Today’s lecture and workshops focussed mainly on the meaning conveyed by music and visual arts and how we use them to tell stories. We discussed how mark making and sound making are always significant. Marks, from scribbles to a well composed piece of writing or a detailed drawing, convey a message intended by their creator and they all hold equal value in the sense of expression.

Fleming (2012, p.14) discusses his belief that to label the arts as something which ‘provides insight into human situations’ would be referring more directly to the literary arts. However I would argue that all types of art, including the physical arts, reflect perceptions of reality and situations which humans deal with. Fleming (2012) then goes on to discuss the fact that art is created by humans, often to represent some form of their reality, but there is a part of it which seems to be disconnected from reality and it is this part which separates that which is captured by the arts from the real world. Therefore, the arts are always conveying a message, although this message may never be truly understood; even by the creator themselves.

Today’s workshops for both visual art and music taught me that people have different preconceptions which will influence their perceptions of the messages and stories conveyed by pieces of visual art and music. Many of us share certain preconceptions and biases, meaning that we may perceive aspects of music and visual art in similar ways. For example, today in the music workshop we listened to a piece of music and had to then work in groups to create a story which we believed best represented that told by the music. Although every group’s story was different, they all shared commonalities such as aspects of good versus evil, tense feelings, and a happy ending. However, young children have less life experience so have less preconceptions, meaning that their interpretations of sounds and visuals will often be very different to those of the child sitting next to them. This helped me to consider the fact that in the classroom, I should always encourage learners to embrace their imagination. It also allowed me to consider that within art, there is most often not a right and wrong answer, meaning that art is a fantastic way to help young people to feel a sense of achievement and to build confidence within and outwith the classroom. There may, for example, be pupils in the class who struggle with maths and literacy, but if they are taught that by simply using their imagination they can connect to the arts very effectively, they may feel more accepted in school and be driven to persevere.

All of the above highlights the importance of tolerance of uncertainty, which is labelled in Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel, as a sub habit under the habit of Persistence. The other sub habits featured within persistence are daring to be different and sticking with difficulty. Having read this wheel today, I feel that the habit of persistence is the one which we focussed on in most depth and its importance within the arts has became very clear to me.

It is this celebration of the unknown which helps art in every form to be therapeutic as people can express their feelings and ideas in whatever way they deem best. We discussed today that the arts can successfully take a role in health and wellbeing lessons in the classroom as they can improve mental health in many ways, as shown in the poster below. They can also be incorporated into and improve performance in other aspects of the curriculum, such as literacy through speech, writing stories and contextual understanding as they allow for the development of many skills and expression of the self in a way which is controlled by the individual themselves.

Fleming (2012, p.19) says:

“It is worth recognising that different art forms and even different works frequently have different intentions and effects; they can enthral, move, enlighten, inform, inspire, amuse, challenge, entertain or provoke.”

I believe that this is the perfect way to summarise the way in which music and visual art can evoke a range of different feelings and emotions as in every form they convey meaning and tell a story which may or may not be made clear by, but which is always valued by, the creator.

References 

Fleming, M. (2012) The arts in education: an introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London:Routledge.