Cooperative Learning K-6

                In Anne Thulson’s article, Contemporary practice in the elementary classroom, a Study of Change she begins with the notion that a younger age range, such as k-6, should have contemporary art integrated into the classroom. Thulson begins by stating some reasons why her theory would not work on a younger age range. You would think this an odd way to start her article but as you read you see that she systematically disproves each and every assumption not only with theory but with actual in class uses and examples that she herself implemented successfully.

                The body of the article is segmented into headings that contain 5 different areas where she has, in my opinion, successfully integrated contemporary art lessons into elementary school classrooms. Under Thulson’s first heading she talks of the importance of “site specific work;” which is a practice of making art and displaying it in a way that it reacts to or creates a reaction in the community. At first it seems like a staggering feat to undertake for an art teacher, but Thulson in her examples has incorporated a cooperative learning/teaching style; she introduces what she knows on the subject and she allows the students reaction to inform the project she facilitates in conjunction with the new material. In this particular case, Thulson’s kindergartners told her about fairies on the playground, so to teach a certain connectivity between art and the world around them, they made fairy houses out of clay to put outside.

                A dialog continues as a theme throughout the article; usually between Thulson and her students but also between Thulson and her fellow teachers and parents. She would integrate what her students were learning in their classrooms into what they were practicing in the art room. Contemporary art in younger classrooms can sometimes cause parents to be skeptical of the purposes; Thulson chose an indirect way to address this issue, she would send home the various stages of her students learning, which would have a more school art quality to them than the more abstract and contemporary final project. As another measure of informing those around, Thulson created a dialogue within the way she hung the various stages of the students work; “instead of filling the halls with artwork like an art gallery, (she) put up documentation of the process, like a history museum” (Pg. 22).

                I believe Thulson addresses a major problem that all art teachers face, how do we justify the usefulness of art to those observing from outside the classroom. This dialogue shows a progression of the children’s thoughts and problem solving, as well as showing the commentary between the student and teacher that is necessary for a growing, learning classroom that informs and enriches.

Reference

Thulson, A. (January 2013). , Contemporary practice in the elementary classroom, a Study of Change. Art Education, 16-23.