Megan Baines UWS ITE ePDP – Just another blogs.glowscotland.org.uk

Learning with narrative and visual methods to construct meaning in and through the Expressive Arts

For this week’s session, we took the learning outdoors and went to Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. I often visited this museum when I was a young child but I have not been in a very long time. This was a fantastic learning experience as we got the opportunity to take part in various work shops and activities, ones that are available to primary schools across the country. It allowed me to witness the amazing opportunities and learning experiences that a trip to a museum would give to a class of pupils. I found that not being in the university classroom made the learning experience more engaging and stimulating right from the start and I was very intrigued to find out what the rest of the afternoon had to offer.

DCSM (2003-2004) suggest that “Museums inspire powerful and identity-building learning in children, young people and community members”. I think this is an important fact to consider, especially with the educational opportunities that museums offer to schools and nurseries. I was interested to discover that Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum offer many educational sessions for nursery, primary and secondary school classes. They ensure that these sessions cover areas of the curriculum to provide an effective and efficient learning experience for the children. We were given a handbook that outlined some of the experiences they offer to pupil’s and the curricular areas and levels that they would be suitable for. I took this resource home as I feel that it will be very beneficial to have whilst on placement.

This is a section of the handbook that outlines the experiences the museum offer to schools.

Our afternoon began, by having the chance to observe a group of primary children taking part in a learning session about the ancient Egyptians. The children appeared to be very engaged and stimulated throughout the session. They were given the opportunity to hold real-life artifacts from the Egyptian time period, and discuss what they think the object might be, what it was used for and so on. Opportunities like this one, allow for pupils to develop their cognitive skills by being asked higher-order thinking questions as well as develop their knowledge and understanding in an engaging, exciting and fun way, one that they would not get in the classroom. As a group, we were able to take part in a similar activity where we got to touch and smell various Victorian artifacts and try and guess what they were. I found this very difficult and I will admit that I did not guess any of them correctly.

This was one of the artifacts that we had to guess the purpose of.

My most enjoyable part of the day was getting the chance to create my own version of the floating heads that are displayed within the gallery. I always loved looking at the floating heads when I was younger, as I was often fascinated and intrigued by the different expression that each face held. The woman gave us step by step instructions and a demonstration on how to create our floating heads. We were actively encouraged to use our imagination and creative abilities so that everyone had a different floating head. I tried to make my floating head look like myself but I don’t think I achieved that aim very well. I will let you make your own judgement on that.

Another part of the afternoon that I was really happy to experience was seeing the painting “Windows in the West” by Avril Paton. We have previously looked and studied this painting and even took inspiration from it for our print making so it was an incredible opportunity to see this painting in real-life. It was a lot larger than I had initially expected and it was an excellent opportunity to see and appreciate the detail and work that went into this painting.

Overall, I found this input a very informative, enjoyable, interesting and engaging learning experience. I can appreciate the benefits of taking pupils to an art gallery and museum, like this one, as it provides them with opportunities that they wouldn’t get to experience within the classroom. A trip like this can make a topic, being taught in school, more exciting, fun, engaging and enjoyable for the pupils. Additionally, DCSM (2003-2004) further suggest that museums “Target and motivate disadvantaged individuals and groups effectively”. This is something that I strongly agree with and is something that I have actually witnessed throughout my placement. There is a boy in my class who often struggles to maintain focus and listen throughout lessons such as mathematics or literacy and english. However, when he was taking part in an arts lesson which involved designing their Titanic boats he excelled, engaged and participated fully in the lesson. Therefore, I believe than an opportunity to visit an art gallery and museum would be a huge benefit not only for this particular child but for many children as they are given the chance to explore, use their imagination and be creative in a real-life manner.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I said that I would attach a picture of my finished concrete poetry. I am very pleased with my finished outcome as I feel like I managed to demonstrate my evocative object and the feelings and emotions attached with it in a creative, engaging, stimulating way which is pleasing to the eye. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of creating this piece of art, it allowed me to reflect, increase my confidence, build on existing knowledge and develop new skills. This is an experience that I would love to do with pupils as I think creating a piece of art work that you are emotionally attached to keeps you engaged, concentrated and it makes the experience more enjoyable.

References:

DCSM, (2003-2004) Inspiration, Identity, Learning: The Value of Museums. [Online] Available: https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/21/1/Inspiration%2C%20Identity%2C%20Learning_The%20value%20of%20museums.pdf [Accessed: 23rd February 2018]

Learning in and through the Outdoor Environment in the Expressive Arts

This session aimed to highlight the benefits of allowing children the opportunity to experience art through the outdoor environment. I was not present for this lesson so I do not know what activities took place, however I have carried out some personal research to increase my knowledge and understanding of learning in and through the outdoor environment in the expressive arts.

I believe that is vital that children are provided with numerous opportunities to take their learning outside the classroom, especially with the arts, as children are still able to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills whether they are in a classroom or in the playground. Adams (2008) says that allowing children to engage in art projects using the outdoors will “nurture different ways of thinking and feeling, provide opportunities for active learning and problem solving, develop skills of perception, communication and invention and encourage the exploration of different social roles and relationships.” Therefore as a future educator, it is my role to ensure that I provide the pupils with opportunities to develop these skills and learn from their peers in a fun, engaging and safe learning environment.

I believe that teachers should use the outdoors for lessons as it provides the children with a vast amount of space, opportunities to develop their physical and mental health, provides them with constant states of curiosity as well as the opportunities to explore as well as the options to use and create things from natural resources. Whilst researching the benefits of teaching outdoors I found a manifesto from The Learning Outside the Classroom (2006) which states: “Every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.” This outlined to me the importance of providing all children, regardless of their age, ability or circumstance, with the chance to experience their learning of the arts in an outdoor environment. I believe it is vital for me to take their age, ability, circumstance and stage of development into account when planning the lesson but they should all have the same opportunity to experience the outdoor environment for their learning.

On reflection, I feel that learning in and through the outdoor environment is often overlooked and undervalued throughout education. Teachers often appear to have concerns about taking children outside, in regards to time management, safety, lack of control and adhering to important guidelines and documents. It is important to note that you do not need vast amounts of green space to produce a fun and engaging lesson, a simply playground with various trees and bushes will capture a child’s curiosity and imagination and therefore lead to a more creative result. In a different module called ‘Sustainable Development’ we were given the opportunity to take markings from leaves and trees outdoors using different coloured pencils to allow us to explore the different textures felt on the leaves and trees. This was an excellent opportunity to combine science and art, it was a very engaging, knowledgeable and fun lesson, one that I think many pupil’s would enjoy to participate in.

As a student teacher, I often feel anxious and worried about taking the children outside as I feel that I might have a lack of control and pupils could get lost, hurt or messy. However, it is important for me to get over this fear and realise that I should be confident in my own abilities and my fears and worries should not impact on the pupil’s learning.

Throughout this week, I had been working on my concrete poetry at home to hopefully have completed next week to hand in to our lecturer. I have been paying particular focus to the piece of writing incorporating 62 words on our feelings and emotions surrounding our evocative object. I have added more words, drawn the symbol and included a range of materials such as cardboard love hearts to provide texture, depth and creativity to my piece of work. Next week, I will have my poster completed and will post some pictures of the final piece.

My poster with the symbol and some more words focusing on my feelings and emotions around my evocative object.

This is my poster, including colours and different material to provide texture and depth.

References:

Adams, E. (2008) Art and Design Education and the Built Environment. In Coutts, G. and Jokela, T. (Eds) Art, Community and Environment: Education Perspectives. Bristol: Intellect.

British Government, (2006) Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto. [Online] Available: http:// www.lotc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/G1.-LOtC-Manifesto.pdf [Accessed: 11th February 2018]

Learning through the concept of STEM to STEAM

This week’s input focused on the concept STEM to STEAM. Prior to this lesson, I lacked a lot of knowledge and understanding regarding this concept. I had not heard of STEM to STEAM before and was very intrigued to develop my understanding of this concept, as I believe that as a student teacher it is vital that I fully understand this concept to create more effective, efficient, fun and enjoyable lessons for the pupils.

The terms STEM and STEAM both stand and mean different things. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics whereas STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM, 2018). When looking at this concept, I considered the question that many people might ask and one I asked myself: How does a teacher combine science and art?. Science and the arts are both experimental subjects and therefore carry an element of risk. This could be a risk of an experiment going wrong or entering the ‘unknown’ with an art piece. It is important to realise that the arts can be used as a positive resource to help carry the more difficult subjects like mathematics, science or technology. This was demonstrated throughout the input today. As part of this session, we looked through leaflets of festivals and exhibitions held at Dynamic Earth. From this, it was apparent how easily art can be integrated with subjects like science and technology.

It is crucial to realise that introducing STEAM does not mean less time is spent on STEM subjects and more time is spent on the arts, but it is about applying creative thinking to STEM projects, and enhancing children’s creativity and imagination through the arts. As an aspiring teacher, I need to ensure I find the most suitable and natural ways for art to fit into the STEM subjects. Using STEAM, allows pupil’s the opportunity “to utilize their artistic talents to generate innovative thinking” (Teach Hub, n.d.). Therefore, as a student teacher, I need to bring ambition, creativity and confidence to the future jobs that I acquire.

It is important for teachers to give the pupils a range of experiences and opportunities in school that they wouldn’t be able to do at home. Educators should think outside the box with their lessons, to spark imagination and innovation within the pupils. It is vital to remember and acknowledge that children relish the opportunity to go to places in their minds and work from their imagination, and they have an innate ability to do this easily. However, this is something that perhaps gets lost or is diminished the older they get. There is a quote by Ken Robinson (2001) that I feel sums this up perfectly “We don’t grow into creativity; we grow out of it. Often we are educated out of it.” I want to ensure to provide opportunities for pupils to experience the concept of STEAM and foster this ability in all of the pupils at a level suitable to them, with consideration to their age and stage of development.

After having discussed STEM to STEAM as a class, we then moved on to continuing our artwork based on our evocative object. We were encouraged to create a piece of writing, no longer than 62 words, and use it as a stimulus to create a piece of art. I was unsure at first how I wanted mine to look, therefore I tried a few different ideas before creating the final product. I knew the different words and emotions that I wanted to include throughout my image but I was not confident in the position, font and style of the words throughout my art piece. I began writing different feelings and emotions on a piece of paper to include into my piece of art. This week I considered my reflections from last week and took them on board. Therefore, I began to change my piece of art by taking a new piece of paper and using gold paint and light brushstrokes for my background. Once the paint was dry, I began to lightly wright some of the feelings and emotions connected with my evocative object. Next week, I will begin to incorporate the symbol and colour throughout my piece of art.

This was the beginning of my new piece of art work. I used light brush strokes to add depth to my painting.

I began incorporating different feelings and emotions connected to my evocative object. I tried to use various styles and fonts throughout my words.

Throughout the past few weeks, I have found that having the opportunity to work on this artwork over a period of time has enabled me to create something more effective and meaningful and I have had a lot of fun and enjoyment whilst creating it. From having more time to work on the artwork, allowed more creative ideas to flow that otherwise would not have occurred or had the chance to come to life. What is making this piece of art so enjoyable is that it is all of my own ideas, imagination and memories that are being incorporated to my creation.

On reflection, I have found this input very helpful, knowledgeable and enjoyable. I believe that STEAM is the correct way to move forward in education and I want to ensure that throughout my placement I engage with STEAM and and provide the pupils with opportunities to become confident individuals, successful learners, responsible citizens, and effective contributors as detailed in the Curriculum for Excellence. Robinson (2001) stated that “If creativity is to become central to our futures, it first has to move to the heart of education”. I fully agree with this statement and believe that creativity needs to become more apparent and central within the Curriculum for Excellence.

References:

STEAM, (2018) Stem to Steam. [Online] Available: http://stemtosteam.org/ [Accessed 4th February 2018]

Teach Hub, (n.d.) STEM vs STEAM: What is Better?. [Online] Available: http://www.teachhub.com/stem-vs-steam-what-is-better [Accessed 4th February 2018]

Robinson, K. (2001) Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Oxford, Capstone.

Education Scotland. (2017) What is Curriculum for Excellence? [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence [Accessed: 4th February 2018].

Learning in and through the process of Print Making

This week’s input focused on learning through the process of print. Prior to the input, I decided to research print making in further detail to enhance my knowledge and understanding ahead of the session. I was able to find that print making is “the form and process of applying a work of art to another surface” (Science Leadership, 2017). I was intrigued to discover the various materials that can be used to create your print, ranging from paper, fabric, plastic, polystyrene and card. It is important to remember that in print making, there is more than one version of it’s original made. Reflecting on our ‘Integrated Arts’ module I remember creating our own prints based on the painting ‘Windows in the West’ (1993) by Avril Paton. And from this, I recall using a variety of materials and there being various steps before we had our finished product. I was interested to discover the affect print making had on various artists, it was suggested that print making was revolutionary because it was another way to be creative through art. Through this research, I found that the roots of print making ran far back and since then has collectively grown with more types of printing. This type of art had also made it possible to capture moments of history from centuries ago (Science Leadership, 2017).

Whilst researching, I discovered a lino print of a portrait of a woman by Nancy Bradley. This piece of art really interested and captivated me as I noticed, very quickly, the unique facial expression that the artist managed to capture in the woman’s face. I detected that the expression was one of a bold manner, as if the woman is of a high prestige to others or it could be that she is looking down on others. My interpretation of the woman is that she is strong minded, independent and high achieving. Whilst looking at the piece of art, various thoughts ran through my head such as: I wonder what the woman was thinking in the picture, why did the artist decided to create a woman of this manner, what was the artist thinking when they decided to create the facial expression on the woman’s face. I enjoyed and appreciated the fact that the colors were kept simple, with just black and white, as the value of colors helped me to see where the light was captured on the woman’s face. I think the colors that were used provided a sense of mystery with the painting and provided a good design for the painting. .

Lino Print- Portrait of a Woman by Nancy Bradley.

I felt that with my prior research and experience with print making, I had an adequate amount of knowledge, understanding and skills ahead of this session. During the session, we were all given the opportunity to further develop our knowledge and understanding of printmaking through reading a document by Yorkshire Sculpture Park called ‘Exploring Printmaking’. provides teachers with input on how to use printmaking in the classroom. This document outlines the purposes of printmaking, how it can be used for cross curricular lesson and gives examples of the practical elements of printmaking like how to set up a classroom and keep it tidy. Through reading this document it highlighted to me the significant opportunities that print making can give children, of all ages, as they are able to experiment and explore visual art.

As a student teacher, it is a brilliant opportunity to be introduced to various resources that will help us along our journey of becoming a future educator. A resource like ‘Exploring Printmaking’ allows me to develop my knowledge and understanding of this concept and in turn increase my own confidence and self-esteem in teaching printmaking and using it within the curriculum guidelines. I appreciate the various skills that print making provides for a child such as encouraging them to problem solve, have creative discussions and work effectively with others.

During today’s session we also had the opportunity to begin our artwork for our evocative object. Our evocative objects were to inspire us to create our own concrete poetry. Concrete poetry “creatively operates with space as an additional expressive category by arranging words in non-linear patterns across the page.” (Poetry beyond text, 2018). Therefore, this session gave us the time and assistance to begin our concrete poetry and we were to use this time to express our thoughts and feelings through design. At the start of this session, I didn’t know where to begin or how I wanted to express my evocative object and the feelings attached to it on a piece of paper. As my evocative object was my ‘You Matter Always’ (YMA) card I decided to begin with drawing the YMA symbol. The YMA symbol holds a special place in my heart as I have the symbol tattooed on my ankle to signify the strength of my mum and how she has suffered trauma throughout her life and still has the strength to continue in her life. It also reminds me that I matter always, that my thoughts, feelings and emotions are of value and I should never forget that.

When creating my symbol, I found it very difficult to get the size and scale of the symbol correct. I decided to stick with the same color scheme that my mum went with, I love the colour purple as it signifies ambition, strength, power, peace and independence. It reminds me to continue making goals throughout my life, to be independent and to be strong and not let my worries get me down or stop me from achieving my goals. I began my creation, using oil pastels however I quickly realised that oil pastels can be difficult when trying to merge two colors together. As the symbols colours range from light to dark purple and then some white, to reflect the dark and light within the symbol I wanted to convey this in my drawing. On reflection, it was clear that the oil pastels did not work and therefore I decided to draw the symbol again and this time use chalk. I decided to use chalk as I wanted to feel the colours blend and form together.

Looking at the start of my creative poetry I am not entirely pleased with it and therefore I want to reflect this week on what it is I don’t like about my creation so far and what it is I would like to change. I want to ensure that I make my creative poetry meaningful and convey the message of ‘You Matter Always’ therefore it is vital that I get this correct before this module finishes.

On reflection I feel that this session was of great value. It allowed me to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills of print making. It also gave me the opportunity to use my thoughts and emotions related to my evocative object and express them through visual art which is something I feel should be encouraged in the classroom. When considering using printmaking within the classroom, two things came to my mind and that is that in order to make something more engaging, the work should be more personal or have a connection to something else, a real life connection or purpose. Printmaking can fit into both of these options therefore furthering the chances that I will use it for a future lesson.

References:

Bourn Creative, (2011). Color Meaning: Meaning of the Color Purple. [Online] Available: https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-purple/ [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Science Leadership Academy, (2017). Printmaking. [Online] Available: https://scienceleadership.org/blog/printmaking-11 [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Art Grab, (2016). This is Nancy Brandley’s lino print portrait of a woman. [Online] Available: http://art-grab.tumblr.com/post/140696690555/this-is-nancy-brandleys-lino-print-portrait-of-a [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Poetry Beyond Text. (2018) Concrete Poetry. [Online] Available: http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/concrete-poetry.html [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, (n.d.) Exploring Printmaking. [Online] Available: file:///C:/Users/Suzanne/Downloads/ignite-teacher-resource-printmaking%20(1).pdf [Accessed 28th January 2018]

Learning through Animation

This week’s input focused on learning through animation. I was able to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to animation and the various ways it can be used within the arts and within education. Animation can be described in numerous different ways, the main one being “the process of making films in which drawings or puppets appear to move” (Collins Dictionary, 2018).

I was very amazed and interested to find that some of the first discoveries of animation were traced back to the Egyptian times, where there were sequences of images used to decorate the walls of Egyptian tombs. Since then, capturing motion has been a main search and theme for artistic endeavor and with the advancement in technology it has allowed for animation to become diverse. Animation can range from motion pictures and games to medicine and scientific stimulation. As a child, some of my earliest and favorite movies were created through the form of animation, Walt Disney and Dreamworks are some of the twentieth-first century animators that created animated film cartoons such as Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Donald Duck and the Jungle Book. From my own experiences with animation, I enjoyed the fact that it gave life to the characters, it allows you to explore your own imagination and experience a different form of art.

Through my own research and discussion in class, I was interested to discover the ways in which animation can have a positive effect in education. I was able to find that animation gives pupils the opportunity to develop their literacy and visual literacy skills, build problem-solving skills, discriminate and interpret action and images, encourage critical thinking (e.g. which looks better, why does that one look better) and encourage collaboration and co-operation with their peers. As a student teacher, it is vital to appreciate how relevant and important it is to teach children about animation. I believe it should be used across the curriculum as a creative resource for pupils to explore and stimulate a wide range of themes and ideas and create their own animations.

I was fascinated to find the many ways to explore animation in art without the use of technology. During this input we discussed a form of moving image called flick books. It was interesting to discover that from the invention of flick books and other early animated toys, inspiration was found and gave the idea of moving pictures based on real life which in turn created the cinema. I found that flick books are an easy, enjoyable and exciting way to create a series of animations. When creating my own flick book, I decided to start with a simple idea of a stick man waving. For this all I needed was post-it notes and a pen. On reflection, I found that the post-it notes were difficult to flick and therefore in the future I would try to use index cards as they are thicker and therefore would be easier to flick.

This is my first step in my creation of a flick book.

This is my second stage in my creation of a flick book.

This is the third step in my creation of a flick book.

This is the fourth step in the creation of my flick book.

This is the final stage in my creation of a flick book.

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From having the opportunity to develop and create my own flick book, it gave me the knowledge and inspiration in creating an activity, similar to this one, throughout my placement. As an aspiring teacher, I can appreciate the difficulty in finding the resources and time to accommodate more advanced, creative activities. However, I do believe that the expressive arts is a vital subject within the curriculum and therefore should be treated with the same respect as literacy and mathematics. For this activity, I only needed some post-it notes and a pen and it took me roughly 10 minutes to create. Therefore, lessons can be created to discuss the progression that technology has had on animation and children can sketch and make their own flick book to see where animation first began, be imaginative, have fun, be creative and work alongside their peers. Through my own research, I discovered that creating an activity with animation not only correlates with the ‘Expressive Arts’ subject within the curriculum but also ‘Technologies’. I found that there are numerous experiences and outcomes that would provide the desired learning for the pupils through an activity like this one.

This input allowed me to further develop my knowledge, understanding and skills of animation through the arts. It highlighted to me the importance of providing children with creative opportunities as they find excitement, enjoyment and wonder through their own creations. I have discovered various ways to demonstrate and teach children about the progression of animation throughout the years and provide learning experiences for them to develop their own knowledge and skills of animation in the arts. I was able to reflect on my areas of strength and areas for development in creating my own flickbook, which in turn showed me that in the future if I was creating a flickbook, with children, index cards would be the most suitable resource to use.

References:

Collins Dictionary. (2018) Definition of animation. [Online] Available: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/animation [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Fractus Learning. (2017) 5 Real Benefits of Using Animation in the Classroom. [Online] Available: https://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/12/06/animation-in-the-classroom/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Moving Image Education. (2018) Moving Image Education. [Online] Available: https://movingimageeducation.org/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Learning through evocative objects for teaching and learning

This was our first introduction to the module ‘Expressive Arts and Culture’ and it was one filled with knowledge, understanding, emotion, reflection and provided us all with an insight into what this module will entail.

This particular session focused on ‘Learning through evocative objects for teaching and learning’. Prior to this input, I had never heard or explored the term ‘evocative object’ so I was intrigued to research what this type of object was and the importance of it within the arts community. I found that the term evocative means “bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind.” (Oxford University Press, 2018). There is a book called “Evocative Objects”(2011) edited by Sherry Turkle, where 34 authors (scientists, scholars, artists, architects) describe their relations to evocative objects. Turkle, (2011, pg. 5) suggests that “We think with the objects we love; we love the objects we think with”. This message correlates with my own thoughts, feelings and reflections about my evocative object.

For this input, we were required to bring in our own evocative object and discuss it with our peers. I decided to bring in my ‘You Matter Always’ card which was made and given to me by my mum. This little card, of memories and messages, is a reminder of how important I am, how much I am loved and that whatever happens in my life, my thoughts, feelings, voice, story and life matters…ALWAYS.

This card holds so much meaning, purpose, hope and strength for me. It is a visual aid that I can carry with me wherever I go and access it if or when I need to. The photographs are snapshots of happy times and memorable moments in my life with the people that love me the most. The message that my mum personally wrote for me reminds me of how proud she is of me and how much she loves me. I laughed when I first seen my mum’s message as she thought she was being cool by calling me “Megan B.” It was one of those moments when your mum thinks that she is cooler than what she actually is, but I love her for it. What I appreciate most about this card is that my mum is here to give it to me personally because there were times when she was very unwell and we worried for her own safety and well-being. It means more than people could possibly understand because it brought so much light to a very dark period of time in our lives. It is a permanent reminder that we all have strengths, abilities and potential and our lives are of value. It is a creative way of letting people know how you feel about them before it is to late.

This is the front of my own ‘You Matter Always’ card.

This is the back of my ‘You Matter Always’ card. I choose the ‘LOVE’ saying as it was the one that spoke the most to me. My mum also has cards with “TALK, HOPE, CARE, MIND, CALM and HERO”.

Whilst my evocative object is unique to me, each card can be created with a specific person and message in mind for people of all ages, genders, cultures etc. My mum designed this tool of self-management and empowerment from a place of respect, love and hope and a recognition that to often people feel that they don’t matter. To me, this is inconceivable and unacceptable because everyone has inherent strengths that can be built upon to reach their full potential in life. We as educators, can play a fundamental role in helping to build a child’s self-worth, self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities. Who they are matters!. Their thoughts, feelings, voice, story and lives matter…ALWAYS. I have attached an example of a card that was made by an 8 year old girl who attended an event that my mum was volunteering at. She desperately wants to make a difference to others and asked what she could do, so my mum said just be you. They went on to create cards and talk together, this is one of the cards that she made for her auntie who was unwell.

The ‘You Matter Always’ card created by the 8 year old girl.

I think this highlights how the smallest gesture can make the biggest difference and that encouraging children to talk more openly about their thoughts and feelings can be a positive experience. Expression can be demonstrated in a number of ways and by different means. You Matter Always is a tool that aims to complement the interventions already out there. It appreciates that you don’t have to be an artist to be creative, it is about acknowledging and celebrating your ability to be innovative and artistic. As a student teacher, I respect and value the significance of expressive arts within the curriculum and believe that it’s value could be more recognised on an individual, cultural and societal level. An author who appears to appreciate and understand the value of creativity within an educational setting is Sir Ken Robinson (2006) who states that “We are educating people out of their creative capacities…I believe this passionately, that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it.”

Exploring emotions and feelings through the arts was very intriguing and interesting to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the group discussion that centered on everyone’s evocative objects. However, I did find aspects of the discussion difficult, as I often do not like to discuss the hard times in my life and tend to put a brave face on instead of talking through my thoughts, feelings and emotions. The group discussion allowed me to fully understand what an evocative object is as I was able to see first hand an object that to me, would look like an everyday thing such as a necklace, bus pass, card or a coin. However, to that person held a deeper meaning and memory. In the next few weeks, we will have the opportunity to create our own piece of art based on the feelings and emotions from our evocative object. Expressive arts and evocative objects can allow a degree of reflection to take place as it can remind you of where you have been, what you have learned and where you are going. Additionally, it encourages us to consider the influence or impact that the person or object has had on our life choices, chances and changes. Undertaking this module, is inspiring me to research the area of ‘Expressive Arts’ further and implement it into future practice.

Furthermore, throughout this input we were able to consider exploring ‘the unknown’. The unknown, for me, is something that as an adult I often find difficult as I often want to know the end product or outcome before I begin. However, as an aspiring teacher it is crucial that I recognise the power in the unknown and encourage my pupils to be expressive through a variety of means: dance, drama, art, write and draw without knowing what the end result will be. We were all given a selection of pipe cleaners and told to create anything that came to mind. By the end of this session, everyone ended up with a different model. For me, this allowed each and every individual to be creative in their own ideas without comparing there finished work with each other in a negative way.

References:

Oxford University Press. (2008) Definition of ‘Evocative’. [Online] Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/evocative [Accessed: 14th January 2018]

Turkle, S. (2011) Evocative Objects. USA: MIT Press Books

Ted Talks, (2006). Do schools kill creativity? [Online] Available: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity [Accessed: 14th January 2018]

Sustainable Development- Placement Task

For the first part of this task, I have attached a copy of the mapping of the school grounds/area.

Map of school grounds

Following on from this, looking at the evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school such as garden area, recycling bins, litter picking ‘wardens, bird boxes and so on, I found that:

The school have a food recycling rota where the children must ensure that food from the canteen is recycled and collected.
Scotland’s climate change pledge for communities.
They have a green charter that I have attached in the picture below
They school also have Green flag awards [1^st award 2010 & 2012]
They have both a ‘Eco Schools Silver Award 2007’ and an‘Eco Schools Bronze Award 2006’
The school have recycling bins outside and inside the building
They have litter picking teams that go around school once a week

Examples of Sustainable Development in the School

Moreover, I looked into the consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability and found:

“Play is what children and young people do in their own time, for their own reasons. When playing, children choose what to do, how to do it and who to do it with.” (Shackell et al,. 2008 p.g.9).

Play space within the school is primarily made up of two playgrounds. One playground caters for P1 to P3, whilst the other caters for P4 to P7. Both playgrounds are large concrete spaces. Both areas have very little grass available, or trees. I believe this to be primarily due to the school’s geographical location (based on a hillside).

The playgrounds are surrounded by fencing which aids in providing a safe environment for children. Children do not have access to leave the school at any point in the day via the playground due to the layout of the school building. The playground also does not go near a street or road and instead runs adjacent to the back of local houses and gardens.

Inside they playground there is a MUGA (multi-use games area) available for children to use. Children are rewarded extra time in the MUGA through ‘star-line’ technique. After each interval and at the start of the school day a teacher or CSA will decide what class has the best line in the playground. The class with the most points at the end of the week receives extra time in the MUGA. The MUGA allows the children to participate in many activities including football, tennis, netball, basketball, hockey and athletics. The school has described that since having the MUGA installed, it has aided in reducing unacceptable behaviour in the school playground, and promotes increased fitness within early age groups.

I find the playground ideal for this school as children can participate in many sporting activities, including football in the playground. This promotes health and well-being but also social interaction with children. The children in the school are also able to participate in sports as this seems an important part of many of the children’s lives (particularly football).

Shackell, A., Butler, N., Doyle., P. and Ball, D. (2008). Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces. [London]: Dept. for Children, Schools and Families. [Online] Available at: http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/70684/design-for-play.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

The school’s sustainable development achievements so far.

Finally, after discussing these aspects of sustainable education with the children, I found:

When discussing with children, they have described the enjoy many aspects of sustainable education.
Children described that they feel their playground is of adequate space, and that they can play many games during breaks and lunch times. They also thoroughly enjoy the MUGA, so much so that children are reward with extra time in the MUGA through good behaviour and good ‘lines’ when the bell goes at the end of intervals.
Some children expressed that the only problem with their outdoor space was that it often gets very muddy, which affects the areas in which they can play.
Children have described they enjoy helping the local community in a simple way by recycling. Children are encouraged to regularly recycle many materials including paper and food. There is also a food recycling team who have the accountability for recycling food across the school one day per week.
Litter picker wardens are also across the school during break times [break time litter pickers]. Some pupils expressed that they thoroughly enjoy being litter pickers and helping the school to remain tidy and eco-friendly
An eco-schools audit completed in 2017 also confirmed that the level of litter was low due to measures put in place through break time litter pickers.
From this audit, it has encouraged more awareness around food-recycling despite their being teams in place to support this with the children.

Integrated Arts- Final Week

This was our final week in the integrated arts module and unfortunately due to illness I wasn’t able to make it in.

However I though I would write a blog post on my thoughts and feelings about this module and the learning I have achieved.

Through participating in the Integrated Arts module my own confidence, self-esteem, respect and knowledge has increased for the expressive arts as a whole. Prior to this module I think I was quite close-minded towards the arts and never quite appreciated the importance and value of it in education. However, this module has completely changed my opinion of the Arts but in a positive way, it has shown me how the arts can allow children to express themselves in a creative and imaginative form. It has highlighted to me the various ways in which I could teach the arts in a classroom setting and has been an extremely useful asset so far in my placement and will continue to be in the new year.

I looked over some of the notes I missed from the final week. The class started with a lecture from Zara, dance specialist, who spoke about the importance of creative partnerships in education. This actually brought in ideas from our other module: Inter-Professional Working. It has further stressed to me how crucial inter-professional working is within education and plays a huge role for children being able to flourish in life and reach their full potential.

This module highlighted to me how much the arts is undervalued in education. From participating in this module it has shown me that as an aspiring teacher I want to open children’s minds and show them the value and importance of the arts on their learning experience. When teaching a subject like dance, music, drama or art you could bring in creative partnerships so that children can see the subject being taught by a specialist. This could help children gain and develop skills and knowledge that will help them in their life’s now and in the future.

In the workshop the sections got together to perform the dance routine we created the previous week. I was very disappointed that I wasn’t able to take part, but the video they recorded looked amazing and everyone seemed to have such a good time. Creating the dance was such an enjoyable experience and allowed me the opportunity to grow in confidence and develop and gain new skills and abilities in dance.

Prior to this module, I was very nervous and apprehensive as I have not always enjoyed the Arts. Reflecting on this, I think my negative view on Arts may be down to the negative school experience I had and being told that in art lessons my picture wasn’t of a good enough standard and not to pick the subject in the future. However, taking part in this module has shown me that creativity can be presented in so many different ways and forms and not one way is correct. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and have had the opportunities to work within a team, embrace areas that are outwith my comfort zone and gain more knowledge and understanding of the subject as a whole.

I am going to finish this blog with a quote by Sir Ken Robinson (2006) which in my opinion sums up the whole point of why creativity and the expressive arts needs to be appreciated and valued more in education and it’s our job as future educators to make this change. “We are educating people out of their creative capacities…I believe this passionately, that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it”.

References:

Ted Talks, (2006). Do schools kill creativity? [Online] Available: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity/up-next [Accessed: 30th November 2017]

Integrated Arts- Drama and Dance

This week we began with our dance class. It has been a good few weeks since we last took part in the dance class, so it was quite challenging to remember the routines we came up with. I tried to visualise the 10 movements that we had placed upon the wall to try and remember the steps that we created. We managed to remember some of them and then just came up with a few new ones. This time round we changed the music to Christmas songs which was a lot of fun and appropriate for the time of the year. As some of my group was off we joined up with another group and we all came up with new moves to fit with this piece of music.

The fun part of this class is being able to join everyone’s moves together to come up with a whole routine. It’s amazing to think that in less than 2 hours we had a whole routine created. I think this just highlights the fact that time is not always an issue when it comes to teaching the expressive arts as most of the time you can have a lesson stated and finished before playtime or lunch time. The most important thing is giving the children this opportunity, in my opinion expressive arts is of just as much value as literacy and mathematics and should be given the same amount of respect.

I believe dance is a way for children to express their thoughts and feelings through movement. It allows children to be imaginative, creative, physical and work with one another to create a movement piece that fits along with music. I used to participate in dance when I was younger and loved the feeling when a routine had been put together through everyone’s inputs, I loved the different shapes I could make with my body and being able to express myself through a piece of music. This class taught me that you don’t need to be a professional dancer to teach it to children as long as you know the 10 basic movements and some activities, that’s where the creativity will begin and the children will be able to use their own imagination to come up with a dance piece. I hope that in my placement this year I get the opportunity to witness a dance lesson and if not hopefully I could teach one to the children to show them how much fun they could have with dance.

We then followed on with a drama session. As mentioned a few weeks ago we were all taking part in a micro teaching experience. My group had presented our teaching experience the previous week and it was our turn to take part in other people’s teaching experience. This was a very fun and enjoyable experience as we got to experience the teaching from a learners view opposed to the teaching view.

This was a very interesting task as every group came up with something different. I think all groups did exceptionally well, everyone was imaginative and provided a exciting learning experience for everyone involved. We got to experiment with different drama techniques alongside a context to work with. These varied from freeze frame, fast forward, voice in the head, mime and many others. I still feel that I lack confidence at times in areas such as performing but I do feel like this module has allowed me to grow in self-esteem and be more open-minded towards drama and the many positive effects it can have on a child’s learning. I was lucky enough to witness some of the drama techniques in action in my placement, it was amazing to watch all the children get involved, come up with their own ideas and most of all have fun!

I think that through this drama class people are starting to respect and understand drama a lot more, everyone is getting involved and understanding the importance of it in the expressive arts. As an aspiring teacher I have been able to see the value and need for drama in the curriculum and it’s important that we give children the opportunity to be expressive through the different art mediums. I have thoroughly enjoyed the drama section of the module and it has greatly increased my confidence and knowledge and understanding in a topic like this one and I know it will be a huge asset in my future career as a primary teacher.

This week I think both sessions fitted perfectly with one another. They both focused on the importance of being creative, using your imagination, team work and allowed some people to step out their comfort zone and get involved. Drama allowed us to create a scene or technique completely from scratch and use our imagination to think of an idea that would be fitting with the story. Similarly with dance we had to create our own dance moves focused around Christmas, allowing and challenging us to try and create moves that were different from those around us. Both of these classes highlighted to me that they could be integrated into other subjects in the curriculum in a fun and creative way.

Sustainable Development- Energy

The past two weeks lectures focused on energy. When i reflect on my time in primary school, I remember learning a little bit about energy but i definitely learned a lot more about it in high school. From studying and learning more about energy in this module it has opened my eyes to the variety of activities and lessons that i could create to teach this topic in the classroom in a fun and enjoyable way. I feel like from the inputs in lectures and workshops on this topic i have developed numerous skills such as communication, team working, research and creativity and now feel more confident about teaching this topic.

For the first input on energy, we got to take part in a debate. The debate was to focus on ‘Alternative Energy’. We worked in small groups to read academic texts focused on wind turbines to find out information to debate about. We then went into larger groups to share our ideas and research with one another in order to work together to come up with 5 key points to debate about. We had two large groups, one for wind turbines and one against, we then had to decide which members of the group would go up to debate. Through this input i learned a lot about the skills i already possess and new ones that i have developed. Through this my team working, communication and research skills came to light. However, i also realized that i do lack confidence skills and this is something i would like to develop throughout my years in university.

The second input on energy focused on an activities we could use in the classroom such as creating a model of a wind turbine. This was an activity that we could to try ourselves and then create a lesson plan based on this activity. When it came to creating the model, we had to ensure that we had the appropriate resources and that we read our instructions correctly in order for our model to work. I was really happy with my end result and it is definitely an activity that I would try in the classroom.

When it came to creating the lesson plan we worked in partners and it was very interesting and fun. I really enjoyed being able to understand how doing an activity like this would be created and written up in a lesson plan. It was a good experience to work cooperatively with someone else and see how they would write up a lesson plan opposed to how I would do it. We managed to finish our lesson plan and we were really happy with the finished result.

From both these inputs my knowledge and skills in energy have definitely increased and improved. It was a topic that I didn’t think I would be interested in but now experiencing it in a different way I would love to teach this in the classroom. There are lots of resrouces and activities out there to help with teaching a topic like this that would be fun and enjoyable for the children. There are activities such as creating energy circuits, making a wind turbine, creating animals that use energy and many more. Energy is such a relevant topic and is important to teach as it is something that surrounds us in everyday life.