Month: September 2019

During this week’s session we began discussing the idea of taking a child centred approach to art and how this gives children a creative freedom to choose the subject, media and direction of their work.This was not a approach that I was aware of before this workshop. It is clear that giving children this kind of freedom allows socially engaged and enquiry based pedagogical practices to flourish ( McAuliffe, 2013).

Within our art session this week we took on the role of the artist which is something that I was very nervous to do. However, it turned out to be something to that I not only enjoyed but gained a lot of knowledge from. We began by making our own paint brush, which at first I thought was a strange concept. However, after taking part in the task I realised not only how easy it was to do but that you feel a huge sense of pride  you feel. This also gave me an insight into the creative process as it required critical thinking and use of evaluation skills. We had a clear goal which Csikszentmihalyi (1996) states is one of the qualities that are required for creativity to flow.

After making our paint brushes, we got ready to paint our picture. We were all given a piece of A3 paper and asked to draw a window, we were then informed this was to reduce the mess caused by painting. The idea being that this would stop children from painting right to the edge of the paper and potentially getting paint on the table. This is definitely an approach that I would adopt in my classroom. Before starting this module i knew that the enviable mess that sometimes can come as a result of an art lesson made me nervous to teach it. Then a highland scene was describe to us without us being show the picture, while we took notes. We were then left to use our notes and create the highland scene that had been describe to us. Personally, I found this task really educational because I don’t feel very confident when it come to drawing or painting however, I felt that this strategy helped me feel confident in my abilities. While, it helped highlighting the importance of allowing creativity and child lead activities within the classroom and surprising results that this can lead to. It is obvious that children would love this exercise as they would feel that they are being allowed to direct their own learning and the idea of making their own paintbrush will make it a much greater achievement when they finish their painting. After this session, I feel that I will be much more comfortable teaching an art lesson.

Overall, I feel that the lesson that we took part in today is definitely something that I would use in my own classroom. It is a great way to move past the style of template learning that is still very much present in art in schools today (Gibb, 2012). It is clear that although the same picture was describe to all of us we all came up with very different highland scenes. I think that this will therefore be a fantastic way to keep children on the same topic and idea without restricting them so much that there aren’t allowed to be creative and ultimately end up with 30 of the same pictures.

In this week’s drama sessions we looked at the final 4 conventions mime, voices in the head, monologue and slow motion. Of all the convention that we have covered so far in drama this was the set that I found the hardest to understand. For me, this week really help to reinforce the point that Andrew has been making throughout all our drama inputs, which is that when teaching drama everybody is a student . We also began to look at the ways in which we can use drama as a tool to open a discussion or deal with sensitive subjects such as social justice for example WW2. Using drama can a be beneficial way to allowing children to get into the mindset of a Jew or a Nazi. This would help children to deepen their understanding of the emotions and feelings that these people had during the war. This is shown in the expressive arts experiences and outcomes as drama allows children to experience real and imaginary situations which helps to understand and share their world and others. It helps to highlight why it is so important for all teachers and educators look for opportunities within their own teaching approaches for interdisciplinary learning (Scottish Executive, 2006). This is a lesson idea that I think could be used and change to use with children at every curricular level.

It is clear that for pupils drama is so important in helping children to develop their creative and artistic skills(ibid). As a teacher I feel that there will be lots of benefits for pupils taking part in drama as it can allow them to view information from different points of view and really get into the mind of the character that they are playing which ultimately helps to further their understanding of the wider world. As well as allowing them to communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings which is an important part  developing creativity and the expressive arts (HMIe, 2006) .

 

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. [Moodle Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on moodle. [Accessed: 25 September 2019].

Gibb, C. (2012) Room 13: The Movement and International Network. [Moodle Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on moodle. [Accessed: 25 September 2019].

McAuliffe, D (2013) Art and Design Education. In:Bryce, T. and Humes, W. et al. (eds.) Scottish Education. (4th Edition) Referendum, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

HMIe (2006) Emerging Good Practices in Promoting Creativity. [Online] Available: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544590.pdf [Accessed: 25 September 2019].

Scottish Executive (2006) A Curriculum for Excellence Building the Curriculum 1. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/btc1.pdf [Accessed: 25 September 2019].

In this session we began to take a closer look at the way in which both art and literacy are connected. As well as how art, drawing in particular can be used to help us understand what a piece of literature is saying. Personally, i found this task relatively difficult. I am not a visual learner so trying to make the words visual was something  struggled with.  Although, I feel that this could be an extremely useful tool when teaching because it can be used to help children deepen their understanding of a text. This could also be of use if I have a bilingual child in my class, even though the may not understand the words, drawing pictures or symbols could help them to start to decode the text in front of them. Personally this is something that I need to develop as i need to be able to best support all the children in my class especially if some children are visual learners.

While in the visual art workshop we looked at drawing and mark making and how these marks can be interpreted by different people. We were given ink and using our hand we made different marks on a piece of paper. We then we examined the marks to interpret the images as something else such as a person or a butterfly. The interpretation of my images can be seen below.

This exercise was very insightful and highlighted just how easy it is to draw and for many children it is just need a little encouragement  that they need before they are willing to draw. Personally, I think that this is definitely an exercise that I would do with a class in the future. As I think it is a really simple way to build children’s confidence in drawing and a way to combat many children’s I can’t draw attitude. Whilst showing them how easy it is to draw. As well as being a great way to spark there imagination and help them to develop their ability to interpret they way they see different images.

During our drama workshop with week we also looked at interpreting an image and how we can use this to inform a drama piece.  First we were shown a picture of a tenement building in Glasgow and in groups we interpreted the image and decided what was happening in one of the tenement houses and acted this out.

I found it interesting that although each group had seen the same picture we all had acted out completely different scenes. I think that this is something I could, again do with a class. However, I may give the children a choice of the different techniques that they have learned such as freeze frame, thought tracking or still image. As I feel that this may although some of the less confident children to feel comfortable getting involved. The use of the picture of a painting I this session also helped to show how different art forms can be used together to enhance the overall experience. As well as showing how sing only a single resource used as a stimulus a very insightful lesson can be created. As the teacher it is our role to provide children with the stimulus they need get involved and understand the task  as well as ensuring that all children are involved(Clipson-Boyles, 1998).

From this weeks sessions it has become more apparent that the expressive arts are an important part of a child education. Not only does it aid children’s understanding of written language it also helps children to interpret the things around them different ways and help them to understand that their are many perspectives in the world (Eisner, 2002).

References

Clipson-Boyles, S. (1998) Drama in Primary English Teaching. London:Fulton.

Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press.

During this weeks session we began looking at both Visual Arts and Drama. As well as the concept of creativity and why this should be encouraged.After taking part in the Visual Arts workshop this week I feel that I have a deeper understanding of the types of art that is produced at each school stage. As well as how children progress when teaching the expressive arts. These specific stages being identified as the scribbling stage ages 2-4, the pre-schematic stage ages 4-7, the schematic stage ages 7-9 and finally the gang stage ages 9-12 (Cox and Watts, 2007). These stages help help me to see the connections between the a child’s scribbling and them beginning to write because these early drawings can act as way for them to communication when they can not with words (Cox and Watts, 2007). Before this workshop, I was vaguely familiar with these stages however, I feel that this workshop helped me to see what each individual stage looks like.

Following our discussion on the progression of children art it became clear that as a teacher it is important to be sensitive when discussing children’s artwork and not to interfere with them while they are trying to draw (ibid).As a teacher it is important that we allow children to develop their own ideas and offer support rather than imposing on a child’s creativity (Craft, n.d.). If we deny children this opportunity then it can suppress their inspiration and want to create art (Edwards, 2013).As this can Therefore as a teacher I will always encourage children and take an interest in the art that they produce.

After looking at different pieces of art from each of the stages mentioned above I found that the art pieces from the Schematic stage most interesting.

This piece shown above is a drawing using pencil and what I believe to be crayons. The effective use of these media help to create a bold and detailed piece of what appears to be a queen or princess. What made this piece stand out to me was the amount of detail and the expression that the child had incorporated.

While in our Drama workshop this week we began learning about improvisation and different techniques that can be used to encourage children to join in and get creative. This workshop in particular highlighted the importance of trying something a little out of your comfort zones both for myself as a teacher and for my pupils. As O’Neill cited in Booth (2012)  states that students and teachers are in engaged in a shared enquiry and exploration in drama. The four techniques below can help us to achieve this. The four techniques where hot seating, teacher in role, thought tunnel and freeze frame.  Children I feel would engage well with these techniques especially teacher in role. As this would allows them to use their imagination and explore their ideas within the topic.  Which allows the lesson to be child lead so the children can develop their creativity and the teacher can act as the facilitator (Education Scotland, 2013). As a teacher I will try to use these techniques to help get every child involved in drama to help build their drama skills and confidence within this area.

References

Booth, D. (2012) Drama research: International journal of drama in education testimony reconsidering Dorothy Heathcote’s educational legacy. [Online]. Available: http://www.nationaldrama.org.uk/journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Testimony.pdf [Accessed: 10 September 2019].

Cox, S. and Watts, R. (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. [Moodle Resource] Available: Integrated Arts in Education module on moodle. [Accessed: 10 September 2019].

Craft, A. (n.d.) Creativity and Possibility in the Early Years. [Online] Available:https://tactyc.org.uk/pdfs/Reflection-craft.pdf [Accessed:10 September 2019].

Education Scotland (2013) Creativity Across Learning 3-18. [Online] Available:https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/Creativity/CRE1_WhatAreCreativitySkills/Creativity3to18.pdf [Accessed: 10 September 2019].

Edwards, J. (2013) Teaching Primary Art. [Online] Available:https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Bb63AwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=teaching+art+in+primary+schools&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbn8mhrp7mAhUHQ8AKHTicDIcQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=teaching%20art%20in%20primary%20schools&f=false [Accessed: 10 September 2019].