Music Please

Even though music is typically taught my specialists in primary schools, I think it’s important to incorporate music into the everyday experiences of children. “A multiple literacies approach to curriculum entails acknowledgment of all of society’s major forms of discourse, including music. The development of children’s ‘musical literacy’, their competence to participate, should therefore be of prime importance to educators.” (Barrett, 2003, pg.79)

In a class that follows an emergent curriculum, students are given opportunities to explore in open ended creative activities. I think it's important that a classroom provide the chance for children to experiment with music making during play based learning. Consideration should therefore be given to providing appropriate materials and resources to facilitate these discoveries.

I also think it’s important to careful consider musical selections to be introduced in the class. “The experience of listening to the music of others is important for the young child for a range of reasons. Simple immersion in music is crucial in introducing children to the diversity of music and the possibilities it offers them for personal expression and communication. Listening experiences provide children with models of musical thought and engagement that they can draw on in their own music-making, and form the basis for the development of a repertoire of musical possibilities. “ (Barrett, 2003, pg 81)

Teachers put a lot of thought into the storybooks they read to their class but my experience is that very little effort is put into exposing students to music. Many early education classrooms have a limited collection of music that was commercially made for children which do not represent the diverse genres or range of cultural and historical contexts.

A couple of music selections that I think would enhance an early education classroom include:

• Yertle the Turtle by the Red Hot Chili Peppers - this funky interpretation of the Dr. Seus classic shows how stories can be told in different mediums so it promotes multiliteracies.

• Afro Blue by Mongo Santamaria - In addition to showing a different genre and cultural perspective it’s a great demonstration of the musical elements of timbre and rhythm.

• The Planets, Gustav Holst - This would be great to go long with a unit on space or the solar system. Students can consider the different musical elements used to represent each planet.

A great example of how transformative music can be in a school is the PS22 Choir, a school choir from a public school in New York (Staten Island). Their interpretations of contemporary music are truly moving and inspirational.

For a little bit of fun, check out PS22 singing Black Sabbath and this example of a school choir in India singing Metallica!

Progress

I like to end assignments with strong conclusions, however, I don’t see this as the end of my inquires but rather the beginning. I started this journey by wondering what it meant for me as a pre-service teacher that it took Picasso a lifetime to paint like a child. After several weeks, I don’t feel that I am any closer to answering that question. Instead of answers, my explorations have led to more questions.

This journal only represents about 25% of the thinking and reflection that I have done. There are topics that I haven’t covered in this blog that I have given serious consideration to including:

• Is it dangerous to pigeon hold students based on perceived talents?

• What are the additional challenges of teaching art in regional or remote settings? What resources are available to give students some of the advantages that museum programs offer when the nearest museum is hundreds of kilometers away?

• Is it important to address the issue of commercialization and teach students that the creation and appreciation of art has intrinsic value outside of any economic interests? (In particular, I was thinking about the effect of television shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance” and “Australian Idol”?

• What are the social justice implications of arts education? Is it fair that some students receive outside instruction in visual arts, dance, drama and music? Don’t we have a duty to deliver these programs to the underprivileged?

These are just some of the issues I have wrestled with. I also don’t think that I have definitively answered any of the questions I have posed throughout this piece. I still don’t know whether students enter the classroom with potential or pre-determined talents. I do believe, however, that delivering daily opportunities to create and scaffolded art instruction are essential to fulfilling potential and developing talent.

I think, though, that I am making some progress. I am starting to see what a quality arts program looks like and have some idea about how to implement one in my own classroom. Vygotsky once said that “The best stimulus of creativity in children is to organize their live and environment so that it leads to the need and ability to create.” Although I believe that children learn through play and that open ended activity time should be made available to students daily, I also don’t think it’s enough just to leave the children to their own devices. I like the idea of introducing new stimulus or materials to challenge students to create. Participating in the play also presents opportunities to learn about student curiosities and pose questions or situations that will extend learning.

One thing that this art journal has revealed to me is the potential of the emergent curriculum. I started this journal by considering Picasso’s point of view but haven’t stuck to that theme because it would not have been an authentic representation of the thinking and art making I was actually doing. I started with a stimulus but went somewhere unchartered and completely unexpected. I can honestly say that this journal was process rather than product driven. Perhaps the best outcome of that is that it gives me space to continue the process, something I plan on doing during my next prac and beyond.

Additionally, I will continue to create art. What started off as a daunting chore has evolved into a genuine interest. I especially enjoy working and exploring with colours and texture. My favourite material to date is chalk. Below are my latest creations.

One of the things I noticed in earlier drawings which fascinated me was how laying and blending colours could create texture and three dimensionality. I have struggled with is flatness in most of my works. Even in landscapes where the contrast between foreground, middleground and background should have created perspective and distance, the pictures looked flat. In this drawing, I tried to make the flower come out off the page. I think that has been achieved. I can now apply what I have learned here to future works.

This picture was another homage to Emily Carr. I wanted to give extra consideration to weather. I wondered how to show a storm. I experimented in a number of plans and sketches how to create the appearance of a storm and ultimately found that blending a cool pink and orange with black and using swirling cloud like strokes at the top and longer “rain like” strokes below produced the effect I was looking for.

In addition to flatness, one of the other criticisms I have of my work to date is its lack of motion. Aside from the bird, I think the rest of my pieces have a certain static quality to them. Also, all of my other waterscapes used morning light with calm seas. I wanted to try something different so I sketched this picture of violent waves crashing against rocks at dusk. I wanted to give myself the additional challenge of trying to draw a waterscape without the colour blue. I love the combination of colours in this picture. When I look at it, I can actually hear the waves crashing onto the rocks and feel the haunting glow of the moonlight.

REFERENCES

Alter, Frances (2009). "The challenges of implementing primary arts education: what our teachers say". Australasian journal of early childhood , 34 (4), p. 22

Barrett, Margaret (2003) Musical children, musical lives, musical worlds. In: Wright, S (Ed) Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, pp. 63-89

Bryant, Lyn, Gallen, Stephen (2003) Pedagogical documentation in the arts. In: Wright, S (Ed) Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, pp. 193-215

Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literary education. The Reading Teacher, 49(3).

Dunn, Julie (2003) Linking drama education and dramatic play in the early childhood years. In: Wright, S (Ed) Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, pp. 1-33

Eitelgeorge, J., Ruston S., & Zickafoose, R. (2003). Connecting Brian Cambourne’s conditions of learning theory to brain/mind principles: Implications for Early Childhood Educators. Early Childhood Education Journal, 31(1).

Godlovitch, Stan (1998). "Some theoretical aspects of environmental aesthetics". The Journal of aesthetic education , 32 (4), p. 17.

Harriss, Robert (2009). "Bridging art and science for sustainability.(Editor's Picks)". Environment (St. Louis) , 51 (6), p. 3

Juola-Rushton, A., Larkin, E., Rushton, S. (2010) Neuroscience, play and early childhood education: connections, implications and assessment. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 351.

Jaeger, E. (2007) Literacy, logic, and intuition. Language Arts, 84(5), 441.

Kovacs, Zsuzsi I (2006). "How do Aesthetics Affect our Ecology?". Journal of ecological anthropology , 10 (1), p. 61 McArdle, Felicity A. (2003) The Visual Arts: Ways of Seeing. In: Wright, S (Ed) Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, pp. 35-62

McLennan, Deanna Marie Pecaski (2010). "Process or Product? The Argument for Aesthetic Exploration in the Early Years". Early childhood education journal , 38 (2), p. 81.

Robinson, Sir Ken (Speaker) (2006) Do Schools Kill Creativity [video webcast] Retrieved August 4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Salvador, Ana (2008). Learning to Draw with Picasso. Lincoln Children’s Books: London.

Urbach, Jennifer (2008). "Understanding Imaginative Thinking During Childhood: Sociocultural Conceptions of Creativity and Imaginative Thought". Early childhood education journal , 36 (2), p. 179.

Wright, Susan (1997). "Learning how to learn: The arts as core in an emergent curriculum". Childhood education , 73 (6), p. 361

Wright, Susan (2003) Ways of knowing in the arts. In: Wright, S (Ed) Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, pp. 1-33

Creativity in the Classroom Pt 4

Increased pressure on teachers to deliver results as defined by scores on standardized tests threatens to further subjugate art as a low priority in the classroom. However, arts are essential to developing the cognitive and creative problem solving skills that will help students to achieve on these tests. “Because of the deep connection between imagination and cognition, it is extremely important for educators to make curricular choices that incorporate opportunities for imagination in the classroom.” (Urbach, 2008)

Despite the overwhelming argument in favour of arts education, a recent study by the University of New England found that teachers continue to favour teaching the traditional literacies of language and numeracy without incorporating daily opportunities for students to engage with the arts. (Alter, 2009)

The study found that the greatest hinderance to effective teaching and learning in the creative arts was teacher confidence. (Alter, 2009) Teachers felt that since they were not artists in their own right, they lacked the knowledge and skills to deliver arts programs.

I find this argument really interesting because teachers do not feel inadequate to teach science, SOSE, math or english despite the fact that they do not hold professional qualifications in those fields but use that rationality to dismiss their ability to teach art.

According to the study, teachers also avoided teaching art because it involved too much time. Teachers were overwhelmed by the preparation and clean up required as well as finding suitable resources (Alter, 2009). A quality arts program, however, need not involve a wide range of resources or unreasonable amount of preparation. As demonstrated by the 30 days of drawing program, students can make significant gains by simply spending 15 minutes a day with a pencil and piece of paper.

An effective arts program involves the use of one medium over a long period of time to develop skills, refine technique and explore creatively. So teachers do not need to source a variety of materials or plan a wide assortment of activities to deliver a quality program.

I wonder if the teachers complaining about the amount of time and materials needed have confused art with crafts. Sourcing the materials for a wide variety of gimmicky crafts (googly eyes and glitter paint) can be expensive and time consuming but as discussed in a previous post, cookie cutter crafts have limited value.

With respect to resources, museums and art galleries in particular have fantastic materials for teachers to access online as well as professional development programs. For example, The Queensland Art Gallery runs workshops to equip teachers with practical solutions for integrating art into the classroom. Additionally, students can access here are numerous interactive online activities such as The Children’s Art Centre.

At the end of the day, there really aren’t any compelling reasons not to include daily opportunities for children to develop artistically. Students need to create and if space isn’t made for them to do so then they will attempt to fulfill these needs in less constructive ways like daydreaming in class. Thus, failing to nurture the artist inside the child is ultimately an act of sabotage.

“The arts provide important avenues for making the types of cognitive, emotional and spiritual connections that are key to deep learning and knowing.” (Wright, 2003, pg. 29) Teachers can learn things from student artwork that can’t be accessed any other way to inform their planning. Students can develop deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them by creating art. Sharing art and ideas after the doing phase through critique helps students see the world from different perspectives, consolidates learning and generates new ideas for the next cycle of creating.

I have come to see that to be effective, teaching must be holistic, recognizing the diverse interests and intelligences of students and the arts provide a uniquely effective way of engaging children at every stage of their learning.

Arts for Co-Participation

“As teachers, we need to be attuned to artistic ways of knowing so that we have the opportunity to be co-participants in the thoughts, feelings and ‘spirits of young children.’ (Wright, 2003, pg. 29)

One of the most powerful things that an arts program can achieve in a classroom is fostering a culture of caring and creativity. When I was volunteering in a Year One classroom in Canada, the teacher started the year out with daily opportunities for the children to draw and learn about each other. Each day, a new student would be selected as ‘Special Person’ and the class would have the chance to ask questions about that individual to find out more about them. Then, they would draw a portrait of that person.

After the last student had their turn the class suggested that I be the special person the next day. It was really touching to see how they saw me as a member of their community. Their pictures were more than delightful, they gave me valuable insight into each student.

For example, I found it really interesting how most students drew themselves into the picture with me. They had not done this in their drawings of their peers. I wondered if it meant that they could not see me outside of the context of their teacher, as if I could not exist unless they were there (the same way that many kindergarten children are surprised to find out that their teachers do not live and sleep at the school). None of the pictures, however, were in a school setting. Many of the drawings involved fun activities such as going to the beach or having a water balloon fight. This suggested to me that they enjoyed my teaching which was very motivating and affirming.

One of the most surprising pictures was done by a student who was really quiet and tended not to participate in class. When I asked her about her drawing she enthusiastically told me an entire story to go along with it. In retrospect I wish I had copied down what she said. I do remember that it involved a castle, prince and ice cream which are all very significant symbols for a 6 year old girl. I was amazed at how the arts provided an avenue for this student to communicate and it really proved to me the importance of activating multiple intelligences and facilitating multimodal expression in the classroom.

An unexpected development from this activity involved a student who had trouble with self regulation and as a result got into a lot of trouble. He was an extremely creative and intelligent child but he also had a tendency to misbehave to such an extent that he had received multiple suspensions the year before. In his picture, he drew the two of us having a water balloon fight. He drew himself as a ninja and made this point clear when he drew an arrow pointing to himself and wrote “I am a ninja”. I asked him about this and he told me how much he loved ninjas and wanted to become one. I saw this as an opportunity to try some creative behaviour management and made a deal with him that we would set a goal at the beginning of each day and if he met it then I would share with him a secret ninja fact.

Most people would never believe that encouraging a ‘problem child’ to become a ninja would improve their behaviour but that’s exactly what happened. Every day he would strive to meet his goal and at the end of the day I would share with him a self serving ninja fact like “Ninjas have to learn to be quiet” or “Ninjas listen to their teacher”.

When I left half way through the year to go to Australia and complete my studies, he gave me a card and told me that it had a ninja fact inside.

I was blown away. I never knew seven year olds could be so profound. The statement also signaled to me that the student knew that I was making up the ninja facts but didn’t care, that was part of the fun. The important thing was that I tried to reach him on his own terms, using his interests and every day showed him that I cared.

Being Dramatic

I was really interested to learn about using drama in the classroom. This is partly because I have already tried to teach drama in a grade one class in Canada. This was before I started my Graduate Diploma in Education or could even define the word pedagogy.

The lessons I planned were based on Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where The Whild Things Are’. Over the course of three days students planned and acted out a scene about what The Wild Things did the day after Max left. Students started by performing tableaux and progressed towards writing and performing a short scene with dialogue.

The day after the performances, I surprised the students by coming to school dressed as Max with a carved pumpkin I spent the entire night before creating that looked like one of the Wild Things. The students were delighted and it was a fun activity but I wondered whether it was pedagogically sound.

Chapter 5 of the text was very illuminating because it discussed the conflicting discourses of teaching drama. The article described one approach which focussed on dramatic play where students initiate their own dramatic experiences in open ended activities, such as the ‘home corner’. The other method prevalent in classroom is drama education where students are highly scaffolded and learn the language, conventions and engage in highly structured activities.

I found it really interesting that dramatic play did not have much status in the drama community because of the assumption that “work - serious whereas play = trivial’. Although I have a high regard for play based learning, I realise that I too had based my drama lessons on that assumption. In fact, the first lesson included a class discussion on the differences between ‘play’ and ‘a play’. As I read the chapter, I became increasingly concerned that I had done the wrong thing.

The chapter, however, went on to describe a ‘united approach’ to drama education that would offer opportunities for spontaneity and freedom while also being supported by the structure, scaffolding and range of fictional contexts that drama education offers.

I think that on reflection, my lessons did have elements of a united approach. The children had authorship of their work - I did not give them scripts or tell them what to do in their scenes, I just gave them an open ended concept for them to use. This was evident in the diversity of ideas that were shown between student groups. One group decided that the Wild Things would have another Wild Rumpus and acted that out. Another group thought that they would select another king. Two groups decided that they would go after Max although they differed in that one group thought they would build a boat to find Max and bring him back to be king and the other group swam, destroyed Max’s boat and ate him.

There are, however, things that I would change about the lessons now having the benefit of reading the text. I don’t know if I would emphasize so strongly the ‘work’ element in drama. I fear that I may have inadvertently subjugated dramatic play and sent the message that play is inappropriate. I hope that’s not the case. It is something that I will be sensitive too in the future, especially as I learn more about emergent curriculums and the power of play based learning.

Art for Sustainability

Sustainability is perhaps the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century. Climate change, depletion of resources, species extinction, disappearing forests, destruction of ecosystems, the health of the ocean are but a few issues to be addressed imminently to secure our planet’s future.

The issues are complex and remedying the problems caused by human over consumption will require a shift in values, mass societal change and superior innovation. It is no wonder then that education is of paramount importance to achieving these goals. Sustainability is therefore being embedded into the classroom with the new Australian Curriculum which puts mandates that it be a cross-curricular focus.

Educating for a Sustainable Future, a National Environmental Education Statement for Australian Schools, describes education for sustainability as “a concept encompassing a vision of education that seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future.” The report goes on to say “Beyond a utilitarian view of the natural environment as something for humans to use is recognition that the environment has intrinsic natural and cultural values to be fostered.” (Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage, 2005)

In my humble opinion, the arts are essential to achieving these objectives. The arts can help develop appreciation for the intrinsic and aesthetic value of nature. “The Beauty of a landscape or organism affects human emotions as well as ecological sensitivities.” (Kovacs, Zsuzsi , 2006) Students become attuned to the aesthetics of nature when they study a scene and apply that vision to the creation of their own artwork. As well, studying the art of others like Emily Carr who make nature the subject of their art can inspire wonder and further dedication to the environment.

Moreover, the arts provide an important vehicle for students to take action as well as provide vehicles to act. “Various art forms can serve as a means for communicating ecological concepts to the public, including theatre, visual art, music and multimedia performances.” (Curtis, 2003).

Some of my favourite examples of young people using the arts to inspire environmental stewardship include:

Fling Physical Theatre, a NSW regional youth dance company used dance and multimedia to create a compelling performance about Australian wildlife.

Hervey Bay Special School and Art for Earth staged an aerial instillation of a dugong family to promote conservation of the Mary River.

Year one students in California collected trash from beaches and used it to create a whale mural for a local aquarium.

St Mary’s Anglican School in Perth are spearheading an initiative to get schools from across the world to make origami whales to send to Japan in an attempt to stop whaling.

The above examples show how even the youngest students can use the arts to create powerful messages, engage the community and serve as catalysts for change. However, it’s not good enough to talk the talk. Teachers need to model sustainable practices in their classroom. With that in mind, I wondered what a sustainable art class might look like.

After some research, I found that the following practices are easily incorporated into any classroom:

1. Turn lights off when leaving the classroom and use natural light whenever possible
2. Have a recycling bin and better yet a compost
3. Use water based paints whenever possible and never pour paints down the drain.
4. Use sketchbooks -- every inch of them -- for sketching and planning projects
5. Use real plants (native species if possible) for class pets
6. Make your own cleaning kit with non-toxic environmentally friendly cleaning supplies
7. Organize a car pool
8. recharge batteries instead of throwing them out
9. Make sure water faucets are off and check for leaks
10. Write on the board or use powerpoint instead of handing out worksheets

I found the following great resources:

- 50 Ways to Go Green in the Classroom

- Making Art without Unmaking the Environment

-The Green Art Classroom

-It’s Easy Being Green

-Eco-Friendly Tips for the Busy Teacher

A study on Emily Carr

Emily Carr is one of my favourite artists. Her expressionist paintings of the British Columbian rain forests captivate and inspire me. I feel that her paintings capture the contrasting stillness and motion that can be felt deep in a forest. I also get a deep sense of spirituality in her work.

I therefore have tried to study some of the techniques that she used in my own art making.

This painting is my attempt to replicate Emily Carr’s oil painting, In the Forest.

Unfortunately, I was not successful in my endeavour. The trunk of the tree is out of proportion and the leaves look out of place. I also felt restricted by trying to copy someone else’s work and was not satisfied with the process or the product.

I then set out to try to apply my own style in developing my unique interpretation of Emily Carr’s work.

In this drawing, I applied Emily Carr’s technique of only using part of a tree in the foreground. I also mixed colours to create the appearance of depth and movement. I think that this drawing has some elements of depth but that it is still very static and falls short of what I wanted to achieve. I believe, however, that if I continue to practice and experiment with these techniques that I will eventually be able to create forests with some feeling like Emily Carr.

Finally, in this drawing, I tried to simply create the essence of a forest from the ground up. Although this picture looks the least like a forest, it's the only one that I feel conveys the spirit of a living forest.