Molly Doull UWS IA

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].