This week’s class began with listening and learning about everyone in my section’s experience of what arts they have witnessed in their school placement so far. It was very interesting and surprising to find out that the majority of people had seen very little if not any arts lessons within their school. I found that it was very intriguing to realize that in most schools arts is taken a back seat prior to literacy and mathematics. I think its sad to see that the arts isn’t given priority as it can provide children with a variety of skills in order to help them learn and grow into young individuals. It provides children with the opportunity to develop their creativity, confidence, motor skills, academic performance, visual learning, decision making, perseverance and focus (Learning Lift Off, 2017).
When we discussed as a class our experiences it was clear to see that arts was given a back seat due to a number of barriers. These barriers included aspects such as: time, funding, lack of confidence in teachers, lack of creative thinking, to much focus on academic results and lack of resources. I think this module has enabled us as student teachers to realize the importance of the arts and that it is important that we ensure that we try and overcome these barriers to the arts and give our pupils the opportunity to experience and express themselves through the arts. I think one way to overcome the most common barrier to teaching the arts, which is time, is to try and incorporate it into different areas of the curriculum. You could do this by having a literacy lesson based on a book that the class have read and been learning about, but deliver it through a drama lesson with the children.
Reflecting on my experience in placement, I have witnessed a wide range of visual arts displayed around the classroom I am placed in as well as around the whole school. I think it is extremely important to display pupil’s work as it shows them that we as teachers appreciate their work and value their hard work and creativity.
Displays of the children’s work in the classroom.The class charter displayed visually in the classroom.The class’s topic based on the Titanic.The boats the children made based on the titanic.Art work displayed throughout the school.
As well as being able to witness the visual arts. I have also been lucky enough to witness a music lesson. I have inquired about being able to see a drama or dance lesson, which the teacher said will not be a problem when I am at my placement from a Monday-Friday. I think the main problem for everyone who is on placement right now is that because we are only there a day a week, their arts lesson isn’t always scheduled for a Thursday therefore I believe when we are there for more days we will be able to see more of the arts in action and make a better evaluation of how much attention the arts is given in schools.
From doing this module, it has highlighted to me the importance of the arts and that when i become a teacher i want to try my hardest to ensure that i give children the opportunity to express and develop themselves through the arts.
References:
Teaching and Learning, (2015). Creativity in Education. [Online] [Available: http://c21teachingandlearning.global2.vic.edu.au/2015/02/20/barriers-to-creativity-in-the-classroom/] [Accessed: 17th November 2017]
Learning Lift Off, (2016). 10 reasons arts in education is important. [Online] [Available: http://www.learningliftoff.com/10-reasons-arts-in-education-important-kids/#.WhNFNUpl_IU] [Accessed: 17th November 2017]
In this weeks music seminar we were given a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument. A group of pupils from a school in Ayrshire came to teach us all how to play a string instrument. These pupils were part of a string project, the only school in Scotland, where they are given the chance to learn a string instrument from primary 4 to primary 7. They are given the opportunity to take part in a 45 minute music session in school every week where they learn how to use their string instrument and how to progress with it. A project like this helps children to develop so many skills such as team working, confidence, self-esteem, creativity and many more. This ties in with the Curriculum for Excellence in aiding children to become a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and an effective contributor (Curriculum for Excellence, 2004).
During the lesson, we were shown the correct way to hold a string instrument, how to hold the bow, learning notes and the two different ways of playing: pizzicato and spiccato. We were all told to partner up with a pupil and their instrument and so I was given the violin. I have never played the violin before so i was slightly nervous before the class began. I think the violin looks like such a beautiful instrument and after playing it i realized it also had such an incredible, soft sound to it.
The violin.
We also got to play a range of games to help with the technique of holding the bow in the correct position. These games were a lot of fun and is a great way of teaching beginners all about the bow and the balance you need whilst holding it.
A balancing game with the bow.
Overall, this input was so much fun and a great learning experience. It was so interesting and enjoyable having pupils in to teach us instead of the other way about. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to be taught the basics of learning how to play the violin and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the string project should be introduced into many more schools around Scotland, as i think its a brilliant initiative that many children would benefit from as they are able learn and develop a range of skills in order for them to flourish into young individuals.
This weeks drama workshop focused on micro teaching. Prior to this lesson, we had to get into groups and create our own lesson plan focusing on a story that involved the drama conventions we had been learning and then teach this to the class. Our lesson should be around 15-20 minutes long and everyone in the class had to get involved. This task was quite challenging especially in the time aspect. It was hard for our team to all work together when we all have different schedules and the time we had to do create the lesson wasn’t very long. However, we managed to make it work by each team member taking a different convention and fitting it into the story in a way in which we can teach and explain to the class. From creating the lesson i developed a range of skills such as: time management, team working, organisational skills, creativity and research skills.
I was very nervous for when it came to teaching the lesson and found the thought of it all quite daunting. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t come across as patronizing as they weren’t a primary class, they were a class of students similar ages to me, if not older. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be it was actually a lot of fun. Each member of the team took a part to say and presented it very well. We got some great feedback mainly about how it was really good that we came up with our own story instead of taking an original storybook. We were all very happy with this feedback as this was something that we were originally worried about as we were unsure about how people would take to a made up story. Although in the end it was very effective and it meant that each group had their own idea of where the story could go and how it could end.
We also had to take part in the other students micro teaching task. I think I am starting to become a little bit more confident in performing, however I still get very shy and nervous but I am trying to overcome this fear as I want to have fun and be able to implement enjoyable lessons like this into the classroom.
I think this micro teaching lesson was so interesting and was a very effective, fun task for us all to take part in. It was a great opportunity to see how we can implement these conventions into a lesson plan and how we would carry them out in the classroom. From doing a task like this, you develop a range of skills and learn a lot from the people around you. This can be an important lesson for children as they can learn a lot from working with other children and can develop a variety of skills that might not always develop when being taught by a teacher.
References:
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: 13th November 2017]
This weeks lecture and seminar focused on the importance of your voice in teaching. As a teacher, one of your most effective tools is your voice so it is therefore important to learn exactly how to use it in order for it to be a useful resource in teaching and communicating. Therefore, this weeks seminar focused on tips and tricks that we could use to help protect our voice and ways to use it to the best of our ability. One tip that I found very interesting and useful was that there is no need to shout in a classroom. Sometimes as a teacher, you forget that shouting to get the children’s attention isn’t always the best approach as its not always effective and can hurt our voice in the process. I think some teachers find this a good way of controlling behavior management but in my past experiences of being on placement in schools and nurseries i found that shouting didn’t ever really get anywhere with the pupils. A better technique I think would be to change the tone of your voice, use facial expressions or even sometimes clapping a rhythm to the pupils for them to clap back can be an extremely effective tool to use in the classroom.
I researched the importance of our voice as teachers and how being expressive with our voice by using different facial expressions. true emotion and our tone of voice when speaking can help the children learn to be expressive as well (School of Educators, 2011). I also learned that using the whisper technique can be extremely effective with young children as it seems to “signal intrigue, mystery, secrets and more”. These techniques are definitely going to be ones that i try whilst on placement and in my future career as a teacher.
We were also told that the General Teaching Council have a whole document outlining the importance of our voice and what to do if we feel like our voice has been effected. I think this is an excellent tool as it gives you lots of advice and information on how to use your voice effectively in a classroom but also what to do and different techniques to use if your voice gets damaged. Its a very useful resource to have whilst on placement and in years to come when we have our own class to teach.
Moving on from this, we looked at how we use our voice through music and how important singing is in a classroom setting. We were shown a resource called Choon Baboon that we can use with the children. This website is a brilliant, new and modern way to get children singing. There is a variety of songs available on YouTube with backing tracks and lyrics to help teach the children. It is a fantastic, fun resource to help build not only the children’s self esteem, confidence and expression but also the teachers. This is definetly a resource I would use as I lack a lot of confidence in teaching music and this tool would be a huge help in my development.
We also looked at a technique called Graphic Scores which is a visual tool that makes reading music a lot easier. It is created with boxes, along the side you have that sounds that have to be used and along the bottom is the time frame. We got split into groups, our group of 6 created a graphic score focusing on Christmas using a variety of instruments.
Overall, this seminar was very fun, interesting and informative. I learned a lot of different techniques of how to manage my voice in teaching as well as fantastic resources to help teach singing in the classroom. I feel a lot more confident about teaching music after seeing some of the tools out there to help.
After this seminar, we had our drama workshop. We were following on from last week’s class where we were looking at different drama techniques that we can explore and use in the classroom. This week we focused on four particular conventions varying from flash forward, flash back, narration and slow motion. My favorite convention was the flash forward scene as it allows your group to be creative and create your own ending for the story. This week’s story was based on a haunted house which was very relevant as it was coming Halloween. It was a very fun and creative idea as because the story was quite vague it allowed for each group to have their own individual idea. For flash forward scenes, we had to create what was happening after the present situation and flash back was the opposite that involved showing what happened before the present situation. As a group, we decided to make our flash back scene from centuries ago and it was very different and enjoyable to create. For, slow motion we returned to the present where we were entering the haunted house to see what it was all about. We also got to create a scene were we used narration which was when someone in the group would describe what was happening in the scene.
From taking part in a seminar like this, it highlighted for me the importance of using a story that children don’ know what happens so that when they are creating the scene the children are able to be creative and use their imagination to create a different story from another group.
References:
School of Educators, (2011). How to use your voice as an effective teaching tool. [Online] [Available: http://schoolofeducators.com/2011/07/teacher-tips-how-to-use-your-voice-as-an-effective-teaching-tool/] [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]
“Song, music and dance can help children become more imaginative, self-aware and collaborative global citizens” (British Council, 2017). This statement for me, sums up the importance of the creative arts and this week I got to develop my knowledge and skills in dance. I used to do dancing when I was younger and thoroughly enjoyed it and found it was an exciting and fun way of keeping fit. However, I haven’t done it in a long time and so I was very anxious and apprehensive of this class. We began the class by taking part in a warm up and playing a few games. Some of these games were a lot of fun and would be great resource to use in the classroom. One of my favorites was called Splat. Splat is a game that involves following instructions therefore if the teacher shouts splat the children would lie on the floor or if they shout up they have to lift someone up. This was a very enjoyable and interactive game and one that i would definitely used throughout my placement experience.
We then looked at the 10 movements that as educators we should all know to make a fun and creative dance lesson: balance, hop, jump, kick, roll, slide, gesture, twist, turn and reach. These were discussed in the first dance input however i was off that day but i quickly caught up and was surprised to learn that as long as we know these movements we could create a dance lesson. Knowing this information put my mind at ease as it showed me that as an inspiring teacher, I don’t need to be the best dancer to teach and involve the pupils in a fun dance lesson.
Following on from the games, we then had to get into groups and create our own dance using the 10 movements. Once we had created that piece of dance we had to perform it to the rest of the class. I was very nervous and anxious to begin with, but after doing it I realized it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be. We then as a class, came up with a move for each number from 0-9. Once we had done this, we went back to our groups and using one persons phone number and the moves we just came up with we created another piece of dance. I found this very interesting as it showed me that you can create a piece of dance as easy and simple as that and it would be a great tool for children. We then added the two pieces of dance that we created together. Then, as a class we were all given a piece of paper which displayed a Halloween move and we had to interpret a dance move from the image we were given. Once, each group had their move ready we showed every other group and put it all together as the beginning of our group dance.
This was the Halloween Dance Move my group were given.
I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and I am looking forward to the next dance input. It opened my eyes to how simple strategies and games can help create a dance lesson. It showed me that even as young adults we are all individuals and even though a simple movement like ‘jump’ can be interpreted in so many different ways from each individual and therefore it is the same with children. Children are so creative and therefore will be able to use simple movements in a range of creative and fun ways to form a dance piece.
The rest of the afternoon focused on drama. We focused on a book called ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne. I found this lecture, in particular, very informative and interesting. We learned about various drama concepts such as voice in the head, mime, role on the wall, vox pop and thought tracking. The one i found to be the most fun and creative was voice in the head. I loved the idea of stepping out the story and explaining and demonstrating the thoughts and feelings on their side of the story. I think this would be a great lesson to teach with children as it gives them a chance to be creative and dive deeper into a character, instead of just looking at what appears to be on the outside they get to take their own interpretation of how that character may feel in the inside. Being given the chance in the workshop to look deeper into these concepts and put them into practice was very enjoyable and interesting. I felt out my comfort zone at first because I do tend to get quite shy when it comes to acting and drama, however by doing it in a group made it a lot easier and more fun.
A mind map I created of some of the drama concepts we learned.
Through participating in drama and dance lessons it has highlighted to me just how important teaching the expressive arts to children is. Expressive arts gives children the chance to “find out about and express their feelings and emotions and those of others” (ParentZone, 2016). In my opinion, it also allows children to be creative, expressive, develop their communication and social skills and encourages team building.
References:
Education Scotland, (2016). Parent Zone Scotland. [Available: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/curriculum-areas/Expressive%20arts] [Accessed: 29th October 2017].
British Council, (2015). Why song and dance are essential for a child’s development. [Available: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-song-and-dance-are-essential-childrens-development] [Accessed: 30th October 2017]
This week’s class started with us learning how to make music on the computer. We used an application on the computer called ‘Garage Band’ to create a backing track of music. Before beginning this class, I was slightly apprehensive as music is not my strong point, and i sometimes struggle with the terminology. However, I was also very excited and intrigued to how we could create a piece of music online. We began this workshop, by our lecturer demonstrating how to use ‘Garage Band’ we were then given the chance to have a go ourselves.
We were also given the chance to create a sound effect track for a short video clip. This part of the task was a lot of fun, enjoyable and engaging. It was very interesting and developed my knowledge of music more and more. I was very proud of what I created by the end of the workshop.
Through using this resource myself in today’s workshop, I considered the ways this could be implemented into the classroom and the skills and possibilities it can give the pupils. The children would have the opportunity to create their own music tracks and explore the different sounds of music. This kind of activity offers children many opportunities to explore the arts and make connections with other curricular subjects such as literacy, drama and dance. By doing an activity like this, it opened my eyes that we can teach music by using modern day technology to create a piece of music. It showed me that, to teach music we don’t always need to use instruments, digital music also is a resource that children can explore and create music in a different creative way.
The second workshop of the day was our visual arts class. In this workshop we were meant to be looking at how we can extend an art activity. We were going to use our Windows in the West print, create a black and white photocopy and then create a pen drawing extending from the original print image. Prior to this class, we were asked to read “Room 13: The Movement and International Network” by Claire Gibb. This initiative demonstrates the importance and excellent ways that from children given the opportunity to be responsible and independent artists. From reading this article, it highlighted to me the importance that as teachers children need to be treated equally and with respect. We need to give the children the independence they need to grow and flourish into young individuals.
Although, when it came to this workshop our lecturer actually asked me and my classmate if we could teach our fellow peers what we learned the previous week as they were off sick. This was a great learning and teaching opportunity for myself and it was a very interesting and exciting learning experience. We had to demonstrate what we previously learned and give assistance if it was needed. It gave me an insight into how to teach an art lesson, at times i did find it difficult to explain what we were doing but i think i eventually got the hang of it.
References:
Gibb, C. (2012) Room 13: The Movement and International Network [Online] Available: http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/109358/mod_resource/content/1/Room%2013-%20Claire%20Gibb.pdf [Accessed 8th October 2017]
This weeks seminar and lecture looked deeper into the visual arts and how it can be incorporated into different areas of the curriculum. We focused on a particular painting “Window’s in the West” by Avril Paton in 1993. Researching this painting, i discovered that this painting was created using watercolour on paper. This particular painting became Paton’s trademark, it was bought by the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art in 1994 and then in 2006 it was placed on display in Kelvingrove Art Museum. The painting was created from a personal memory of her life in Glasgow and took Paton around 6 months to complete. From living in Glasgow, i was able to understand the painting as i have been able to personally see tenement buildings in my environment which in turn allowed me to understand Paton’s vision with this painting.
The original “Window’s in the West” by Avril Paton.
In the lecture we analysed the visuals of the painting focusing on the form, process, mood and content of the painting (Taylor, 1999). Additionally, we looked at how literacy can be incorporated with the arts in the classroom. It showed me that we could even create an activity using a famous painting, like the aforementioned, and allow the children to further research the artist and create mind maps, or even create their own prints and explain the story they created from it. After the lecture, it was clear to see that arts can be incorporated to many areas of the curriculum in a vast number of ways.
Moreover, in the seminar we created our own prints. We were given polystyrene boards where we then traced a section of the painting onto the boards very carefully and in great detail, as this was going to act as the base to our print making.
The base of the print making- our traced part of the painting.
Following on from this, we put a layer of paint (yellow) over the top of the polystyrene and then pressed it onto a sheet of A4 paper to create a print.
The paint over the polystyrene before creating our first print.
We continued this idea, by using different colours of paper for the print as well as adding different colours of print on top, to give the print more detail, texture and colour.
The final stage of our print making.
As a student teacher, seminars like this one show me the importance and relevance of teaching arts to the younger generation. If teachers make the time then arts can easily be incorporated into the classroom as well as integrating it within other areas of the curriculum. The Tallis Pedagogy Wheel highlights the importance of children being given the opportunity to be imaginative and creative where they can let their creative minds flow into the unknown.
The second half of the day focused on drama. As a child, i was never really fond of drama i always got very nervous and anxious of performing in front of people. Whilst i was in primary school, my confidence did increase and i was able to take leads in school shows however, this changed when i went to high school and my nerves and anxiety came back. When i found out that it was drama that we would be doing in the seminar, i was very apprehensive and nervous of performing in front of my peers.
Drama is a way for children to express themselves, it can be an effective tool of developing communication skills, self-esteem, confidence, empathy, performance for them to flourish and develop into young adults. Drama is an area of the curriculum that can be incorporated into various other areas such as literacy, history, art and even possibly mathematics.
We took part in activities such as: improvisation, freeze frame, hot seating, and teacher in role. These activities allowed me to develop my confidence that little bit more and after taking part i realised that it wasn’t as scary and nerve-wracking as i had built it up to be. Our lecture also told us that with drama, sometimes as the teacher you just need to create another character to portray which can help with your nerves, which is something that i think i might need to do when i qualify.
I think its important that we as educators need to realise the importance and the skills that drama and art can have for children. We need to ensure that children are given as many opportunities as they can to develop there qualities and skills in these subjects as they are very effective in a child’s development.
Resources:
Taylor, R. (1999) Understanding and Investigating Art. United Kingdom: Hodder Education.
Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 07 October 2017]
Paton, A. (2017) Windows in the West. [Online] Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/prints/windows-in-the-west [Accessed: 07 October 2017]
Perform. (2017) Why is drama good for children? [Online] Available: https://www.perform.org.uk/blog/2014/01/why-is-drama-good-for-children/ [Accessed: 07 October 2017]
This was Week 3 in the Integrated Arts module and it was all about the importance of being creative and giving the children the opportunity to use their creative minds to make something wonderful.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once he grows up” -Pablo Picasso. I read this quote and felt that it was very important and helped me to further explore the importance of the arts. It highlighted the fact that each and every child has an inner artist in them and it’s our job as educators to harness that skill and quality and continue their artistic learning throughout their school experience for them to keep their creative abilities as they grow older and develop into confident, responsible, succesful and effective individuals.
In the weeks seminar we we’re given the task of being creative ourselves, by putting ourselves in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a variety a materials, varying from different textures, sizes, colours in order to create our very own paintbrush. The whole idea of the this task was to show us, as educators, that it is extremely important to allow children to be creative and create something that is personal and meaningful to them.
As children grow older they begin to realise that everyone is different and unique and that their abilities and skills also vary from one another. In arts, children can often compare their work to their friends or the person sitting next to them, as they think their peers work is ‘better’ than theirs, which can have a huge impact on a child’s confidence and self-esteem (McAuliffe, 2007). Therefore, this is where the idea of children creating their own paintbrush came into practice. We noted the fact that when children are all given the same old standard paintbrush, is almost as if they are expected and think that they should all produce the same painting. It isn’t allowing for any creativity, uniqueness, speciality and for the children to create something that is all their own work. So, by the children greeting their own paintbrush to then create their own painting is allowing for an equal, fun and valuable learning experience.
Below I have attached images of the process of creating my paintbrush:
We were given a wooden stick to work as a base for the paintbrush.I used these two colours of wool to tie around the paintbrush to give it texture and design.
This was my final product. I added feathers for some design and some thread to the bottom for design.
Once we created our paintbrushes it was time to create our paintings. I never anticipated how difficult it would be to paint a picture without the typical paint brush. However, it was a lot more fun and enjoyable and made me think less of how my painting didn’t look like everyone else’s, it was unique and a result of my paintbrush. I also learned that you don’t need a range of colours, you can use the four primary colours to create the majority of colours you would usually get on a palette.
The primary colours we were working with for our painting.This was my finished painting.This was our sections finished paintings on the wall.
This seminar highlighted the importance of ensuring every child feels like they matter, they are of value and their creative abilities are appreciated, which is at the heart of the Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2004).
In the second seminar of the day, we focused on the importance of music within the expressive arts. This was a very practical experience which I was initially very apprehensive about. When I was younger I used to love music and exploring different instruments, however my experience changed when I went to high school. I lost interest in music, it all became to serious and it was always highlighted if you weren’t as good as someone else at playin an instrument. Therefore, when it came to this seminar I felt very anxious and nervous about playing the glockenspiel but it actually turned into a very fun, interesting, informing and enjoyable learning experience.
We were introduced to a very effective learning tool called ‘Figurenotes’ (Figurenotes, 2017). Figurenotes is an intuitive way of reading music. It uses colour and shapes to represent key muss notation. This is an excellent tool to use in primary schools as it allows for the children to go through simple stages towards learning the basics of playing an instrument. We got to try a few songs, my favourite was ‘Frere Jacques’, which I managed to get the hang off after a few tries. It shows me how quickly you can learn a part of a song on an instrument using Figurenotes.
This shows how Figurenotes can be used on the glockenspiel.
To end, this seminar reminded me of why I liked music when I was a child and how it is crucial to allow children the opportunity of exploring music. It showed me that anyone can play music when they put their mind to it. It also highlighted how useful a tool like Figurenotes would be in the classroom. I want to ensure that when I become a teacher I make the arts an important subject in the classroom and it is explored to the best that I can for the children, as it is extremely important to their learning and development into young individuals.
Resources:
Figurenotes. (2017) An intuitive way of reading music. [Online] Available: https://www.figurenotes.org/ [Accessed 30th September 2017]
McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings, In teaching Art and Design 3-11. (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum.
Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive Arts. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/curriculum-areas/Expressive%20arts [Accessed 30th September 2017]
Creating Minds. (n.d.) Creative Quotes on Children. [Online] Available: http://creatingminds.org/quotes/children.htm [Accessed 30th September 2017]
“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hand, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours”- Loris Malaguzzi. For me, this quote highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to harness their knowledge and skills as well as developing new skills and abilities in the arts.
This was our second week in the integrated arts module. The focus this week was on how a child’s artistic abilities develop in the arts, as they grow older and continue throughout school. Prior to the class, we were required to read two readings: Fleming (2012) and McAuliffe (2007). These readings were very insightful, useful and knowledgeable in helping our understanding of how a child’s cognitive development can grow and develop in the arts. It also highlighted ways in which we as educators should be aware of the importance of art and how we should interact with individual children.
Fleming’s “The Arts in Education” was insightful into the value of art and why it should be justified in the curriculum. It suggests that the arts can have a positive impact on the development of children. We looked further into the chapter “An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy”in our lecture. We were each given a page of the chapter we had already read and were asked to annotate it with visual drawings of the meaning behind the text. I was given page 8, the part of the text that i focused on was when a child asked why they were doing this task, and immediately the teacher sent him out of the room. I decided the best way to capture this point was by drawing doodles of the situation. I thought this was an excellent way of understanding deeper meanings throughout the text, it is an effective tool in developing contextual understanding, evaluation and analytic skills in children. As well as that it also allows the learners to develop skills that they might not be able to express with the written word. It is also an efficient way of connecting literacy with art, it allows for a more fun, interesting and effective lesson.
Throughout the lecture, we also looked at Elliot Eisner’s ’10 Lessons the Arts Teach’ looks at the importance of the arts and how it is a crucial lesson for allowing children to experience and evolve with the vast areas of the arts. Lesson 5 was one that stood out to us as a class as it basically suggests that we know more than we can say and the arts show that no words or numbers can stop on what we can know and that “the limits of our language do not define the limits of out cognition” (10 lessons the Arts Teach). I found that this resource will be crucial for me, as an educator, to ensure that i allow the children the best opportunity to experience the positive impact that the arts can have on their wellbeing.
In the workshop, we got the chance to analyse different pieces of art created by children at different stages of development. The article we read by McAuliffe connected very well with this part of the workshop, it allowed me to understand a child’s development in the arts a lot better as i had already researched it. Lowenfeld and Bittain (1987) suggested that artistic abilities grow and develop in 4 stages: scribble, pre-schematic, schematic and the gang stage. It was designed to help teachers engage and understand more about a child’s work. However, McAuliffe suggests that with time changing and advances in psychology and other factors that it is not as simple to just “slot” children into stages. It is important to remember that all children develop and grow differently and its not as easy to have each child in a stage as every child is unique.
Furthermore, as an educator we need to realise that with a young child’s drawing, it might just look like a series of random lines or marks to us but to them it could be their whole world, it could be a fire engine going down a road at 60 mph. Therefore, it is crucial that we always listen to what the child says about their drawing and show that we value their creation.
This picture was created by an early level child, where his pencil managed to stay in contact throughout the whole picture. This stage of development in art means his fine and gross motor skills are developing at a pace that is suitable to him.
As children grow older, they become more focused and pay more attention to detail and features. They begin to modify and refine shapes, focus on the placement and size of the objects. However, some children do have a fear of not being accurate with their work (McAuliffe, 2007). As educators, we should ensure that we give the children the appropriate resources and a wide range of media to develop the ability to make these marks.
The child has decided to draw two parrots, they have paid attention to detail and experimented with a range of bright colours.
Moreover, understanding that the arts is a subject that an be incorporated into various areas of the curriculum will make for a more meaningful and fun learning experience for the children. It is important that as teachers we don’t forget about the value and importance of art, even though in the majority of schools literacy and numeracy often take priority. However, if we incorporate both subjects into the one lesson then no subject is more important than the other. Activities such as reading a passage and taking key words or points but doodling an image can express and help a child understand the passage in a whole other light. Children are able to express a theme related to literature through a drawing and can express their understanding of literature through art.
This picture is a clear representation of interlinking literacy and art. These children have displayed a range of words but have drawn visual representations of how the words sound.
Overall, from today’s lecture and workshop i have gained more knowledge on ways to support the development of children through the arts. It is crucial that we allow the children the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities in the arts. I want to continue to participate and learn more about this topic as i believe it is an important area that needs to be taught more throughout schools.
References:
National Arts Education Association. (n.d.) 10 Lessons the Arts Teach [Online] Available: https://www.arteducators.org/advocacy/articles/116-10-lessons-the-arts-teach [Accessed: 21st September 2017]
Fleming, M. (2012) The Arts in Education: an introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge.
McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 [Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe] London: Continuum.
Early Learning HQ. (n.d.) Loris Malaguzzi [Online] Available: https://www.earlylearninghq.org.uk/latest-resources/inspirational-quotation-loris-malaguzzi/ [Accessed: 2oth September 2017]
The Arts can be seen as a way of expressing yourself through various mediums. It can be seen to have a positive impact on your emotional, mental and physical health. I was keen to learn that throughout this module we will be extending our learning in vast areas of the arts such as: visual, music, dance and drama.
When I was a child I was very involved in creative arts. I was part of the junior choir at school which allowed me to increase my confidence and self-esteem. We often sang at church events, coffee mornings and also got to perform in Paisley Town Hall at Christmas time. It was such a fun experience that made school a more interesting and enjoyable time. I was also part of my local dance club which I found was a new, imaginative and creative way of expressing my feelings and emotions but in a beautiful, exciting and different way from what I was used to. I found that being part of the art of dancing allowed me to not only grow as a person but allowed me to flourish and learn more about being open-minded as well as developing my imaginative and creative skills.
In this weeks lecture we were introduced to ‘Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel’ (Thomas Tallis School, 2017). I had never heard or came across this tool before until we began this module. This wheel was created to enable educators to explore the arts and implement habits-related strategies into the classroom. Personally, I found that this wheel has provided me with information and ideas of how to implement the creative arts within an educational setting. It has made me feel more confident and open-minded in how with the arts there isn’t always a set answer like there is with subjects like maths, but how there is a sense of the unknown but that’s okay.
Finishing on this, I feel like already just after one lecture I feel more confident and able in teaching arts within the classroom. It has opened my mind to the many different areas of arts and how there is so many fun and interesting ways to teach it to children. Arts is such an important part of the curriculum that I feel is sometimes forgotten about but it’s crucial to a child’s development.
References:
Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 16 September 2017]
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or
closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.
