Blog 22

Discuss your experiences in Art 307. What have they contributed to your understanding of Art? of the role of art in learning? of what the relationship between education and learning is? of the role of the teacher in this process?


In Art 307, I was able to learn more about child development, growth, and issues in art education. How can you best engage your students? How can you manage your classroom? I especially learned a lot about the age group (8-10 years old) that we worked with in our peer workshop. Learning to document your teaching, I think, is important because if you record your impressions of your lessons and reflect on them, you'd be better able to see what worked and what didn't work in your planning. In planning lessons for your students, you want to research and understand what might be the best teaching methods to meet the needs of a variety of learning styles, like visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners. As a teacher you also need to understand your students' backgrounds, and their physical and psychological needs. Considering learner styles and backgrounds allows you to better understand a child and how they will approach art. The role of art in education is to allow the child to express themselves and have the freedom of choice and creativity to create a piece of work to their liking, not necessarily what the teacher wants or expects. Art is a spontaneous process; you never know what the results might be! Art also reflects and explores the values inherent in a culture, so it is vital in understanding a culture. Education's role is to provide situations and experiences where learning can occur, and it is the teacher's job to provide the framework within which learning can best occur.

Puzzle documentation 4

Now that we finished our puzzle project, I came and helped out another group. I was mostly observing and looking at the different pieces because it had different colours and shapes compared to my group puzzle. What I notice that was different about this group was that they grouped similar colours into bags. I found it a little bit harder for me because I was not able to see the pieces properly, so I kind of started to lay out the colours that might match a specific part of the puzzle. Eventually, the group finished their puzzle as well, and I did help out, but because I wasn't there for the entire project, there wasn't the same sense of completion in me that I had when my group finished - I guess it highlights that we invest something in a project when we are there from the start - it becomes ours, and it's human nature to want to see it through to completion.

Puzzle documentation 3

We finally finished our puzzle! I find that when we were closer to finishing the puzzle, we were more focused because we were eager to see it completed! It was a little bit depressing when we found we were missing one puzzle piece. Still, we all felt the relief of seeing the entire puzzle finished. Yay!

Blog 23

Reflect on the experience of making a work of art with others.

In our collaborative work of art we were able to compromise and accomodate at least part of everyone's ideas into the work. Still, not everyone's ideas were treated equally, and honestly individual efforts were not equal as well. The process of collaborating was valuable, however, just because it forced relatively individualistic people to compromise. Another advantage of working with others is that it allows you to be able to socialize and become familiar with other people in the field. This creates a greater sense of an art community, working towards common goals. I believe that once you get to know others more, you are more comfortable with creating a work of art with them. You learn to let go of at least part of the process, but still maintain a sense that you have ownership. The process of putting artwork together requires everyone's help; therefore, you don't feel that you're alone when problems or issues arise. There is always someone to bounce ideas off of, or ask for advice. It is an engaging experience.

Puzzle documentation 2

When observing my group members I found that they are "in their own little world". We worked on the parts that we felt like working on and if someone needed help to look for a piece, then the rest of the group members would keep their eyes out for that piece while still working on their part. It was like a game of concentration. Sometimes it could be a cooperative project and other times it could be individualized. I found that when I am doing the puzzle by myself I was able to focus on that area and being able to look for pieces easier because I don't feel confined by others. When there were other group members, I spent my time helping others look for individual pieces; I only put pieces into the puzzle if I knew they were a match.

Blog 21

What has this experience of working collaboratively added to your understanding of what one learns through art?



When working collaboratively, I have learnt that being able to observe others and see some of the things that they do working, or not, allows you to transform the experience into your work. When you are working on a collaborative art project you can expect the learner to observe others and then extend that knowledge and experience into their individual artistic growth. A student learns how others handle specific challenges, contributes to the creation of new solutions and new opportunities for their own and others' growth. Individuals have strengths and areas of growth, and a collaboration allows for artists to share and contribute. And not just skills and techniques are shared - so are attitudes and viewpoints, which shows how art can help an individual become a more rounded member of society.

Blog 20

Where do our notions of visual art as a solitary activity come from? What are the benefits and limitations of engaging in collaborative works of art?



Historically, we art taught that artists are solitary individuals, often misunderstood by society, who struggle to release their creative vision. They are inherently solitary. I believe that our modern notions of visual art as a solitary activity comes from our early childhood experiences. Ever since preschool or elementary, we were taught that art is individualistic and everyone's art is unique. Art was introduced to us as an independent activity. Creating our own art shows, accomplishing our own achievements in skills and techniques, and completing a piece of work shows our level of success in making art.

One of the benefits of creating collaborative works of art is that the work includes more than one artistic style and idea. It teaches us to cooperate with others, and compromise so that their ideas and our own are incorporated into one piece of artwork. A limitation in collabortive art is that it becomes harder to express individual artistic impressions or ideas. As a child or an adult, you would feel uncomfortable when someone modifies or changes "your" artwork, because then it is no longer yours.

Blog 19

Reflect on your time with the child you worked with. What succeeded and why- refer to Dewey and other readings? What did not succeed and why not- again, try to find a reason based on the readings you have done for this class. If you could work with this child again, what would you like to do next time to develop what you today's experience?

I think that, for the most part, the lesson was successful. Amy (my child) was able to build on past experiences while engaging in a new experience, like Dewey suggests. She had an experience that she found interesting, valuable, and fun, and was eager to continue on to the oher extensions I had planned that were not necessarily art-based, which I thought showed another level of success. What did not work was the initial project I had planned, which shows the importance of both flexibility and experience, or at least learning from it, in the teacher. My project had a lot of extensions what would develop further ideas in the study of Canadian aboriginal cultures, writing, and drama. I think it would have been interesting and fun to have continued with the project!

Blog 18

How does learning in, through or about art change when we begin to look at moving beyond a standard, Western European based, middle class curriculum? What do these "special" cases reveal to us about the central issues for our practice as art educator?

To a large degree, I think this question is answered in the previous blog. When we move beyond curriculum, the focus changes from general skills and art appreciation to individualized growth. Art "students" at this point can grow or not, become more skilled or not, appreciate something new or not, as they choose - what matters is whether the experience is valuable to the individual student, and if it hasn't been, then they don't have to pursue it any farther. I think this points out both the strengths and flaws of the education system in general. Its strengths is that it provides students with a general platform within which to pursue individual interesting and goals in virtually any direction. Its weaknesses, however, lie within the limitations of generalization, budget, and societal values that are contained within the culture of both society and the educational system. What do we as art teachers teach? Is it skills? Values? Appreciation? Straight curriculum? Difficult choices, and often it is left to the individual teacher to decide where to put her or his energy and focus.

Blog 17

What does learning in a community-based setting afford children?

What are they able to learn in a community-based setting that they would not be able to learn in a school setting? What does teaching in a community-based setting afford the educator? What can one do in a community-based setting that one could not do in a school?

A community-based art program allows children to explore art without the restrictions and covenants based on a formal school setting. The instructor does not have to worry about curricular or cross-curricular goals - instead, the instructor can focus on whatever they'd like the students to experience, or maybe focus on what the class itself would like to experience. I'm not sure they would learn more in a coomunity-based setting, but students would learn differently, and there would be less of a focus on results. The students would get to learn (or not) at their own pace, and generally there would be no "grading" accompanying their work. Most community-based settings are focused more on introduction to art or an art genre, skill building, and personal enjoyment.

Blog 16

Describe your most meaningful learning experience in a museum or art gallery. What elements made it so. Relate this experience to Dewey's notion of a "good" experience.



I think that the most meaningful learning experience I had was when I went to the Glenbow Museum for the first time. I was most intrigued by the "Art of Asia" sculptures because I became intensely interested in the history of each individual god's statue and awed by the fine craftsmanship. It opened my eyes to different media in sculpture, and brought culture into art in a meaningful way. I think this fits Dewey's notion of a "good" experience because it was interesting and enlightening - I learned as I experienced.