Blog 3

After reading Sylvia Kind's ideas about children's art, I found myself considering a "larger picture", and my own past art experiences. Kind explains the drawbacks of a developmental view of teaching art, and yet, from my perspective as I was growing up, that seemed to be exactly what was being taught to me, especially in junior high and high school. I can remember art teachers who told the class "do this, and when you've figured it out, try this next". It seemed so sequential, and at the time I can remember once asking "I want to do things this way", and being told that my way was "weird", thus leading me away from experimentation! A frustrating experience, and one I think Kind would have some problems with. Her model of "representational performance" seems to encompass a larger view of the student as a learner. Each student brings their own "context" with them into the art classroom - their own individual strengths, experiences, and desires for growth, and an art teacher has to be able to adapt to that context as much as the student adapts to the context of the art class. It does not mean the art teacher no longer teaches skills, because they should. It just means that kids have to have the freedom to explore things, and then contextualize the exploration. The biggest issue I see with Kind's model is assessment. What aspects of her model are assessed? Can a child still show growth even if they do not complete an assignment, or it turns out "poorly" in the teacher's or the child's eyes? I found it interesting that Kind speaks to how children will often be primarily concerned with the artwork looking like they expect it to look like, not necessarily any other goal the teacher has in mind, and not necessarily what the teacher thinks it should look like! That seems to lend itself to some measure of self-assessment.

Blog 2

One preconception I have about the nature of childhood and children is that they are constantly growing; I don't mean physically but mentally. I believe that this preconception is true, because each child's learning is different, and in order to help that growth, families and teachers play a major role in guiding how the growth occurs. Another preconception I have is that children are eager to learn, like a sponge waiting to be "filled" with knowledge. If we provide opportunities and context, children will naturally learn because they WANT to. Obviously, both these conceptions of children affect my view of the role of both teacher and education - I see the teacher as a guide, planning experiences within an educational context to allow the students the chance to explore and learn. Education, then, is really a string of interconnected experiences, where the students construct meaning (hopefully) both within the educational context we provide them (our "learning objectives"), and within their own personal view of the world. I believe that the movie actually confirms my first conception, especially regarding the importance of family. James' need to feel important and loved by his family echoes the importance of family as a guide to what we learn. Without family guidance, James' imagination creates a context where he can receive the love and attention he needs. The movie also ties into the second preconception I have, in that James is taking what he learns of the world, even the bad parts, and constructing meaning that fits within his own "worldview".

Puzzle Documentation

The first day that we started the puzzle there was only Kenzie and I. I have worked on a lot of puzzles in my life because I have always enjoyed the end result and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with putting all the pieces together. Like Dr. Eiserman said, it is very addicting. There was always an urge to find the pieces and successfully put them together. I suggested that we should sort the colours and edges because it is easier to work from a smaller area of the puzzle, with similar characteristics, and build towards a larger picture. We sorted out half of the puzzle pieces into colours and edges.

On the second day working on the puzzle, there was only Sam and I; Makki join afterward, but by that time "puzzle time" was over. Not having the whole group there makes it harder to observe each other and work through the process. Maybe if we do the puzzle inthe last 15 minutes of the class, the whole group would be there and the process would be more effective. I worked on the puzzle after Sam taught us drawing and painting, and I managed to put most of the edges together, so next time, when we come back to work on the puzzle, there will be an outline for us to work from.

Blog 1: My best and worst experience in art...

Well, let me see...I have always enjoyed doing art ever since I was young, so my memory of art has always been positive rather than negative. One of the best memories of art I have from my childhood was when I was in Grade 5. I was in the art club and also participated as an "art leader" in our school. We were assigned a major project in conjunction with the Calgary Zoo to paint animals on wooden panels that would then be displayed at the zoo. I was really excited about the fact that my art work would be displayed in public for people to see. This experience made me realized how important it is for an artist to have their art work viewed by the public, and also how affirming it is to have others view your artwork as worthwhile. I think this is especially important for children because they need to see how people value their work, and a public forum creates a true sense of the community valuing a student's work.

Another great experience that I had was when my elementary school had a "class certificate" award each week for different qualities that the school was trying to instill in students. One week the award was for "the most creative imagination" and I won it!. That week we were to create an illustrated book based on fairy tales. My book was called "The Three Stinky Pizza Men". I was inspired by the book called "The Stinky Cheeseman" (loved it as a kid!) It took me a long time to draw three pizzas on each page but in the end I was proud of my drawings. We even got it laminated so it looked like a professional book! That was the first time I actually enjoyed writing a story because I was intergrating it with art. I was really happy when I won the award; it gave me the feeling of being recognized for my work, which is always important to children.

Most of my best memories of art occured in elementary school; that is probably why I am drawn to becoming an elementary art teacher. I want to be able to give students the chance to explore, to feel happy for accomplishing something that they might not have done without assistance, and to receive recognition for the great things they do!

As for my worst experience, it was during high school. We were to come up with ideas for our next art project based on a song my teacher had us listen to. I came up with an idea that I thought would be interesting and evocative to the viewers, but when I told her about it she would say something along the lines of "no...how about this". No matter what I said, her response was always "no...how about this". That made me frustrated because, regardless what I said about my ideas, she already had a certain vision of she wanted the project to look like. It basically took me and my creativity out of the project - instead, I was mechanically producing what she wanted to see. I can see how this could also be a problem for students of any age because they are often told how projects could be "better" if they do things THIS way instead of THEIR way. Teachers and parents need to be aware that student/artists need to have opportunities to explore and create using their own ideas, or they will not feel involved or "heard" in their own art!