to express their literacy and numeracy through art.

 

Music

The introduction to music in today’s workshop was very interactive and fun! The workshop was based on different types of music and how it made us feel.

The lecture began by 5 different pieces of music being played and we were to write down how it made us feel. We then had a whole class discussion which was interesting to see that music can make different people feel different things. After this, we were then played another piece of music. In groups, we were to create a story board that linked with the music. This was a great task as it allowed us to share our ideas, and create a completely random story. When discussing our stories at the end of the seminar, everyone had created a similar storyline. My skills of teamwork developed through this task as we had to work together to create the story behind the music.

We can use music throughout the curriculum. After creating the story board, we could have deepened our learning by creating a piece of writing. It is important that we understand that both music and arts can be integrated through other areas of the curriculum, such as literacy.

 

References :

Lowenfeld, V. and Brittain, W. (1987). Creative and mental growth. 8th ed. New York [u.a.]: Macmillan.