Rachel Fraser UWS ITE ePDP – Page 2 – Just another blogs.glowscotland.org.uk

Sustainable Development- Interdependence Blog/ Learning Log

This week’s sustainable development learning log is derived on interdependence, we acquired knowledge of this topic in a diverse method than what we normally do, firstly by participating in farm visits and secondly, we worked in groups to produce an infographic in relation to maintaining a sustainable ocean.
I found the farm visits to be rather fascinating and insightful. We visited two very divergent farms, both of which were dairy farms. The first farm that we went to was a high tech, this farm had technology for every aspect of cow farming. All of the cows had electronic tagging, that would enable the farmers to check for any problems or illnesses that an individual cow have. The cows could freely milk when they wished due to their electronic tracking how much there are milking. Likewise, the technology would pick and concrete the diet correctly for the cows depending of the time of year. The second farm was a traditional dairy farm, the cows would get milk weekly, but the difference was this farm was organic implying that in the cow’s diet there are no chemicals in the food they eat. I was intrigue by how both farm looked after the baby calves, at the high tech farm the baby calves were separated from their mother and others in an individual pen, whereas at the organic farm the baby calves were in individual pens but beside the adults’ cows, when these calves got to about 5 months they would be moved into a large pen with other calf’s and to allow interacted. This was the first time that I have ever visited a farm, but in fact I enjoyed the visits and think it would be a great idea to take future primary classes on these visits. It would allow a different dynamic of learning, making it engaging and enjoyable, likewise the children would be able to contextual were a lot of the food they eat comes from and the efforts of the farmers to ensure we have access to farm based foods and produced.

Once we can back from the farm visit I engaged with the online lecture that looked more in depth in regards to what we saw at the farms and the term interdependency. Interdependency can be defined as ‘when two or more things depend on each other in order to grow and maintain health’ (Oxford). This term has been circulating for centuries and from early culture individuals understood the importance of counting on their environment for resources, food/ water and other needs, however what they gathered was we should respect our environment in order to maintain our resources for centuries. In today’s society there are three sectors being;
• Economic interdependence
• Social interdependence
• Environmental interdependence

The follow up workshop of interdependency was rather different from usually, we worked in groups, researched sustainable oceans and created an infographic. This was a great activity as we were able to explore a range of academic reading as well as government or well establish websites, this enabled us to extract appropriate information. Initially I found creating the infographic to be challenging and rather complex, but after trailing with infographic I seen realised it was not too hard and is a great way to display information along with images. This could be an application that could be use in the upper primary, perhaps primary 7, this could be used along with ICT and another curricular area. Relating to CFE outcomes and experiences;
“I can create, develop and evaluate computing solutions in response to a design challenge”
TCH 2-15a
Overall, I enjoyed the interdependency inputs, the farm visits where great and allowed me to see how a farm worked and enabled me to consider the fantastic opportunities that farm visits would have for children. I felt I have been able to develop and consolidate my understanding of the term interdependcy and the underpinning factors this can have on the world. Likewise exploring sustainable oceans, I was able to understand the different issues our oceans are encountering, in particularly in regards to climate change.

Integrated Arts- Music and Dance 17/10/2017

The focal points of this week’s integrated arts inputs where music and dance. Again, after these inputs I believe I have developed further knowledge and confidence within the integrated arts education.
During the lecture we explored why music matters within education and how music can complement other subject areas, in particularly literacy. The skills of music are encircled by the skills of literacy primarily transpiring as reading, writing, listening and speaking, Hansen et al (2014, p.1) connotes “children are learning valuable skills of music that are an integral part of becoming a literate person”. Likewise, Patricia Stock cited by Hansen et al (2014, p.3) denotes literacy as “the ability to use available symbol systems that are fundamental to learning and teaching- for the purpose of comprehending and composing- for the purpose of making and communicating meaning and knowledge”. Music empowers children to acquire additional skills of creative, perspective, comprehending and rhythm. Even at a young age when children are engaging in play, children are making emblematic connections to the real word. From early stage children should be encourage to listen to music and create their own music too, researchers have proven that music can enhance children’s language and literacy acquisitions. Decoding is a fundamental skill of learning to read and making the connections between the phoneme and grapheme (Hansen et al, 2014). Teachers are able to use music in literacy and maths for instance “using songs as a way to learn the content of reading or mathematics such as memorising grammatical structure or multiplication tables” (Hansen et al, 2014, p. 42). Similarly, music can also raise attainment in the primary school, children may become more engaged in learning and behaviour may improve due to the involvement of music. As a perspective teacher it is important that I find a way of implement music in the classroom, allowing the children to be engaged within all of the arts and give them the opportunity to create their own authentic pieces of integrated art work, whether it is an individual or with peers. There are many options that engendered children’s involvement in music, this can be through learning to play an instrument or learning to sing, learning to compose, using ICT to develop music, learning to produce a performance. What I gathered from lecture is music is a powerful subject which can help teachers to develop learning and teaching, and also aid the cognitive development of children, as a perspective teacher it is important that within my practise I express enthusiasm and energy in order to make learning engaging and enjoyable. Bloomfield (2000, p.67) highlights the importance of music in the curriculum “some children will find an opportunity to excel in musical communication while others will be highly motivated by musical activities. It is important to acknowledge that such music is such a powerful musical tool”.
The music workshop focused on the theory aspect of music and the advantages of music in other subject areas. In groups we were assigned a curricular area within the ‘International Journal of Music Education’ by Susan Hallam, my group was assigned physical development, below is the mind-map of information we abstracted.

Also within the input we consider lesson planning in music, using an interdisciplinary approach, below is our lesson plan

This week we were introduce to the dance aspect of the integrated arts. Before the input I felt rather apprehensive and uneased by the prospect of teaching dance, but throughout the input I acquired valuable techniques that has increased my empowerment and confidence in dance. Dance is made up of movements which are used to illustrate emotions and meaning, dance is part of cultural across the world, and dance is considering a means of social interaction (Bloomfield, 2000). Children are first exposed to dance “through singing games and spontaneous rhythmical play actions, acquired through family, nursery, and media resources (Bloomfield, 2000, p,45). Bloomfield likewise states dance is “experienced through awareness of kinaesthetic flow patterns, the awakening and development of skills through coordination… meaning of movement in a creative and expressive way (2000. P.45). Throughout the input we were shown a variety of ways to implement dance in an engaging way for instance dance whisper- the class form two equal straight lines and the two children at top is show a short sequence dance and must pass it along line to the end of the lines. Another approach is getting the children to form a conga line and different music plays and each child gets the opportunity to create a unique response to the music. Also in groups we consider bones and muscles that we use when we exercise, when teaching dance especially through Physical Education it is important to do a warm-up and ensure the children are ready to dance, likewise a cool- down is important too. Movements of the left side of the body are dominated by the fundamental motor and sensory sector of the brains right hemisphere, (Bloomfield, 2000). When teaching dance, it foremost to be aware that individual have one side of their body more presiding than the other, it is therefore principle to practise the movement on both sides of body, being resilient if one side of body is more challenged by the movement (Bloomfield, 2000).

Nonetheless this week we were able to establish the principle TEN words of any dance routine being:
• Twist
• Reach
• Roll
• Slide
• Gesture
• Hop
• Jump
• Kick
• Turn
• Balance
Utilising the ten words above in groups we create our own movement for each and next week we hope to incorporate into constructed dance routine.
I found this week inputs to be overall insightful, I have been able to consider the power, the influence and theory of music not only to the curriculum, but the significance that music can have on children’s development and attainment within learning. Likewise, in dance I have be able to acknowledge the importance of movement within dance and the thought behind creative dance routines.

References
Bloomfield, A. (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton
Hansen, D, Bernstorf, E, Stuber, G. (2014) The Music and Literacy Connection .(2nd ed). London: Rowan and Littlefield

Integrated Arts- Music Application and Visual Arts 10/10/2017

The focus of this week’s inputs where music and the visual arts. This week I have been able to explore a range of technologies and methods that can be interwoven throughout primary learning of the integrated arts.
The initial input was music, during the workshop we were introduced to GarageBand, a software application that enables you to produce sounds, create your own music and record audio. We were first asked to create an eight-bar piece of music, using a range of sounds, beats and musical instruments. After experimenting with this aspect of the application, we then moved onto altering our pieces of music by using fade ins and fade outs, changing the pace and pitch and introducing sound effects. After trialling the application, we then created our own music using an animation as a stimulus. This allowed us to consider a variety of animations and select appropriate backing music (considering musical instruments, bass and sound effects) to complement the short clip. In regards to music at the beginning of the module I was not confident with the prospect of teaching the subject, but being introduced to a range of music resources I feel that music is a subject that is not based solely around playing musical instruments and singing, but there are opportunities to use online applications in order to aid teaching. By using GarageBand within the classroom, I would be utilising an interdisciplinary approach as children would be developing skills within music and ICT. Bloomfield (2000, p.68) devised a framework for music teaching and learning within this Bloomfield conveys the importance that children should be “developing ICT skills in music and learning to compose and create music”. In addition, children should be exposed to a variety of “sound source and combinations of sounds” (Bloomfield, 2000, p.68). The GarageBand application likewise enables children to consider musical elements, that Bloomfield (2000, p.69) defines as: “pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure and form”. When teaching music cross-curricular with ICT the principle musical element would be timbre (Bloomfield, 2000). Timbre can be denoted as the characteristics of musical sound and the diversity of sounds that can be created. It is foremost that children have the opportunity to experiment with sounds and engaged in producing their own pieces of music using a variety of technologies.

I can use my voice, musical instrument and music technology to experiment with sound, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamic (EXA 2-17a)

During the visual art workshop, we continued to work on ‘Windows of the West’ painting, but taking a different dynamic of the work that we produced during printmaking in the previous week input. This enable me to approach the work with a fresh creative frame of mind. Firstly, we selected one of the multiple printmaking copies, which was then photocopied onto A4 paper, this left us we half of the paper to illustrate our own imagination. Using this as extension work in the classroom would empower children to create their own unique perspective on the painting and also develops their awareness of good judgement, as the children must be able to scale their work to ensure they include all detail they want to illustrate (Eisner, 2007). There are many opportunities to use printmaking with ICT for instance Cox and Watt (2007, p.55) devise “scanning prints onto a PC and manipulating them using art and design software”. In addition, computer software packages can change the “colour and tone- or a selection of a print then copy and paste it serval time to create a new patter” (Cox and Watts, 2007, p,81). ICT in the visual arts generally enables children to take more creative risks and experiment with their work in-depth.
Also during this week’s visual art workshop, we looked at colouring books, however the colouring books we examined where different from the conventional books that mainly have a lot of detail, these colouring books had space for individuals to draw their own response as well as colouring in. This outlook on drawing and colouring in the classroom would empower the children to demonstrate and illustrate their understanding of the image given as well as improving their drawing skills. I believe colouring in is an activity that is rather calm and therapeutic on the mind.

Interlinking both music and visual art technologies can be used to complement and improve work quality. Within music technology can improve sound quality where as visual art technology of a printer can produce serval copies which allows mistakes to be made.

Using printmaking as a stimulus to create own view

Also, over the past week I have read ‘Room 13: The Movement and International Network’ Claire Gibb. Room 13 was an art studio founded in Fort William in 1994 by young artist. I found this to be an insightful read as it highlighted the work of children and their desire to make art more noticeable within the curriculum. The art studio had a resident artist Rob Fairley who built the essence and practises of Room 13 and was very passionate in regarding children as unique artist but cognitively the same. The art work created by the children was unsystematic which enable the children to experiment and discover their unique skill and acquire their individual knowledge on art and social issues that had recently occurred or occurred in the past. By taking this approach to art children are able to develop art skills at their own cognitive pace as well as build confidence. By reading Room 13 I have been inspired to consider the teaching of art and who as a perspective teacher I utilise the visual arts within the classroom, I believe it is important for children to discover their unique creative and produce art work that is symbolic and fulfilling for them, emphasising art should not be about seeking perfection and uniformity in work, but being confident in their art ability.

References
Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of the Mind. Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach.
Bloomfield, A. (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton
Cox, S, Watts, R (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. New York. Continuum International
Gibb, C (2012) Room 13: The movement and international Network. Blackwell Publications
https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes

Learning Log- Sustainable Development- The Climate- 6/10/17

The central point of this week’s learning log is Climate Change.
Climate change is a substantial issue that is impacting on our world, people and living things. Climate change can be defined as (climate) the average weather at a certain instance and time of year, and is recorded over many years (usually over 30 years). The weather should remain a constant, and only encounter slight changes day to day. However, if the weather does not stay persistent then climate change is occurring. Throughout the years the world has experience changes in the climate and its weather, within the United Kingdom the average yearly temp is 14 degrees (2012, Met Office). Scotland is becoming warmer and by 2080 it is expected temperatures will increase by 1 -3 degrees, however this does not mean that Scotland will encounter warmer summers, but in actual fact is it a warning that the world’s atmosphere is becoming warmer, hence the term Global Warming. Similarly, the average temperature of the Earth is 14 degrees, the average temperature has increased by 0.6 degrees over a 30-year period and by 2100 it is forecasted that a rise of 1.4- 5.8 degrees is expected to occur on Earth. Rising temperatures engenders Global warming. The Polar Regions are parts of Earth that are being significantly affected by Global Warming, these regions already have experience harsh conditions, but increasing warmth on Earth is causing the Artic environment to melt, having detrimental consequences for humans, animals and living things whose habitats are within the Polar Regions.
Conversely, the term Global warming is based around the greenhouse effect. Scientist believe that a build-up of emission in the atmosphere acts as a blanket and keeps heat around the Earth’s atmosphere, thus temperature increasing.

As part of the directed studied task I had to calculate my carbon footprint (calculated as 109%) and it was a complete eye- opener for myself. Before participating in the calculation, I would consider myself and family to be relatively green. For instance, at home we recycle (paper, aluminium, compost, glass) and also have many approaches to reduce heat loss within the house such as loft and wall insulation and double glazing, likewise each room has energy effective lighten. However, I do use my car at least four times a week for long distances, nonetheless if the journey I am making is short I would walk or use public transport instead of driving. Also, this year I made two return journeys by aeroplane. After receiving a score of 109% it is important that I make some changes in order to reduce my carbon footprint, this can be done by sourcing food locally, eat less meat, even reducing central heating within the house by 1 degree will reduce energy used by 10%.

The focus of last week’s (29/9) workshop one was Politics and Global Warming. What I acquired was that politics are an important influence in climate change, as it is politician/ government actions that cite legislation and policies in regards to reducing climate change and creating a more eco environment. Recent legislation includes the 2050 policy in reducing carbon footprint and the Paris Agreement. Once we looked more in-depth at the influence of politics, in groups we were given a stakeholder (from around the world and living in different circumstances) to examine the impacts of global warming/ climate change for that stakeholder personally, their community and their country. My group was assigned to a MSP whose constituency was the Scottish Borders. Researching into this area of the UK we were able to understand the consequences of Global Warming and considered different active approaches that the government could employ to reduce the effect of global warming.
I would use the above activity in a primary setting, adapting it slightly, perhaps given the children information I have researched and they have to select accordingly to their stakeholder. This also gives children an insight into the global warming impact in other countries apart from their own. An interdisciplinary approach can be used by basing the lesson around researching and writing or presenting a report using ICT (literacy and technologies) Linking to the CFE outcomes and experiences this activity would be more suited towards level 2:
I can use evidence selectively to research current social, political or economic issues
(SOC 2-15a)
Throughout all my learning I can use search facilities of electronic sources to access and retrieve information, recognising the importance this has in my place of learning, at home and in the workplace.
(TCH 2-03 b)
Having analysed how lifestyle can impact on the environment and Earth’s resources, I can make suggestions about how to live in a more sustainable way.
(TCH 2-02 a)
By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience
(LIT 2-26 a)

The second workshop was based around using a science approach when teaching children in regards to climate change and global warming. In groups we attempted different activities. The first activity was each group was given the same scenario of a plane crashing, landing into a range of biome’s (can be defined as a “large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinctive region” (Collins/ Dictionary) for instance a desert, rainforest. Forest, tundra,) and some items/ objectives where left scattered around the area and we had to find out information based on the environment, it climate and how we would survive. My group was given the Gobi Desert (which is situated between China and Mongolia). We were given a list of question to complete, this could easily be used in a primary classroom and children could create a report in groups based on different biome’s. Again, this lesson is more tailored towards level two, however providing upper level one learners (primary 4) with information based on their biome, that they would select information for the appropriate questions. We also tried:
• Making two identical ‘snowflakes’, we then reserved one and made the other into a ‘hailstone’, we then compared the ‘snowflake’ and ‘hailstone’ by dropping both at the same time, this resulted in the ‘hailstone’ reaching the ground before the’ snowflake’. This occurred because generally a hailstone falls vertically and it significantly large than a snowflake.
• Another activity was a weather front experiment. This involved filling a transparent tank with room temperature water, placing pebbles into two cups (both having the same weight). In one cup fill with hot water and red food colouring, and the other with cold water and blue food colouring, then place both cups in the tank at the same time. What I noticed was the red rise to the top of the tank, while the blue was constraint to the bottom of the tank. This is a good representation of a weather front to show children, as the experiment illustrates the warm air rises causing the pressure of cold air to sink.
• We also attempt to make a tornado, in a jar. To carry out this experiment we filled a jar with tap hot water and then added drops of food colouring and washing up liquid to the jar. Then swirl the jar around quickly, once stopped the water inside continues to spin very fast, just like a weather tornado. This is a great experiment to shows children as it shows how a real tornado is likewise created when cold air and warm air come together and spin, also it highlights the different weather that can happen in the world.

Reflecting back over the past couple of weeks I feel I have acquired and have been able to learn a wealth of information about climate change and global warming. It is important that as citizens of world we realise the damage that greenhouse gases and climate change are causing. By making slight environmentally friendly and energy saving changes, we can reduce our personal carbon footprint this can have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gases and global warming, hopefully reducing dramatic changes that climate change is having on our weather system. Thinking as a teacher it is important to make children aware of climate change, as it is important that children have a knowledge of the extreme weather that occurs in different countries and have an understanding of global warming and climate change.
Useful Resources
http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/home/calculator_complete
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/key-features-1981-2010
https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes#sciences
https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/09/18/2367819.htm
http://bpes.bp.com/secondary-resources/science/ages-12-to-14/earth-and-atmosphere/carbon-footprint-toolkit/

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2009/12/contents

Integrated Arts- Printmaking and Drama 3/10/2017

The focus of this week’s Integrated Arts module where the visual arts and drama. During the input I was able to develop a range of personable skills, as well as teaching techniques in which I will be able to implement within a classroom environment.
As part of the lecture we were given a copy of the painting ‘Windows in the West’ by Scottish artist Avril Paton. We discussed the painting and the wealth of opportunities that it can be used for within integrated arts areas of the curriculum, as well as occasions when an interdisciplinary approach can be utilised. Using an appropriate painting or drawing there are many opportunities within the curriculum to compose a narrative (relating to drama, literacy, possibly social studies and health and wellbeing). Taking a comprehensive survey of the painting ‘Windows of the West’, it is evident that within the painting there is a significant amount of activity occurring within the image. Subsequently there are many opportunities to build a drama lesson, the ‘Windows of the West’ painting represents a story behind each window of the tenement block, there many possibilities to question children such as: what are the people doing in the painting? Look at the different floors, what is happening inside each flat? What do the flats look like inside, can you create an image? Availing Rod Taylor framework of PROCESS, FORM, CONTENT and MOOD, this can be used as an aid when discussing aspects of art with children.

‘Windows of the West’
PROCESS
What materials, tools, processes and techniques did the artist use?
The artist used watercolour paints in order to create the painting. The artist also used a range of paintbrushes as the painting has a lot detail implying the artist carried the work out carefully and with accuracy.
FORM
Are there recurring shapes, lines, rhythms, forms etc. which determine the design of the piece?
The artist has created uniformity with in her painting, the shape of the windows remains constant. Likewise, the artist painted attentively due to the structure of lines.
CONTENT
Was the subject matter observed directly, remember or imagined?
Analysing the painting it look as though the artist observed the situation directly due to the volume of detail in her work. As the painting was created on Scottish street snow is quite rare.
MOOD
Does it convey feelings about life and nature?
The painting conveys the unpredictably weather in Scotland. The artist main aim perhaps was the to illustrate that behind every window there is a different story evolving.

During the first input we explored printmaking in the visual arts. To create our printmaking, we used the ‘Windows of the West’. This was the first time that I had ever attempt printmaking, in spite of having low art skills set I was able to produce work of a good quality, in which was pleasing and satisfying to myself knowing I had develop a new skill. Cox and Watts (2007, p.47) considers printmaking as “something slightly magical about the process of printmaking… making a print is a rewarding experience”. In order to create printmaking there are many processes to be carried out:
• Firstly, trace the image onto polyboard, this will leave slight idents on the board. It is best to use a ball point pen to trace back over the idents.
• Paint (range of colours) is then put onto wooden/ plastic board, using rollers to roll the paint onto the polyboard.
• Once the polyboard is covered in paint, the polyboard can be transferred and printed onto paper. We used A5 paper and coloured paper too.
• There are many opportunities to facilitate printmaking within the curriculum, children could perhaps make Christmas cards using print, or even print a piece of literacy work using printmaking.
I found the process of printmaking to be an enjoyable and a fulfilling experience. However, printmaking possesses complexities especially when teaching young children, nonetheless as long as the processes are demonstrated and explained clearly children should be able to grasp an understanding of the skills involved. Likewise, printmaking can be a messy, during the input I was able to tolerate the mess created, thinking of a classroom setting giving children wipes would minimise the mess of paint.
There are many benefits for teaching printmaking within the curriculum:
• The principle reason for teaching is the polyboard can be reused again making multiple copies. In addition, children will be able to trail their work without encountering failure. Multi-copies give teachers a chance to collect a folio of work that can be used as assessments for children art work (Cox and Watts, 2007).
• Likewise ‘aesthetic’ is explored within printmaking. Printmaking stimulates children to develop their visual literacy, when printmaking children while have little power over the outcome of their print. “A successful print is often a combination of the intentional and unintentional” (Cox and Watts, 2007, p.48).

Paint will be rolled over the tracing in order to create a print

multiple copies where made using the same colour of paint, but different coloured paper

an additional stage is adding more personal detail to the tracing. Also different colour of paint can be used.

Also, this week we had our first drama input of the module. At primary school I have limited experience of drama, I only got taught drama in primary 7 and was part of the World War Two topic that my class was studying, the drama narrative was based on a primary school teacher and her class being evacuated to the countryside, within the drama I portrayed the main character. Being part of this production, I gained a lot of confidence and self-esteem and extremely enjoyed drama. When I transitioned to secondary school I did not studied drama and as I have grown older I feel rather uneased at the prospective to teaching drama, due to the little exposure I have had to drama. Reflecting back on the input I feel significant more comfortable and less apprehensive. During the input we were introduced to a number of drama conventions that can used within a primary school drama lesson:
• Teacher in role-
• Freeze-frame
• Though tunnel
• Improvisations
• Thought tracking
Young children have the opportunity to participate in drama, this is usually conveyed in ‘let’s pretend’ element of play. Bloomfield (2000, p.27) establishes that children create pretend play by “observing people around them, imitating their actions or mode of speech, pretending to be characters in stories they have read or from television programmes they have seen, that children entre an inner world of practical realism or romantic fantasy”. When teaching drama, it is important to consider the individual ability of each child, some children may not be confident to participate in a drama lesson, it is therefore pivotal to adapt the lesson to ensure that all children are included in the drama in some way.
I believe I have acquired a significant amount of understanding of different approaches to painting, through printmaking and it is an approach that I would certainly implement within the classroom. Likewise, this week I have been able to develop my knowledge of drama and considering the number of means I can teach drama to pupils.

Considering the link between the visual arts and drama, printmaking is a great way of producing and creating innovative backing scenes for drama productions or showcases.

References
Bloomfield, A. (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton
Cox, S, Watts, R (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. New York. Continuum International.
Taylor, R, Andrews, G. (2012) The Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: Routledge

Learn Log- The Evnironment

The initial inputs of the sustainable development module centred around the Environment, with a focus on natural and urban environments. Having previously studied Higher Geography and enjoyed the course, I was looking forward to this module, and to apply my already acquired knowledge and also develop new knowledge that I can implement within primary education. Over the past weeks I have been able to develop my understanding through a range of workshops and independent study.

Sustainable development can be defined as world citizens being able to satisfy basic needs and enjoy a better quality of environment. Griffin, et al (1991, p.9) establish sustainability as:

Relation pf people to the physical environment
Understanding of finite resources
Understanding of potential for change
Possible and preferable futures
Lifestyle for a more sustainable world

Sustainability is becoming increasing more important as the world seeks revolutionary methods to enhance the environment. It is therefore vital that as a perspective teacher to ensure I execute sustainable development education, as there are many positive opportunities for children to gain.

Through global citizenship children will be able to involved with their local community
Empowerment
Children will become more engaged with their environment, hopeful taking this into their adulthood
Being aware of the environment also has health benefits, (for instance children and their families may decide to walk instead of using other forms of transports, many schools have a walking bus as a part of pledge to improve the environment)
Children will gain a better understanding of the usage of resources (such as recycling)
Also, education will become fun and in context (children will be able to engage in local history, culture, physical environment, trade and economy)

During workshop one we experienced outdoor learning, in the university grounds. In groups we explored the natural environment, such as tree barks/ leaves, went on a sensory walk and looked for different types of insects and their habitats. We were provided with worksheets, the worksheets used during the input could easily be adapted to any primary year. Outdoor learning has many opportunities for teachers to employ the cross-curricular approach to learning, for instance children outside could find a flower, leave, rock etc., something that is part of nature. Back in the classroom children would write a creative piece of work about their object that they found. Also, many schools have”bug hotels” children could write a review about the “bug hotels” and the improvements required. It is important that as a perspective teacher I take advantage of the outdoors, as outdoor learning is embedded within the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes of social sciences and within the General Teaching Council for Scotland framework and standards for probationary teachers and qualified teachers, likewise there are many opportunities for children to develop new skills and knowledge outdoors.

Within workshop two we looked at natural science, how this fit within the Curriculum for Excellence, we then continued onto group work and tried out different classroom activities. Firstly, we went outdoors and used different types of paper and writing implements to take makings of tree bark and leaves. Also there was snails, that we were able to hold. Deakin University has many science activities that are suitable, fun and engaging for primary education

The urban aspect of environment was a directed studied task that I was able to do at home. This task involved me going out and exploring my local urban environment. By carrying this out I was able discover a significant amount about the my local urban and nature environment. Whilst outside I paid particular attention to trees in my area, what I discovered was the trees are all different (especially texture, leaves and bark).

Over the past two week I believe I have developed a significant amount of knowledge in regards to sustainable developmental education, natural environment and urban environment. I feel I have enough understanding to teach the environment within schools, there are many opportunities to teach the curriculum outdoors and employ activities which are fun, engaging and stimulating for leaners. I look forward to learning and to develop my understanding of sustainable development more in-depth over the coming weeks.

References

Deakin University (N.D) Ideas for Teaching Science. Available: [https://blogs.deakin.edu.au/sci-enviro-ed/early-years/]. Accessed: [28 September 2017]

Griffin, D. Inman, S. Meadows, J. Norman, A. Rogers, M. Wade, R. (1991) Teaching for a Sustainable Future. London: South Bank University.

Scottish Government. (2012) Learning for Sustainability. Available: [ http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/LearningforSustainability]. Accessed [ 14 September 2017]

Intergrated Arts- Visual Arts and Music 26/9/17

This weeks Integrated Arts inputs where vastly engaging. The inputs focused on the visual arts and music.

In my prior blog posts, I discoursed that integrated arts related subjects are not my strongest curricular areas, but as this module progresses I feel I am becoming significantly more confident in my abilities and my capacity of teaching the integrated arts in a classroom environment.

During this week’s visual art input, I realised that the visual arts are not concerning seeking perfection, but in fact the individual’s ability to create art work that is unique, abstract and symbolic to them. In order to create distinctive art work, we produced our own paintbrushes, we were supplied with a range of materials- a wooden stick was the bases, to design the stick there was wool, cotton wool, feathers, string and other small objects. From the outset, the art work of class inevitably would not be uniformed, however within a primary school environment pursing for uniformity can be challenging, as segments of art can be intricate and complicated for pupils. It is therefore important to allow different variation of art work that represents the individual unique skill set (Holt, 1997). Children will get great satisfaction and achievement from making their own paintbrushes, it a perfect opportunity for them to develop divergent pieces of work.

Once we created our paintbrushes, we then continued onto paint using our paintbrushes. The lecturer read out a Scottish Highland scenery that was concealed from us, the lecturer described the image using straightforward language. By using this method of delivering the lesson we rendered our own perspectives of the image and created unsystematic art work using the paintbrushes and different colour and size of paper When painting I felt some uncertainty and was hoping that the painting would turn out how I was expecting it to. Within the classroom it is important to keep in mind that art should fun and engaging for children, however as children progress through their primary education, they are more aware of their abilities in which they will often compare to their peers and also will be less eager to experiment in subject areas. ‘Some children find art and design lessons frustrating, and would be far happier if there was less mess and greater certainty’ (Kay and Stillman, 2009, p.2).

Before the visual art session, I would not normal like to paint due to the mess generated, but my view has changed, as I found painting to be therapeutic and stimulating, and I am now inclined to paint in the classroom. In order to reduce mess, it is important to have good organisation of resources, using A3 paper children will be able to make their own disposable mixing palate, likewise ensuring the desks are kept protected this can be done by drawing a boundary around the paper and using newspaper as table covers (Cox and Watt, 2007).

The focal point of the music input was understanding how to play a glockenspiel using figurenotes. Figurenotes are coloured and different shape stickers that can be used on musical instrument to represent musical notes and has matching coloured music sheets. Despite being unable to play a musical instrument I would now be able to facilitate children’s musical instrument by using figurenotes as it easy to understand and there is no need to read musical notes. Also, this week we were introduced to Charanga, a primary education website that has a range of music lessons, songs and musicals that can be implemented in the classroom. Knowing that these resources are available is giving me more confidence in relation to teaching the arts to their fullness and ensuring children are acquiring skills from the arts too.

What I assimilated from this week’s input I can relate to the Tallis Habit Pedagogy Wheel (2013), within the persistent category. Within the visual arts input I was ‘tolerating uncertainty’, as I created a paintbrush and was unsure if I had the ability to paint an unseen picture. Within the music input I was ‘sticking with difficulty’ initially I found playing the musical instrument challenging but I ‘persevered’, remained ‘focused’ and by the end of session I felt confident enough to implement within a school setting.

Music and Art provide the opportunities for children to develop their creativity and related skills. A paintbrush resembles closely to the implement that is used along with glockenspiel, therefore children could create their own individual glockenspiel instrumental stick.

References

Cox, S, Watts, R. (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. New York: Continuum International Publishing.

Key, P, Stillman, J. (2009) Teaching Primary Art and Design. Exeter: Learning Matters

Holt, D. (1997) Primary Arts Education: Contemporary Issues. Guildford: Biddles

Tallis, T. (2013) Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html. [ Accessed on 27 September 2017]

Sustainable Development- Urban Environments

I have lived in the residential area Burnside, which is situated in the town of Rutherglen since I was a young child. The estate I live in I would describe as quiet, leafy and very green due to the volume and range of trees and woodland area which surround the area.

There is limited traffic around the estate as vehicle access is allowed for residents only, this implies that streets within the estate there is slight noise pollution created from traffic. The houses within the estate are all terraced with front and back gardens, with no driveways resulting in residents parking on street. However due to more resident having cars nowadays (as the estate was built in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) this has provoked problems finding parking spaces and resulting in the local council using green space in the estate to provide more parking. Likewise, the estate has a burn (a small stream) which leads into a small pond at the end of the estate, there is a peaceful walk way that runs parallel to the burn. However, in the past the burn has caused flooding problems, resulting in some resident homes being flooded, as a consequence the local council has employed flood management systems to prevent homes flooding. Also within the estate there is assisted housing for the elderly and a small community hall that can be used for events and is also where the local councillor and MSP hold their monthly sittings. There is a bus stop outside the estate on a main dual-carriage way that provide services to Glasgow city centre and East Kilbride. The nearest train station is a 10 minute- walk and runs to Glasgow Central and Newton. Likewise, the M77 is close by too.

The area of Burnside is in walking distance to many amenities such as the Primary Health Centre, dentists, large supermarkets, two hotels and other necessary services, this is highlighted within the EEA document on urban environments which states towns and cities provide citizen with short travelling times to work, school, hospitals and other services due population density. Â Rutherglen Main street is a 10-minute walk from Burnside, the Main Street has a shopping centre that has a couple of supermarkets, home stores and pharmacies. There are no high street fashion stores in Rutherglen, the nearest shopping area is Glasgow which is 20 minutes by train, bus or car. Also on Main street there is a library, one Roman Catholic church, two Christian churches, restaurants, a couple of pubs and the town hall that has a café, a registers office and entertainment shows are performed throughout the year. Also within the area of Burnside there is a park with a children’s Play area and other grassed areas. The area likewise offers clubs for young and old, there are many Scouting, Guide and Boys/ Girl Brigade groups, dance groups, music groups and two gyms/ leisure centres within the proximity. There are several primary schools and three secondary schools. The nearest hospital is the Victoria Infirmary which has a minor injury unit, out-of- hours and outpatient services, the closest hospital that has accident and emergency would be the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Govan, which is a 25-minute journey by car.

Using the Air Quality Scotland website, I was able to determine the pollution in my local which is 1 meaning it is low for Nitrogen Dioxide and other particulate matter, however nitric oxide was unrecorded.

In addition to surveying my local area I watched a insightful TED talk by Alessandra Orofino, are principle argument was about how technology should be used in urban environments to increase citizen participation in local and national decision making, as a response to declining in election voting throughout the world. I consider this is an innovative idea as the world is constantly modernising and technology is evolving too, this would be more geared at todays generation and I think voter participation would increase as a consequence.

Teaching children in regards to urban environment is essential as it allows children to explore their local environment (if they live in urban area) or not to compare to where they live (if rural). This gives children the opportunity to evaluate their surroundings, environment, culture and amenities. Within the curriculum for Excellence framework urban environment outcomes and experiences feature heavily.

A lesson idea on urban environment for a Primary 5 class would be looking at traffic in the local area. I would organise to take the class to different streets that vary in traffic (for instance a main street, a one-way street, a main road and no through traffic street) within the proximity of the school. I would provide the children with clipboards and worksheets of the different types (split into categories of car, bus, van, bike), they would use tally markers, to mark the vehicles as it past. Back in the classroom children would use the data they collected and display in graphs to compare the different areas, also writing what could be done in order to reduce traffic. Links to CFE SOC 2-08a and SOC 2-09a.

I have found this week’s sustainable development resources to be rather interesting, which has allowed me to reflect on my local area, but also discover new information in regard to its urban environment.

Cognitive Development of Children’s Art Work

The focus of this week’s integrated arts input was the cognitive development of children’s art work, as they progressed through their primary education.

Initially, Elliot Eisner 10 Lessons the Arts Teach was imparted during the lecture, what I gathered was this publication should be at the centre of any creative teaching, as it abridges the exposition for the arts in education (Hall and Thomson, 2017). Likewise, the arts can aid attainment throughout the curriculum, but Eisner publication makes it his nucleus that the arts are more about understanding the world completely and the influence that creativity can have on our world (Hall and Thomson, 2017).

The pre-readings required for the lecture where very insightful, which explored art and design in primary education and the art developments of children through nursery and primary.

The Arts in Education, Fleming 2012
Teaching Art and Design 3-11, McAuliffe 2007

These reading encouraged me to consider the varying elements of creativity and how this can influence the mark makings, drawings and paintings of a range of ages and was able to use this knowledge when introduced to the archive of children’s art work.

McAuliffe (2007) encapsulates the different art and design stages that children develop, McAuliffe makes reference to the theories of Lowenfeld and Brittain (1997) which they alluded the following model of art development:

Stage 2-4 years- Scribbling stage
Stage 4- 7 years- pre-schematic stage
Stage 7-9 years- schematic stage
Stage 9- 12 years- gang stage

McAuliffe, D. (2007)

However, presently teachers no longer make reference to this theory as a means of art assessments due to cognitive advancements. (McAuliffe, 2007).

This a created by a child who was four years old, this is known as the pre-schematic stage (McAuliffe, 2007, P.26). At this age children can draw anything relevant from their imagination. Initially I though child’s drawing was of a birthday cake, however a description on the back made by their teacher said in fact the child drew a dog under a washing machine. The child’s teacher exhibited good practise by listening and making a note of what the child drew.

This painting was a produced by a child (aged 7- 9 years) during the schematic stage. As art ability is progressing children begin to add more details and features to their work, they are understanding the importance of proportion and placement of objects and the importance of colours (McAuliffe, 2007). However, there is a conversion in learning styles as at early level creation is more “child- based activity” and when they go into first level creation is “adult- based learning” (McAuliffe, 2007, P.28). Art work in the primary school becomes more unified and is centred around the lesson plans of the teacher and their creation and imagination rather than the spontaneous imagination of the children.

The final stage of art development in primary education is the “gang stage” (aged 9-12 years). At this stage children are able to make precise drawings of features, likewise children are becoming increasingly conscious of their art work and their ability as skills required become more demanding (McAuliffe, 2007). Also children in this stage add more detail to their work but will become more discontented and will use pencil in order to rub their errors out until perfect.

The lecturer introduced an excellent way to incorporate art and literacy, this can be done by giving children one page of a book or article which they read, instead highlighting key points, they would draw their response on the page given.

This week I have been able to expand my knowledge of children development through art and design, this allowed me to consider methods in which I can adopted in order to ensure children have the opportunity to employ their own unique imagination and creativity into their art work.

References

McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum.

Hall, C. Thomson, P. (2017) Inspiring School Change: Transforming Education Through the Creative Arts. 1^st ed. Oxon: Routledge.

Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of the Mind. Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach.

Integrated Arts- Week One

During my time at primary school I thoroughly enjoyed the arts, and was involved in the school’s drama productions and was member of the school’s choir, by participating in these extra-curricular activities I increased my confidence and self-assurance. However, when I went to secondary school I gradually fell away from the arts related subjects and never studied any after third year.

The thought of teaching the arts makes me considerable apprehensive, due to the little knowledge I have in regards to the arts. But during the first week of the Integrated Arts module I have learnt a sufficient amount, which has made me feel more confident and relaxed about the prospect of teaching the arts.

The focal points of the lecture and workshops where art and music. During the art inputs, we explored the importance of children’s creativity, which children can illustrate from a very young age. What I acquired from this was, as a prospective teacher it important when planning art lesson to allow children the chance to exhibit their own imagination and creativity.

“Planning, teaching and supporting learning art it is important that you consider the aspects of creativity so that children have the opportunity to respond their own creativity€ (Edwards, 2013, P.11)

In addition to this, it foremost to value and merit children’s art work, this can be done by asking them to explain their art work to you. In art, it significant to bear in mind that there is no wrong method or way, but any piece is correct and worthy.

During the music input we explored music appreciation, similarly to art it is important to create a creative learning environment, were mistakes are allowed and praised. Also during this input, we investigate the significance that music can have on other curricular areas such as numeracy and literacy. Using music and literacy in groups we constructed a story board, this was completed my listening to a seven-minute-long track that did not have any lyrics. By doing this we were able to listen and erect our own thoughts on the track and brought our ideas together to create a story. This can also be done using digital literacy (sound and visual) and can be an effective and creative lesson to engage children with music and literacy.

The initial week of integrated art I feel I have been able to amplify my universal arts knowledge and look forward to the coming inputs.

Reference

Edwards, J. (2013) Teaching primary art. 1^st ed. Oxon: Routledge