WEEK 7 – Tuesday 22nd October 2019
This week in integrated arts we were lucky enough to be joined by four Norwegian students. We started the morning lecture off by hearing all about their life In Norway and how their education course at university differs from ours in Scotland. Some of the information we heard that surprised me was that all teachers must leave university with a masters degree. We were also told a bit about the Norwegian school system, for example, children start primary school at six years old, until they are 16. They then move onto secondary school for 3 years, then are allowed to attend higher education for 8 years. There is a strong focus on physical education being incorporated into all learning areas, numeracy and literacy etc.
Our focus in the art workshop was traditional Norwegian outdoor art. We were required to make an art piece, using what we could find from nature. First of all, we used our phones to do some research on outdoor art and take some inspiration from artists. One I looked at and liked his work was Andy Goldsworthy, he creates art using nature such as leaves, puddles and rocks. As a group, we went a walk along the side of the River Ayr, we all had a Norwegian student in our groups which helped us have a different perspective. Our first idea was to create a ‘snow’ angel on the ground but using the autumn leaves instead of snow.
However, we soon realised this wasn’t very creative and continued our walk to find something more exciting. We came across a tree with red berries falling of it and decided we would create the Norwegian flag.
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with the Norwegian students. It was interesting to hear the differences in our university daily life compared to theirs. Also hearing about how different their primary education system is to ours. Looking at the UWS graduate attributes, I think this experience helped me become more imaginative. Being given nothing but the outdoors to make a piece of art could be quite challenging, therefore, it requires an imaginative mind.
Moving on to the music workshop, we were looking at using the Garage Band app to create a piece of music. We worked individually to explore the different features of the app, which I personally think was quite challenging. I had no prior experience with the Garage Band app and never realised all the different features it has. So, I personally found it challenging and realised once the hour and a half was over, that I hadn’t produced anything of great length.
