Synthesis and Conclusion
Concepts in Art Education has helped me solidify why I believe art education is so important. Understanding the processes of how artistic learning occurs in children, teenagers, and adults, as well as special populations students is essential in order to effectively teach art. Throughout the semester, we read and discussed various articles with research about how these ideas molded art education practice in the past and how it continues to impact current pedagogical practice. One of the biggest take-aways of the semester was actually being able to put the things we learned into practice by teaching them through our service-learning experiences. We also did explorations using “How to be Explorers of the World” which also helped us expand on our creative experiences and how to think outside the box when it comes to making and teaching art.
Through readings such as How Young Artists Grow and class discussions about Rhoda Kellogg, we learned about her work in understanding how children develop art making skills. She collected over one million drawings made by children between 2-8 years of age. Kellogg developed a classification system that describes the development of graphic expression in young children. Her Studies focused on line formations beginning with basic marks. Kellogg charted how children follow a predictable range of graphic development through pictorial representations. This intrinsic pattern seems to be universal, and if left to their own devices and provided with the right materials, children will develop their unique artistic ability and individual sense of aesthetics. As most children mature, their explorations will naturally become representational. This transition must be handled carefully as not to influence the child but support each child’s individual artistic vision. Reading about Viktor Lowenfeld’s research as well, we learned that free expression of children in artistic media is necessary for the healthy growth of the individual. Emotional or mental distress happen when children are thwarted, either by a loss of confidence or by the burden of adult ideas of supposed good art.
Therefore, understanding these developments is essential in order to nurture children’s artistic development and not hinder or influence it with a unreflective cookie cutter, pseudo art approach to creating art that cannot be differentiated from one another in a line up. Every stage of the art making process should have appropriate approaches. From Young in Art no particular motivation is needed; perhaps the best involvement that the teacher or parent can make is to give children the appropriate materials, and the encouragement to engage in scribbling- in reference to young children beginning to explore art expression.
Focus on realism and the expectations children perceive of adult’s preconceived notions of what art or drawings should look like can affect children’s interests in art and discourage them from creating it which has repercussions in the development of problem solving, In Studio Art: Praxis, Symbol, Presence and Art as Praxis, we learned about how symbol making is a basic need in humans because our brains naturally translate experiences into symbols, as teachers we have the ability to foster or hinder the originator instinct through repetition and experiences. As children grow older, other approaches are added into the mix, repetition, exploration of materials and value of process over product play important roles.
How we talk about children’s art and how we display it in the classroom as we learned from Reggio Emilia’s ideas, shapes children’s perceptions of how art is judged and has a huge impact on how they continue to create throughout their life. The projects we assign in our classroom should be well balanced between curriculum that is teacher centered vs. student centered, or project-based vs. choice-based. Studio Art should include the 3 Ps- personal, passionate and pertinent. Nowhere did this become more evident than once we started teaching in our Service-Learning groups, in my case, 3D Artistic Abilities.
Teaching for artistic behavior and understanding that children are not variations of the same individual as stated in “Differentiated Instruction,” helped solidify that not all students have the same strengths, likes or levels of readiness, or cultural backgrounds, and designing the curriculum to be inclusive of every child’s abilities will help every child in our classroom grow and be successful. By providing many opportunities and options in our projects, support and reflective practices, students are challenged while also gain independence affirmation and interconnectedness in their environment. By valuing trial and error in our student’s work, we maintain student’s engagement, help them see there is purpose in their learning to build on prior knowledge and realize that the goals we help them set for themselves are attainable. If students don’t learn the way I teach, then it is my responsibility to adapt, change my curriculum and approaches to teach the way they learn, as stated in “Differentiated Instruction in Art.”
From Young in Art, we learned how important it is to listen to children’s comments about their art and create dialogue with the material they provide rather than by our perceptions of what we see or don’t see in their drawings. Using the egocentric nature of young children to make art all about them and their expression is beneficial and will nurture creativity. Being descriptive and pointing out artistic choices is more constructive and beneficial than using “I like” statements when commenting on children’s art. This was particularly difficult to grasp because we are conditioned to seek and give acceptance or rejection rather than true observation of the artistic process, which can either set high expectations that eventually deter children from continuing to make art or discourage them from the beginning for not being able to reach those expectations.
Throughout my service-learning experience, I learned that making assignment personal, pertinent and passionate is crucial in helping the art experience be successful. As we also learned from Zurmuehlen, repetition and scaffolding through ample exploration of mterials is also very important in helping students build on creativity and excited about making art. In our 3D Artistic Abilities class, we got to see precisely how important scaffolding and building on prior knowledge, opportunity for exploration, repetition and trial and error is. We saw first-hand how students are more engaged when expressing themselves through their identity, likes, hobbies, friends and culture. It was so exciting to see personalities shine through in the work they produced, as well as how different everyone’s projects would turn out in the end. No pseudo art was produced, every student was engaged, and we truly got to know our students, their quirks and motivations throughout the semester. Ample access to material as well as time to plan, problem solve and ideate greatly enhances and is a part of the art experience, which helps develop critical thinking skills that spill over and are beneficial in so many other aspects of life outside art. Teaching adult learners with disabilities put into perspective inclusion, and the importance of equity vs.equality in the classroom. It definitely made me more aware of the big responsibility I have as a teacher not only to teach every student as a whole, but also to get to know my resources and access to assistance in my community.
Other readings such as Negotiating Fit. When is Creativity and Values, Beliefs and Behaviors and Art making in the Middle Grades, enriched our learning and understanding of how being a teacher involves flexibility and getting to know our students. Play, personal interests, student’s cultural and family dynamics all play a role in how they create art and should be valued and taken into consideration. Listening to their stories gives meaning to their artistic choices, and this should be validated and respected because in every grade level, from k-12 we will see vulnerabilities (different in every stage) in our students that can impact how they see art and how they see themselves. Nourishing student’s ability for independent judgement and trusting that they are learning with guidance and not rigid restrictions and guidelines in the art making process will be more successful than trying to control how they learn, when they learn it, and how technical their skills are. Focus should be on expression, with guidance but also options and liberties for expansion and exploration.
Towards the end of the semester we also learned about the importance of establishing community connections that can enhance the art making experience in the classroom. This was particularly exciting because many of these opportunities have the potential of fostering identity and building confidence in students. Art that Makes Communities Strong and Art that Gives Voice taught us about programs such as Ya/Ya and K.O.S. that have been instrumental in transforming communities and student’s lives through art which is so inspiring, encouraging, and affirming that what we are learning will have an impact in our students as well because we are learning how to foster those ideas in our own classrooms by establishing connections outside our classroom to strengthen that growth. No one teacher can cover every student’s needs, nor does any one teacher have all the ideas or answers necessary to be one hundred percent successful one hundred percent of the time. By reaching out outside of the classroom walls and collaborating with experts in our communities, there is potential for adventure and growth beyond what can be gained from within the four walls of an art classroom. In tandem with other community members we can fill in the gaps for students where we might be lacking in expertise and help give voice to often times marginalized students.
In all, this class was challenging and engaging. I learned in leaps and bounds and have found affirmation every step of the way that this is what I want to do. As a nontraditional student, there is much more pressure in being unquestionably sure of my path so as to not waste time and making sure I am taking exactly and only the steps I absolutely need to take in my journey to not take longer than I have to. Perhaps this is a ridiculous standard, but, regardless, taking this class has helped me see I am on the right path. There is so much more to learn, and I am ready for the challenge because I have a great foundation.
Bibliography
Fahey, P. (2000) Art that Gives Voice, Fort Collins, CO: Colorado Art Education Association.
Hafeli, M. (2000) Negotiating “Fit” in Student Art Work: Classroom Conversations. New Paltz, NY: National Art Education Association.
Jaquith, D. (2011) When is Creativity: Intrinsic Motivation and Autonomy in Children's Artmaking, The Journal of The National Art Education Association
Koster, J. (1997) Growing Artists: Teaching the Arts to Young Children: How Young Artists Grow, Children’s Artistic Development, Delmar Publishers
Raoul, D., Woywod, C. (2013) Art That Makes Communities Strong: Transformative Partnerships with Community Artists in K–12 Settings, Milwaukee, WI
Zurmuehlen, M. (1990) Studio Art: Praxis, Symbol, Presence. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.