13/11/18 – 20/11/18 – Micro Teaching and Dance Performance

In our last two sessions we carried out activities to help us be able to evaluate our experiences with the expressive arts, specifically drama and dance.

Within drama we carried out micro teaching tasks in small groups and presented our mini lessons to the rest of the class. We chose the book ‘There was a wee lassie who swallowed a midgie’ as it creates links to language, culture, rhyme and imagery. Firstly, we read the book to our peers so that they understood the book in case they hadn’t heard it before, we would also have done this in the classroom so that the children could understand the context of the story. After this we carried out some of the different techniques we had been shown and tried out ourselves during our time exploring the arts.

After carrying out our lesson we reflected together as a group on what we think went well and how we could improve the lesson for the next time. We agreed that splitting who lead the different activities was beneficial as we all got a chance at seeing what it would be like to be in charge of the lesson. Personally for me this helped improve my confidence in myself when it comes to the arts as my knowledge and understanding of the expressive arts has improved greatly and I now feel like I would be able to transfer what I have learned into the classroom. This is just one of the many benefits that comes with being involved in the subjects of art, music, drama and dance, it changes how you see what’s around and how you see yourself and makes you realise you’re capable of things you didn’t think you could be.

“I have developed confidence and skills in creating and presenting drama which explores real and imaginary situations, using improvisation and script.” EXA 1-14a  (Education Scotland, 2017)

To show us how we can evaluate what we gained from dance we performed our group routine within a routine we created as a class. Starting as a whole class we began the dance and then each group took turns performing what they had created one at a time and then we came together and finished as a class. They way in which evaluated our performance was by filming the routine and watching it back. I felt this was an effective way of evaluation as it allowed us to see what we did well and what we could improve for next time, it also gave us the chance to see the end result of what we had been working towards. This would also be a great activity for the children as well because they would see their hard work and creativity for themselves and feel encouraged to continue their journey and understanding of the arts.

“I can respond to the experience of dance by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work.” EXA 1-11a  (Education Scotland 2017)

“One of the most powerful experiences dance educators can offer children is the opportunity to create a dance that reflects their ideas” (Cone, 2009)

When working in the areas of the expressive arts it’s like fitting the pieces of a jigsaw together, the subjects link together in different areas and this is what helps create a circle of endless positive outcomes for children involved in the arts and all the teacher needs to do is start the ball rolling. Giving children the chance to experience the arts it means they will see things in different ways to others, be individual and true to themselves, stand out from the crowd and grow to reach their potential so they can conquer the unknown future.

Reference List:

Cone (2009), Moodle Resource (2018), Integrated Arts in Education, Available at: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/45702/mod_resource/content/2/CreativedancePDF.pdf (Accessed: 21st November 2018).

30/10/18 – 06/11/18 – STEM to STEAM

“STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. The end results are students who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process. These are the innovators, educators, leaders, and learners of the 21st century!” (Education Closet, 2016)

In recent years education systems have been trying to incorporate more of the arts into the children’s learning by integrating different subjects and by creating connections between standards, assessments and lesson design. By doing this it promotes the children’s learning, getting them to expand how they think and their ideas, change how they see things and how they can transfer the skills they learn into other aspects of life.

To help us gain an understanding of how we could combine these aspects together, we got the opportunity to have a play around with a piece of software called GarageBand. Therefore, combing technology with the expressive arts, more specifically music. The software allowed us to create our own music by clicking and choosing an instrument and then picking a sound from a list of possibilities. After that we could then layer the sounds on top of each other to create a final track.

Using music in education helps children grow and develop in other aspects of their education and develop skills and traits that will help them in the future. It allows them to be creative and express their individual preferences and ideas through the arts.

Melanie Skankey explains this further and helps create a clearer understand for professionals as to what integrating the arts really means and how it can change education for the better.

“Creativity is a process which generates ideas that have value to the individual.  It involves looking at familiar things with a fresh eye, examining problems with an open mind, making connections, learning from mistakes and using imagination to explore new possibilities” (Education Scotland, 2013). These are just a few benefits from using the STEAM approach and creating links for the children between the subjects and letting them explore their creativity and imagination through new and interesting ways.

Reference List:

Education Closet (2016) STEAM Portal, Available at: https://educationcloset.com/steam/what-is-steam/ (Accessed: 7th November 2018).

TED Conferences, LLC (2013) Arts integration: putting the A into STEAM curriculum, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T70fZeyMulw (Accessed: 7th November 2018).

Education Scotland (2013) Creativity Across Learning 3-18, Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/cre39-impact-report.pdf (Accessed: 21st November 2018).

16/10/18 – 23/10/18 – The importance of Drama

“Tell me and I will forget

Show me and I will remember

Involve me and I will understand”

(Benjamin Franklin)

The expressive arts encourage children to get involved and be a part of the production or performance rather than sitting back and watching someone else to the work. Getting a child involved in the creative process means they learn skills and knowledge that they can use and transfer into other subjects and continue using them through life.

The quote above helps us to make sense of the expressive arts as well as most subjects and experiences in life. By only telling a child something chance are they won’t remember what you said, making it more effective and giving them an example increases the chance they will remember what you showed them and finally the most effective way of getting a child to make sense of something and enjoy it more is by getting them involved in what’s going on.

Using the expressive art of drama is a very good way of getting children involved in the creative process rather than just telling them what to do. It’s also a great way of getting the teacher involved as well, it allows them to build positive relationships with the children and encourage them to be confident in their work and performances.

Before this workshop my experience of drama was made of very little knowledge about the different types of techniques that can be used in the classroom to get the children to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings. Getting a chance to try out these techniques ourselves gave us the opportunity to see the lesson through the children’s point of view.

Being split into groups and collaborating on ideas allows different ideas and creativity to flow from one person to another and gave us the chance to communicate our thoughts to one another while in a safe environment. Some of the techniques we looked at were:

• Improvisation – a term for unscripted acting out which can include role play.
• Thought tracking – a character speaks their thoughts and feelings from a still image or a freeze frame.
• Thought tunnel – a double line of children who speak the thoughts and feelings of the character who is walking between the two lines.
• Teacher in role – the teacher takes part in the drama alongside the children.
• Role on the wall – A simple outline of a character is drawn on a large sheet of paper. Around the outside of the body the children write words and phrases that others think of the character.  On the inside of the body children write what the character is thinking and feeling.

Many of these techniques allow the children to be in control of what happens in the scene they create and explore their ideas and creativity. However, there are opportunities for the teacher to be involved and help provoke ideas and thoughts from the children to get them thinking and expand their imagination to wider things.

Involving children in in the expressive art of drama not only allows them to express how they feel but also help them understand things that happen in the real world or more specifically in their world, it gives them a chance to show what they can’t explain through words. It helps deepen their understanding in other subjects and build skills of confidence, communication and creativity. They can feel safe sharing their ideas and feelings with their teacher and their peers without the fear of judgement meaning they allow themselves to let go and be fully involved in the arts.

“I have the freedom to choose and explore how I can use my voice, movement, and expression in role play and drama.” EXA 0-12a

“I use drama to explore real and imaginary situations, helping me to understand my world.” EXA 0-14a (Education Scotland, 2017)

Reference List:

09/10/18 – Creative Partnerships

Integrating the arts in education is one thing but another positive way to get children involved in the arts is to look outside who’s in the school. Bringing in professionals to help can give children a deeper understanding and show teachers different methods of practice for using in the classroom. It can also be effective to get children involved in expressive arts projects out with the school. Meaning they get the opportunity to see the arts out in the real world and see how they can be used day to day and bring positive benefits to the children and others involved.

Creative partnerships enhance pupils learning experience and help develop their skills and the practitioner’s skills. Showing the different ways in which children can get involved in the expressive arts in school and out of school helps support the curriculum and support the aspects within it.

We got to experience this during one of our music workshops as a group of primary 6/7 school children from Greenmill Primary school came in to show us what they had been up to. We became the students and they became the teachers, the children were involved in the String Project which enables them to continue their music studies after leaving primary school. The String project is funded by East Ayrshire’s Youth Music Initiative and it was amazing to see so many children excited about the arts and music and interested in working together as an orchestra. They preformed for us using different instruments including the violin, cello, double base and viola and then they gave us the chance to learn the cords and have a play with the instruments.

I felt this was a great way to encourage the children to explore the arts because if they enjoy what they are doing then they want to do it more, they become passionate about it which is a great quality to have and take away with them as well as feeling like they have contributed towards a greater goal.

Creative partnerships are great and effective forms of collaboration and people working together towards a common goal. We continued this approach in dance as well by splitting into groups to create a routine, during which the teacher had very little to do with the task, we were in charge and in control of what kind of routine we good put together. To help get us started we were given 10 different moves that we could interpret anyway we liked and create a routine using the moves we created and decided on together.

Using this kind of activity in practice is exactly the kind of thing that shows how the expressive arts can create positive relationships between teachers and students and between students and their peers. It shows and develops skills such as communication, teamwork, creativity and passion.

Reference List:

Vimeo, Inc. (2018) Greenmill Primary School String Project, Available at: https://vimeo.com/176221212 (Accessed: 9th October 2018).

25/09/18 – Stimulus for Inspiration

Within the arts there is a lot of room for using what’s around you as inspiration and mixing that inspiration with your own ideas to create something unique and original. Even a simple trip outside the classroom to the playground and letting the child explore what’s around them can allow them to think of ideas and expand their imagination. Showing them a picture or a single word or letting them listen to a piece of music gets their brains thinking about the endless possibilities in their minds.

Starting a lesson with a stimulus changes how the child looks at the rest of the lesson, they see new ideas within the subject and activity, rather than sitting and being uninterested in what’s going on. They are more willing to interact with the activity, happier to collaborate with the other children in the class and even happier to come back to class and continue their learning if the subject has interest to them and made enjoyable.

During a music workshop we got the opportunity to experience this kind of learning for ourselves to experience what the child might see, feel and hear in the classroom during a similar activity. Different pieces of music were played to us and we were to write down how that piece of music made us feel, what it reminded us of. We then discussed as a class our answers and it was interesting to hear the variation of answers given, interesting to see how everyone had different thoughts about the music they heard, had their own feelings and memories.

This made me think about how this could be used in practice and the positive benefits it can have on the children and their experience in the classroom. This experience is child centred and allows the child their freedom to think for themselves and write, draw or perform what the stimulus makes them feel or think. Using the expressive arts to help achieve this means the children have a safe space and comforting environment to express how the stimulus makes them feel without fear of being judged.

“Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design.” EXA 0-05a / EXA 1-05a / EXA 2-05a

“Inspired by a range of stimuli, and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities.” EXA 0-18a / EXA 1-18a / EXA 2-18a   (Education Scotland, 2017)

Reference List:

Education Scotland (2017) Benchmarks Expressive Arts, Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/documents/expressiveartsbenchmarkspdf.pdf(Accessed: 25th September 2018).

02/10/18 – The importance of Dance

“Enjoy your body, use it every way you can, don’t be afraid of it…it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own” (Baz Lurhmann, 1997)

The wise words of Baz Lurhmann are some of the best advice that can be given, to sing, dance, enjoy life and what it has to offer. Life isn’t always enjoyable and for some children the only time they can enjoy it is when they come to school. Therefore, it’s important to make sure all the children enjoy their education so that they can take what they learn and the enjoyment on with them when they leave school.

Dance can take many forms, playing music to them allows children to feel the rhythm of the music, a rhythm they can transfer to dance and make the link between what they hear and what moves they can make to go along with it. When it comes to dance there is an endless amount of possibilities and creativity for the children. “One of the most powerful experiences dance educators can offer children is the opportunity to create a dance that reflects their ideas” (Cone, 2009) and all the teacher needs to do is start the ball rolling and the children can take it from there.

This allows them to take charge of their learning and express their own ideas and feelings. A teacher embracing creative dance can do wonders for the them and the children as it not only does the obvious and encourage creativity but is also increases confidence, physical and mental well-being and the ability to communicate and work together. Getting children involved in the arts gives them more than just creativity, they get a chance to explore their own ideas and improve how they look at themselves.

During our first dance workshop we discussed the purpose of dance and the positive effects it can have on the children and their well-being. We also looked at the different bones, muscles and organs in the body and carried out an activity in groups to pin point where we thought these different parts were within the body.

This was interesting for me as the only dance experience I has at school was ceilidh dancing. It wasn’t until secondary school until I was taught the basics about the body’s movements. So by putting the two together it made it more interesting to learn about and this activity could easily be done with children in class while looking at dance or the parts of the body or even in art looking at movement. They “greatest instrument” we’ll ever own helps us make these links between dance and the body.

We also learned the importance of doing warm-ups with the children as their bodies are still growing so it’s necessary to make sure they are ready for the activity so they don’t hurt themselves. It was helpful to be shown some simple stretches and exercises that could be done with the children.

From previous experience in the classroom dance can be used on its own or mixed with other subjects, however it can also be used as a relaxer for children if they have been working hard or concentrating on a topic. Doing a dance with the kids, getting them to do some stretches or even putting on a video they can follow along and allow their brains a chance to relax and keep their creativity flowing.

Reference List:

Cone (2009), Moodle Resource (2018), Integrated Arts in Education, Available at: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/45702/mod_resource/content/2/CreativedancePDF.pdf (Accessed: 2nd October 2018).

Lurhmann, B. (1997) Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)

18/09/18 – Interdisciplinary Learning

While teaching the expressive arts one of the most effective ways of enhancing the children’s learning is through the planned approach of interdisciplinary learning. By using this approach, it means that the teacher creates links between different subjects to promote the children’s learning and this helps the children use what they learn in other areas. They are able to transfer their skills and knowledge they learn from one art to another which helps promote problem solving, communication and creativity. To use this type of approach it is most effective when the learning is tailored to meet the learners’ needs and ensure there are appropriate next steps. (Scottish Government, 2012). I feel this type of approach to learning would work very effectively when teaching the expressive arts as the teacher would be able to create ways and activities that would expand their knowledge of the arts and make them expand their outlook of the arts.

Although having done the expressive arts in school, the subjects were very individual and there wasn’t many links or crossover between the subjects. In terms of art, we were taught how to use different materials and techniques but we were all to create the same picture. There were not many opportunities to for us to use our own creativity and ideas and this is what needs to change, we need to give child more opportunities to create and express their thoughts, feelings and ideas.

“Picasso once said this, he said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it.” (Ken Robinson, 2006). When we teach children in school we shouldn’t be trying to have them think a certain way or or show them that their work isn’t good enough because that’s how children lose their creativity and begin to have a negative outlook on doing things different from the rest and being individual.

During an art workshop we got a chance to experience an activity that could be used in the classroom, we were given materials and resources and were to create our own paintbrush from the resources we were given. It was clear when all the paintbrushes were shown together just how different everyone’s ideas were and the difference in creativity, structure, colour and size. We then had a view described to us which allowed us to all create a painting using our own imaginations of what we could visualise in our head.

This would be a great activity to do with the children as it encourages them to use their own imagination and creativity, meaning that the repetitiveness of being shown what you are supposed to do and just copying the teacher are thrown out the window and it’s up to the children to create what they see in their mind, meaning there are no two pictures the same. This activity could be used for more than just the expressive arts alone it could be integrated into literacy and writing.

Reference List:

Scottish Government (2012) CfE Briefing Interdisciplinary Learning, Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/cfe-briefing-4.pdf (Accessed: 18th September 2018).

Ken Robinson, Ted Conferences, LLC (2006) Do Schools Kill Creativity?, Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity#t-611584(Accessed: 18th September 2018).