Smoke and Mirrors: Art Teacher as Magician

Smoke and Mirrors: Art Teacher as Magician

Hathaway, Nan E. Art Education66.3 (May 2013): 9-15.

“Authentic, meaningful learning can occur when art educators rethink the traditional, mimicry-based art lesson model and instead facilitate student-directed learning, encouraging collaboration and exploration of spontaneous creativity.”

I found this article very interesting because it shows the difficult task teachers face to facilitate learning rather than managing projects. This article plays on the theme that art teachers need to promote the child's ability to develop his or her mind by respecting the child as an artist and engage students in authentic, meaningful learning. “Instead of smoke and mirrors, good teaching is more like a dance between teacher and student: a dance in which the child leads.”

The author uses an example of how an art teacher performs a lesion in a magic trick like setting where the teacher lays out the assignment and the example and has all of the media used to make the projects laid out. In the end the author made a point that this isn’t really engaging the students as artist because in the end even though the teacher thinks they are giving the students creative freedom the finished products are often so similar that students cant pick out their art amongst the other students.

I like this article because even though the example used had a classroom of second graders, the idea behind turning the classroom into a studio could be used for all levels of art teaching. This article explains to teachers how to shift creative control from teacher to learner. 

Topics from art history and issues are essential in present-day practice art classroom. They are intertwined together in the studio structure, where students can thrive. Students need to be encouraged to act as problem finders, not just problem solvers, as they identify and evaluate art challenges drawn from interests, and knowledge. “In a studio-learning environment all the components desired and expected in a comprehensive art program skills, techniques, art history, approach to work, aesthetics and conventions, reflection and critique- are integrated in response to student inquiry and creative activity.”

Art education should not be about tricks and deception. Art educators would better serve their students by engaging students in authentic, meaningful learning. “Instead of smoke and mirrors, good teaching is more like a dance between teacher and student: a dance in which the child leads.”

Water and Design Ethics

Water–it’s vital for life, it’s scarce, it’s a major global issue. We all know that; we have been told since childhood to conserve water, to not let the faucet run while we brush our teeth. But I think that there is more that we could be teaching kids about it. Frankly, I think we could all stand to be a little more educated about it.

Water has been an interest of mine since high school. I think that everyone has a few social, environmental, or political issues that really resonate with them. For me, that’s water. It’s something that I keep coming back to, perhaps because the issues surrounding it disturb me enough that I can’t quite forget about it.

Brian Collier, "Some Properties of
Water: Phase 1, Collection and
Documentation", installation view,
CEPA, Buffalo, NY, 2003.

This interest in water is what prompted me to read an article by Angela Cornelius, Ernie Sherow, and B. Stephen Carpenter, Water: Social Issues and Contemporary Art Education. This article looks at installation art involving water and the collection of it from different places, as well as its transient nature. It also talks about the “visual culture of bottled water” (p. 27). In this portion of the article, it discusses the potential to study graphic design through the design of bottled water, specifically labels. And I think that this is an interesting and valuable thing to discuss with students. It promotes design principles, which are useful both on their own as well as introducing graphic design as a potential area of study and a career option. But I could not help but feel like the way that the article approached this was a bit lacking. Yes, it is important to understand how to make a persuasive design and dissect what it is about a design that makes it persuasive. Though it was not explicitly stated in the article, I think that this lesson could easily cover the idea that we are often being persuaded by a consumer culture without even realizing it. But I also think that there is the potential to apply this in a more holistic way. The article promotes itself as “An interdisciplinary curriculum for grades 9-12” (p. 25). But what about the environmental aspect of this bottle design? What about the ethics of it? Students are essentially practicing marketing a product that harms the environment. For a truly interdisciplinary curriculum, these are vital aspects to consider when approaching package design, especially design for such a controversial and important product that is inherently full of ethical concerns. I think that it is also important to discuss with students the ethical concerns that come with all kinds of art and design. What kind of impact does your work have on the world? As artists and designers, there is an inherent responsibility to evaluate the implications and effects of work.

I think that this is a project that has a lot of amazing potential, and it is one that can be truly interdisciplinary. The article talks about collecting water from different sources and putting into plastic water bottles. This is based on the work of professional artists dealing with the importance of water in their work, specifically focusing on Brian Collier. I think that this is a great starting point, but I also think that paired with the study of package design, it could be turned into more at a high school level. The ethics of bottled water and their environmental impact is a highly relevant issue in today’s society. I think that it is important for students to be asking themselves where their water comes from, and what exactly makes the water in plastic bottles different from any other water. If they collect water from the school fountain in a used plastic bottle that once contained Aquafina water, the refilled water is just as drinkable.

These would be interesting concepts for students to explore in their label designs. I think that this design project could be used as an avenue for students to convey a critical commentary through visual means while learning basic design principles. I believe it would be a good mixture of conceptual content and technical instruction.

Resources:

Collier, B. (2010, ). Some properties of water. Retrieved from http://greenmuseum.org/content/work_index/img_id-629__prev_size-0__artist_id-104__work_id-153.html

Surfrider Foundation. (2010, March 4). Rise above plastics - plastics kill. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6IP3_aRFtA

Cornelius, A., Carpenter, B., & Sherow, E. (2010). Water: social issues and contemporary art education. Art Education, 63(6), 25-31.

Making the art room a more rich environment.

                Artwork is a product of its environment, what affects me the day of conception of a piece or where I am as I am working on something affects the quality of my work. I read a case study titled “Designing an Art Room for Effective Learning.” The major theme of the article was about designing and organizing an art classroom to achieve the best learning environment for the student.  The author was observing another facilitator who was helping the architects on the construction of her classroom.  The first thing addressed was safety.

                The description was very reminiscent of my high school classroom’s setup.  The instructional and work room was very spacious because the supplies are kept in large closets.  I never really thought of this as a safety measure.  These closets both required a key and obtaining the teacher’s permission to get in.  The kiln was kept in a separate closet due to it’s high temperatures causing a safety concern.  Work materials that are being used generally stay within the classroom but more dangerous and age appropriate tools are kept out of reach. In high school, I always thought that this was a tool against theft of art supplies but now I understand that it is also for the student’s safety.

                Psychological security is something that I never paid any mind towards.  At the collegiate level of art, classrooms no longer provide this security.  An art room is filled with hard materials, thick tables that are made to be able to withstand being drawn on as well having class being pounded into them.  Some students, psychologically, do not feel safe in this coarse environment.  This environment feels cold and unwelcoming.  To negate this feeling the facilitator added things such a natural window lights and soft decor.  Adding decorations such as bright works and soft items like stuffed animals or even a welcoming coatrack adds significantly to the room. 

                The social aspect of learning is very important it can lead to better elaboration of learning.  Having tables as opposed to desks leads to small group discussion and critiques on each other’s works to create better art as well as making an effective system for cleaning tables afterward. That is not uncommon, but the twist she added was making the tables in a horseshoe shape and adding a nice rug into the middle.  The rug creates a comfortable spot for the students to think when having a creative block as well as giving a welcoming spot to present artwork.    From the rug the facilitator is also given an easy walking path to monitor the students.

                The final aspect talked about was giving the room the character of those who were there every day.  The students had the opportunity to hang up their artwork making it a welcoming environment and representative of the students.  Students art were showcased on the door as well as display cases outside the art room.  This added culture and character as well as inspired other teachers to do the same with artworks they received from students. The new art room became a hub for the rest of the school, the heart of the school, somewhere comfortable that was used by all students and faculty alike.

                The reading helped me to better understand how to facilitate an art room as well as it’s importance. The art room was intended to give the students a feeling of security and make it feel as if it was their own studio.  Art is very much a product of it’s environment and if the environment is able to inspire and spread out throughout the school community, students are more likely to concieve creative thoughts and create more rich artwork.

Broome, J. L. (2013). A case study in classroom management and school involvement: Designing an art room for effective learning. Art Education, 66(3), 39-46. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1355279565?accountid=13158

Motivating children art activity

A Perspective on Motivating Children Art Activity

The reading that I chose was called “A perspective on motivating children art activity” by Awogbade and Mabel Oluremi. The author starts the article by explaining the importance of art education how art helps children understand other subjects more clearly. The major theme from this reading was about how to gain motivation from Children in an art classroom. The article also shows the psychological concepts of motivations and its effects on Children art activities. The author focuses on the motivation from primary and second art school level students in Nigeria, which is located in the West Africa. The place like Nigeria, students lose interest in art due to a lack of motivation, poor instruction style, poor educational environment, and lack of qualified art teachers. The author talks about what art educators at Nigeria should focus on to motivate their students to participate and enjoy making art in the classrooms.

The reading refers that in order to get student’s attention from the audience, there should be some strategies in art in the classroom. In the reading, the author mentions that the motivation and achievements were closely related, and if there is achievement, then there will be motivation. More over, the author makes a list of what art educators should do to motivate their students.

1.     Knowing the children’s developmental stage and understanding of the children.

2.     Knowing their abilities and appropriate difficulty level of the material is important.

3.     Be more observant on what is important, meaningful, and interesting to students.

4.     Provide opportunities for discussions that will give more attention what art is, which will arose curiosity towards art making.

5.     Help students to identify and evaluate their art works as they work to trigger accomplishments.

6.     Be enthusiastic, insightful, and positive on commenting student’s work. This will encourage and motivate students in art making, and it will also enhance their interest even beyond the art room. Even obvious comments will help children gain interest in making art.

7.     If the teacher shows the love for the subject, it would occur to most students and they will take this seriously as well.  The attitude of the teacher alone will help and motivate the children’s interest.

The strength of this article was how the author brought up psychological concepts on motivations, which gave better understanding of why and how art educators should teach in ways that the article talked about. Also, this reading was pretty straight forward, so I didn’t have much hard time getting the main point of the article. The only thing I would recommend for this article was to talk more in-depth about the environment and how art education system looks like in Nigeria, since this article was specifically for students and educators in Nigeria.

From reading this article, I was able to connect this reading to my art clubs that I teach at work. I have limited amount of supplies and budget to run my art clubs, so students often loose their interest in making art. This article made me think back to my art club and how I can motivate students in making art. There were so many things that I was able to adapt from this reading, but I really liked how the author said the attitude of the teacher alone will help and motivate the children’s interest. This article made me think back to what kind of art educator I should become in the future.

Work cited

Mabel, O. A. (2013). A perspective on motivating children art activity. Ife Psychologia, 21(2), 128-132. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1440183911?accountid=13158

Reactionary Art

            When looking for an instructional resource I found a piece called "Street Art" by Sweeny and within the work itself he mentioned another instructional resource by Aguilar. So I decided to draw ideas from both pieces. They were both on the relevance of street art more commonly known as Graffiti.

              Graffiti is a sort of taboo for teaching in classrooms; many would question the ethical justification behind such actions. However, I believe graffiti is truly necessary because the art form is a part of our cultural and aids in a true understanding of reactionary art. In Street Art by Sweeny Robert states that “it is the challenging nature of street art that makes it a relevant topic for discussion in the spaces of art education” While yes, the art form does need to be taught in conjunction with the dangers and illegality of such practices there are also communities of street artists who have permission to create on certain walls. “Whenever a graffiti artist obtained permission from a property owner, the artist inherently become the curator for who else would paint there and how often installations rotated on that wall.” There is a true community with the street art world, while it may seem disjointed and scattered, there is an unspoken rule book of street art that guides each artist in where he creates and when.

                The relevance of this art form in the classroom is the reactionary nature of the art. While there are heavy amounts of planning that go into a single piece, once there the artist must deal with the uneven canvas, unpredictable weather, and interference from onlookers; these are the reasons why I believe street art as a form is so in the demand right now. Sweeny makes specific note of an infamous street artist name Banksy. Banksy is one of the most well-known yet unknown artists in the profession. No one ever seems to catch him in the act and all we know of his work are websites that find his work around New York City. His pieces will sometimes go for upwards of millions due to their expressive style and major political statements they make. Entire walls of buildings have been removed so that they can be sold with Banksy’s work on them. Sweeny shows the more political side of street art referencing “Slave Labor,” a piece by Banksy confronting the child labor laws; before this particular topic Banksy made statement about the brutality or inefficiency of law enforcement.

                Sweeny also talks about the darker side of Street art referencing visual essays made by contemporary street artists on the dangers of street art in the city, Montreal in particular. These visual essays shine light on the dangers of illegally tagging. Illegal street artist are not only in danger from the law but also rival street artists and gangs within the city. It truly shows how much this group of people is willing to sacrifice for their art. As a result their tags or pieces are some of the most reactionary, taking place in mere minutes to avoid detection.

                You are probably wondering how all of this would fit into a classroom setting. I feel it would not only teach about reactionary art but pose some interesting questions on the ownership of these pieces and the cultural significance they hold. As for actual projects in response to this material, I believe students would gain a better understanding of the concept if they were to create a reactionary piece themselves.

References

Aguilar, M. (2013). Half a life painting walls: The trajectory of graffiti artist miguel "kane one" aguilar. Art Education, 66(5), 34-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1437171824?accountid=13158

BBC. (2013, February 18). Banksy mural vanishes from London, appears at US auction. BBC News. Retrieved from: www.bbc.co.uk/news/ entertainment-arts-21497261

Sweeny, R. (2013). SREET art. Art Education, 66(5), 4-5. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1437171918?accountid=13158

Teaching the Teachers

A Resourceful Instruction

         Who teaches the people that teach? It is not something we think about so often but it is the main idea of the reading I stumbled upon titled, Teaching Art, Teaching Artists, Teaching Art Teachers. In this resource, there is a focus on the theory of feedback in the classroom and the importance of teaching as a self-referential communicative process. I have learned that the key to establishing a solid relationship with classmates and teachers is the ability to communicate each other’s opinions off of each other as a group. This resource facilitates the dynamic structure of an artistic learning environment and emphasizes the practice of art processes and explorations. The author explains his key ideas, “Teachers of teachers must constantly shift between what is taught—content—and the form that allows this content to be communicated (…) In the language of complexity theory, this self-referential interplay would be called feedback” (p.6). Editor of the journal Robert Sweeny believes that it is crucial to maintain a balance between being an artist and being a teacher while providing opportunities in the classroom to create discussion.

         Sweeny explains that he is teaching about art, how to be an artist, and how to be an art teacher all at the same time, happily intertwined. This learning unit specifically discusses those three steps on connecting to art, becoming an artist, and becoming a teacher in the cycle of art education. In addition, there is a subtle discussion of the contemporary American artist, Mark Dion, who “utilizes the numerous modes of working and making” (p.7). I could agree that challenging the “traditional notions of what it means to be an artist” is what sets certain artists above and beyond the rest. This resource seems to be aimed for the audience of art teachers and to me- I found it to be very helpful in terms of thinking of the big ideas behind teaching art.

                  This Instructional Resource was strong in its organizational qualities, separating the key ideas of art education. I thought that the information was very precise and to the point, which can sometimes be very refreshing for an aspiring teacher to hear! The only disadvantage to this resource was its lack in visual qualities. Obviously as an aspiring art teacher, I am prone to being a visual learner and therefore yearn for images and or video clips to help better illustrate the concepts of a learning unit.

         In my own classroom, I would be interested in adopting these key points into making a sort of “class rules” that would help set up the foundations of a well-organized class flow. I believe it is important for the students to understand what goes on inside their teacher’s head and have always loved hearing the ideas behind each assignment. I would explain as the journal has, “It is increasingly important for art educators to maintain a level of self- reference (…) We must make sure what we teach is clear, is challenging to all stakeholders, is culturally and socially relevant, and is understood at numerous levels.” (p. 7). I suggest that everybody in the class takes a look through this journal for its teaching advice benefits!

Cited Source

Sweeny, Robert, ed. "Teaching ART, Teaching ARTISTS, Teaching ART TEACHERS." 66.3 (2013): 6-7. Web Journal.