What new discoveries have you found within the unit - reflect upon your own practice and experiences within unfamiliar or ambiguous scenarios?
I found that through this project, that I can work well as a team to contribute to something. I found that I was able to self motivate myself and was willing to help to others. This was something new to me as my own practice is self driven.
In terms of the work that was unfamiliar was the ink and water. I noticed when the children were placing the ink into the water, it created these interesting patterns and this is something that I want to explore in my work. Although I did not enjoy the placement, what I did enjoy is that it has given inspiration.
In the workshop, we spoke about the semiotics of colour and although I look at it in my own work. Learning about this is something I want to explore further and develop my understanding of my own practice.
What did you learn and discover? How has this informed your practice and wider understanding?
Before this project, I had never done interaction art which involves you teaching other people to create the work. This is something that I enjoyed, however there were points that I struggled with. When I create work, I have an image in my head and would like the work to do this, but during the development and the workshop, I kept myself from doing this and as a result, the work created turned out better than I imagine. In the future, I want to start creating more interactive art where the viewers participate in the making giving it freedom in the work. There is less control on my part but this could create work that is visually interesting but has a new dynamic.
I would also like to do more collaborative work. It is something that although was stressful at times was something I enjoyed. I found that you were able to develop your ideas as you are constantly working with bouncing ideas of each other. I found that it also self motivates you as you wish not to let the other person down.
Reflect upon your engagement with each aspect of the unit - from primary research to workshop activities, tutorial groups, collaborative work and contextual understanding. Did you commit to each appropriately and contribute well? What aspects do you consider that you developed? What could you improve upon and how much you now achieve this?
I do feel that I contributed well to the group, I went to every meeting, researched different elements of the workshop, helped write up the various different elements of the workshop and presented in the workshop. I understood that as we were working as part of team and I didn't want to let anyone down so tried to complete my work on time. Obviously there were times that this was not possible and I should in the future have made my time management better.
Throughout the development, they were times that as a team we weren't focused enough and therefore we lacked in development however, when the pressure was added, we did manage to pull through.
In terms of what I could have improved on is applying pressure on myself during the buildup of the workshop. By doing this, I would have completed my work a lot faster than I did and as a result, there would have been less stress in the last couple of days. Although the workshop was a success and we were able to turn it around, it was unnecessary.
Reflect upon your choices, from material, to process and research. Were they conducted at the right time and to the appropriate depth and level of interrogation needed to fully inform your ideas and development?
I was the person who was doing the artist research and the music for the first planned workshop and I realised that that I was part of a team. For this reason I made sure that I had the work done for the week before the dry run of the workshop. However, we did not use that workshop. In terms of research, if we had as a group, made a proper lesson plan, people would have not waisted their time doing unnecessary work. It is apparent that we were not prepared at the right time and this can not be down to one individual person but as a whole group.
As we decided to do the colour fight from the beginning, we had planned the materials at the right time. There was a few of us who had previously worked from powder paint and due to this reason, we had this aspect prepared. The rest of the activities and the materials we planned to use was not prepared at the right time, for example, we were still buying boiler suits the day before we conducted the workshop. This created unnecessary stress on us as there was a fear that we would not have everything ready.
Due to the workshop not being ready, it was apparent they were not conducted at the right time as a collective whole. Whilst some had completed their work, others had not and this was partly caused by the whole group not putting pressure on ourselves. If I was to do this again, I would try and make the group complete their tasks by a given time so it wouldn't leave the select few of us who had done the work added pressure.
What learning did you achieve? What could you improve on? Identify an aspect that you could develop further in line with your practice?
In terms of the learning I achieved in this unit is collaboration and communication skills. During the meetings, I felt as a group everyone contributed equally to not only the planning aspect but also the delivery of the workshop. There was no one that I felt did the most work, but rather we all put equal amounts of work.
There are still skills that I could improve on, for example, researching the right things, instead of waisting my time as well as others who would then look at my work. I also believe I can still improve of my confidence of delivery. Whilst it has greatly improved, during the parts of my delivery, I felt my nerves get the hold of me and I was not clear in my delivery.
In terms of the group improvements, we could possibly improve communication skills. Although they were good, when stressed at reconstructing the workshop, we would at times not listen to each other and then speak but rather we would talk over each other.
Based upon your choices made within the unit, identify and select the key motivations within this unit. Evaluate how these relate and have informed your practice and future ambitions.
In terms of the future, I do not wish to go in teaching. I did not enjoy the placement at the school and looking at teaching at the moment as spoken about in previous posts it seems as if it is no longer about the children developing as individuals but rather as a collective whole. The arts education has taken big cuts and as a result, there is a lack of education freedom and this is something that I would not want to enter. However, for all the stress of the workshop this is something I am interested in doing. I believe that through workshops you are able to show the children different ways of thinking and this could inspire them in the future. The workshop brought enjoyment to the children and this was shown in the feedback shirts in which one child asked for us to come back next week. I realise that this is a difficult profession to join but over the summer I plan to work with people on the Unit X course in creating a portfolio to present to schools in the next academic year.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Week Six - Dry Run of the DACA Workshop
We had the opportunity to give a dry run of our workshop to Anna and Clare as well as the rest of our peers. In all honesty, it was a disaster and this was caused by a whole group. Whilst some had good time management and completed their tasks before the day, there were others who did not and this contributed to it. This was picked up and it was one of the feedback was "teamwork - pay attention to the speaker, support each other, know how you are going to run it and professional dynamic".
As we did not have a detailed lesson that everyone had, we showed no cohesion and we needed structure. For this reason, we showed no control and did not translate confidence.
We were told that we would not be running the workshop at the state it is now and we would have to rework it and we needed this completed by the next day. This caused a lot of stress onto all of us, however, it was the push we needed. We decided to rework the learning outcomes as they were not clear - learn about colour and the emotions that surround it, see colour in a different way way and learn how colour is used in the world.
Once we had established this, the rest of the day planning became a lot easier. We decided to keep the in or out game, the colour fight and the emotional painting however, without music and using words instead. This was the final lesson plan we created.
The detailed lesson plan
After the lesson plan was created, we were able to sort out the script, the resources we needed and the powerpoint. With all of us working together in the same room, we were able to get each of parts completed. It became apparent that we worked better with all of us together instead of just meeting up and speaking about the work. In hindsight we should have done this at the beginning of planning the workshop as it caused a lot of unnecessary stress. In a number of hours, we were able to organise most of the workshop which was credit to us.
As we did not have a detailed lesson that everyone had, we showed no cohesion and we needed structure. For this reason, we showed no control and did not translate confidence.
We were told that we would not be running the workshop at the state it is now and we would have to rework it and we needed this completed by the next day. This caused a lot of stress onto all of us, however, it was the push we needed. We decided to rework the learning outcomes as they were not clear - learn about colour and the emotions that surround it, see colour in a different way way and learn how colour is used in the world.
Once we had established this, the rest of the day planning became a lot easier. We decided to keep the in or out game, the colour fight and the emotional painting however, without music and using words instead. This was the final lesson plan we created.
After the lesson plan was created, we were able to sort out the script, the resources we needed and the powerpoint. With all of us working together in the same room, we were able to get each of parts completed. It became apparent that we worked better with all of us together instead of just meeting up and speaking about the work. In hindsight we should have done this at the beginning of planning the workshop as it caused a lot of unnecessary stress. In a number of hours, we were able to organise most of the workshop which was credit to us.
Week Six - Research of Artists and Music for Workshop
Artist Research - Jackson Pollark
Artist Research - Ian Davenport
Music
We spoke about using this for the happy music. The reasoning for using classical music as it won't distract the younger children playing music that they know.
We spoke about using this for sad music and again kept it to classical
Week Six - Planning for Federation House
For the Federation House exhibition, we were informed that we would need to create a feedback for the the whole of Unit X as part of the exhibition.
We started brain storming ideas of how to showcase the work incorporating ideas of using colour that we are doing in the workshop. The final idea, was to have a number of questions and you would write your answer on coloured cards which would indicate the emotions you felt towards the unit. Green would indicate yes or a positive emotion, red would indicate no or a negative emotion and then white would a neutral emotion.
We then began to brainstorm ideas of what to ask. All of us were asked to think of ten questions and then we picked the best ones. This included "Nightmare/Dream", "How supported have you felt through out", "How has Unit X inspired your career?" "Any tips for first years" and finally "What colour would Unit X be?"
The plan is to have these questions on the wall and then a sheet of either acetate or plain paper, there will a table underneath which would provide the cards and the pens as well as having a description.
Working as whole posed some challenges, as there were so many of us, it was sometimes difficult to have your voice heard. Although, people would listen to your ideas and eventually we made the finial decisions. One thing that has stood out to me was how difficult it is to make any final decisions but once they are made, everyone usually agrees with it.
We started brain storming ideas of how to showcase the work incorporating ideas of using colour that we are doing in the workshop. The final idea, was to have a number of questions and you would write your answer on coloured cards which would indicate the emotions you felt towards the unit. Green would indicate yes or a positive emotion, red would indicate no or a negative emotion and then white would a neutral emotion.
We then began to brainstorm ideas of what to ask. All of us were asked to think of ten questions and then we picked the best ones. This included "Nightmare/Dream", "How supported have you felt through out", "How has Unit X inspired your career?" "Any tips for first years" and finally "What colour would Unit X be?"
The plan is to have these questions on the wall and then a sheet of either acetate or plain paper, there will a table underneath which would provide the cards and the pens as well as having a description.
Working as whole posed some challenges, as there were so many of us, it was sometimes difficult to have your voice heard. Although, people would listen to your ideas and eventually we made the finial decisions. One thing that has stood out to me was how difficult it is to make any final decisions but once they are made, everyone usually agrees with it.
Monday, 18 May 2015
Key Blogpost Two
Reflect upon the collaborative aspects of the work you have done. Consider the learning you have gained and how it may now reflect and impact on your aims for this project.
In my own personal practice, I am used to working by myself and this collaboration aspect has been challenging yet rewarding at the same time. As there are a nine of us, ideas are being bounced around and there has been a democratic vote for the activities that we are going to use. No one has the final say and there has been a fair chance for you to cast your ideas and this part is the one that I have struggled with the most. Throughout the last two weeks, I have begun to realise that you are unable to have just your ideas.
In terms of the learning I have learnt, due to people having previous commitments the amount being done by the group has been slow. This is down to bad time management and I feel that we need to push ourselves greatly in the next two weeks for the workshop to go off without a hitch. It terms of my own development, I wish to have all of my work completed by the end of next week. If everyone is to do this, then our workshop can be very successful.
Reflect upon the key discoveries - was it within a skill, process, developing a new approach?
A key discovery these past two weeks is the confidence building exercises, as I am naturally quite shy and do realise that this could hinder in my performance for the workshop. Practicing the "Fake it till you make it" is something that I am going to try to do over the next two weeks. Since learning this technique I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
Reflect upon the impact of collaboration on your methods - what aspects interest you? Why? How do you intend to further develop these? Identify further research necessary to fulfil this. What were unexpected developments? What surprises arose?
In terms of what interested in the collaboration side of things was how we bounced off ideas from each other. When one person came up with a suggestion, another person would think of an innovative way to improve that suggestion. For example, one person suggested creating a collage and this then developed to creating a collage out of the boiler suits that we are going to use in the colour fight.
One thing that stood out to me was the difficultly in the time management of working in a group. People had previous commitments and therefore would be unable to attend a meeting. Whilst this wouldn't play a difference in the meetings as such, the next meeting we would have to spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining what was discussed in the previous meeting. As a result, we waisted vital time that we could have used developing the workshop. In hindsight, we should have made notes in the meetings then passed them onto the people missing. This was further hindered by clashing personalities, as it was the focus of some meetings appose to the development of the workshop.
What are the creative responses that you have done and intend to develop in your project and practice. Consider why this is - what are the key aspects of interest? How does it relate to the broader area of your practice? Does it develop your understanding and appreciation of contact for your work?
The workshop is going to be based on colour, which is something that is of vital importance in my own practice. This did help create and develop elements in the workshop, as I was constantly being inspired and therefore being motivated. When we are speaking about the semiotics of colour, it is something that I am beginning to delve in my own practice, and it was interesting to see how people responded to different colours, for example, some one mentioned that they found it to be calming whilst I personally, feel that it is a depressing, sad colour. This is something I want to do in my own work in the future, how people react and their own responses to the colours that you have used in your work. Working out how to do this would also add interaction with the viewers, which is something that we are doing in the workshop, and therefore doing this, will incorporate what we have learnt in the workshop and my own practice.
Identify and discuss any additional research now needed to support and underpin your learning, your appreciation of your practice and development of your ideas
In terms of research, we are planning to use colour and mark making and will be looking at Jackson Pollark. In order to support our ideas in the workshop, all of us need an understanding of these artists and why they are using them. This will then begin help form, develop and finalise our ideas.
Identify a plan of action that is now required in order for you to complete the e.g. time management, exploring new technology, furthering your contextual research and knowledge?
As a group, we have delegate jobs for everyone to do before the dry run coming up. I have been given the tasks to research the music and the arts. Therefore my own personal action plan is to complete the research of the artists and the music for the activities. As my own personal time management is disorganised I realise I need to push this and get it done by Tuesday the latest. When I have completed this, it can be past on to those who are making the presentation. I am happy to be given these tasks, as the artists relate to my own practice and so with therefore inform my work later.
In my own personal practice, I am used to working by myself and this collaboration aspect has been challenging yet rewarding at the same time. As there are a nine of us, ideas are being bounced around and there has been a democratic vote for the activities that we are going to use. No one has the final say and there has been a fair chance for you to cast your ideas and this part is the one that I have struggled with the most. Throughout the last two weeks, I have begun to realise that you are unable to have just your ideas.
In terms of the learning I have learnt, due to people having previous commitments the amount being done by the group has been slow. This is down to bad time management and I feel that we need to push ourselves greatly in the next two weeks for the workshop to go off without a hitch. It terms of my own development, I wish to have all of my work completed by the end of next week. If everyone is to do this, then our workshop can be very successful.
Reflect upon the key discoveries - was it within a skill, process, developing a new approach?
A key discovery these past two weeks is the confidence building exercises, as I am naturally quite shy and do realise that this could hinder in my performance for the workshop. Practicing the "Fake it till you make it" is something that I am going to try to do over the next two weeks. Since learning this technique I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
Reflect upon the impact of collaboration on your methods - what aspects interest you? Why? How do you intend to further develop these? Identify further research necessary to fulfil this. What were unexpected developments? What surprises arose?
In terms of what interested in the collaboration side of things was how we bounced off ideas from each other. When one person came up with a suggestion, another person would think of an innovative way to improve that suggestion. For example, one person suggested creating a collage and this then developed to creating a collage out of the boiler suits that we are going to use in the colour fight.
One thing that stood out to me was the difficultly in the time management of working in a group. People had previous commitments and therefore would be unable to attend a meeting. Whilst this wouldn't play a difference in the meetings as such, the next meeting we would have to spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining what was discussed in the previous meeting. As a result, we waisted vital time that we could have used developing the workshop. In hindsight, we should have made notes in the meetings then passed them onto the people missing. This was further hindered by clashing personalities, as it was the focus of some meetings appose to the development of the workshop.
What are the creative responses that you have done and intend to develop in your project and practice. Consider why this is - what are the key aspects of interest? How does it relate to the broader area of your practice? Does it develop your understanding and appreciation of contact for your work?
The workshop is going to be based on colour, which is something that is of vital importance in my own practice. This did help create and develop elements in the workshop, as I was constantly being inspired and therefore being motivated. When we are speaking about the semiotics of colour, it is something that I am beginning to delve in my own practice, and it was interesting to see how people responded to different colours, for example, some one mentioned that they found it to be calming whilst I personally, feel that it is a depressing, sad colour. This is something I want to do in my own work in the future, how people react and their own responses to the colours that you have used in your work. Working out how to do this would also add interaction with the viewers, which is something that we are doing in the workshop, and therefore doing this, will incorporate what we have learnt in the workshop and my own practice.
Identify and discuss any additional research now needed to support and underpin your learning, your appreciation of your practice and development of your ideas
In terms of research, we are planning to use colour and mark making and will be looking at Jackson Pollark. In order to support our ideas in the workshop, all of us need an understanding of these artists and why they are using them. This will then begin help form, develop and finalise our ideas.
Identify a plan of action that is now required in order for you to complete the e.g. time management, exploring new technology, furthering your contextual research and knowledge?
As a group, we have delegate jobs for everyone to do before the dry run coming up. I have been given the tasks to research the music and the arts. Therefore my own personal action plan is to complete the research of the artists and the music for the activities. As my own personal time management is disorganised I realise I need to push this and get it done by Tuesday the latest. When I have completed this, it can be past on to those who are making the presentation. I am happy to be given these tasks, as the artists relate to my own practice and so with therefore inform my work later.
Week Five - Federation House Exhibition Planning
During this week, all of Unit X Educator meet up and began drafting ideas of what we could create for the exhibition at Federation House. Two ideas came up, either creating a workshop that involves both of our workshops and involving people or to present what we created in the workshops. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages.
In terms of creating a workshop, the advantages of this would be; we would be showing the viewers what we have been doing in the unit, giving them an insight into teaching. It would also inform them of the messages we are teaching the children and inform them which as a result, could change their mindset of art, or how to create art. We would also be interacting with the public, and this may help change the mindset of someone who does not feel that they are creative, start to believe that they can be creative. However, there are many disadvantages to this, for example, it would take a lot of time to prepare and this could have an impact on the workshops we are giving to the children. It would be better if we gave one really good workshop to the children than develop two workshops that wouldn't be to their best ability. People may not want to join the activities due to the use of paint and them wearing suits and the potential of their clothes getting dirty and therefore our time would be waisted. It would also require people being there the whole time, and why this may not be an issue for some, for others, they may have previous commitments.
When considering presenting what we did in the workshop, we spoke about either filming the workshops and projecting them onto the boiler suits or hanging up the boiler suits. The advantages of this include, it will be a lot easier for us and would give us maximum time to prepare our workshops for the children. People maybe more interested in the work as it would just include the boiler suits and could become visually quite interesting, you would have to look at the work at detail to understand what we did and what we are trying to show. However, there are disadvantages to doing this, one of them, is we are not putting into practice what we learnt throughout Unit X and passing on this information. If we were to film the workshops and project them, it would give us one day to create these films, creating a lot of pressure and stress onto us. Another disadvantage to both these ideas, is that it could be uninteresting and visually quite weak. This is a strong possibility as we will be exhibiting with other people who have had months to prepare for this.
At the end of the meeting, we decided to go with the second idea and I personally am glad for this. I would much rather create a very good workshop for the children and then present the work created in the exhibition.
In terms of creating a workshop, the advantages of this would be; we would be showing the viewers what we have been doing in the unit, giving them an insight into teaching. It would also inform them of the messages we are teaching the children and inform them which as a result, could change their mindset of art, or how to create art. We would also be interacting with the public, and this may help change the mindset of someone who does not feel that they are creative, start to believe that they can be creative. However, there are many disadvantages to this, for example, it would take a lot of time to prepare and this could have an impact on the workshops we are giving to the children. It would be better if we gave one really good workshop to the children than develop two workshops that wouldn't be to their best ability. People may not want to join the activities due to the use of paint and them wearing suits and the potential of their clothes getting dirty and therefore our time would be waisted. It would also require people being there the whole time, and why this may not be an issue for some, for others, they may have previous commitments.
When considering presenting what we did in the workshop, we spoke about either filming the workshops and projecting them onto the boiler suits or hanging up the boiler suits. The advantages of this include, it will be a lot easier for us and would give us maximum time to prepare our workshops for the children. People maybe more interested in the work as it would just include the boiler suits and could become visually quite interesting, you would have to look at the work at detail to understand what we did and what we are trying to show. However, there are disadvantages to doing this, one of them, is we are not putting into practice what we learnt throughout Unit X and passing on this information. If we were to film the workshops and project them, it would give us one day to create these films, creating a lot of pressure and stress onto us. Another disadvantage to both these ideas, is that it could be uninteresting and visually quite weak. This is a strong possibility as we will be exhibiting with other people who have had months to prepare for this.
At the end of the meeting, we decided to go with the second idea and I personally am glad for this. I would much rather create a very good workshop for the children and then present the work created in the exhibition.
Week Five - MicroTeaching Delivery
As I am not very good at public speaking, I decided to use the tips Clare showed us in the previous week. Before my session I spent a minute doing the confident pose as well faking my confidence, this I found helped but I was still nervous at the beginning. This was evident in one of the feedbacks I was given which said "Delivery could have been clearer - you didn't seem to have much confidence in the background..." This is something I realise I need to improve on, I didn't learn the script very well as I believed as I knew the background then I could wing it, I can not do this in the workshop.
In terms of the structure of the day, I planned to have the introduction last for three minutes, however, when I began conducting the session I realised that I did not need these three minutes and rather it was only one. For this session it worked out well as it gave my peers more time to create the work. This is something that I need to consider in the workshop, if I was to have a presentation that ran out of time, then I would need to prepare for this eventuality. After the session Kate mentioned that it is better to have a few good activities and then back up activities if there is still time. This is something we should think about in the planning of the workshop.
I wanted my peers to learn through themselves, seeing what they could create however would give some of my knowledge. When they asked questions, I would respond to them and told them about my website where you could other examples, one person mentioned in their feedback "can't wait to see your website... Got me motivated", which was pleasing to hear as I had clearly picked an interesting topic. However, there could have been improvement with one feedback mentioning "images of own work would have been good", in hindsight I should added these to the handouts that I created. Taking this onto the future for the workshop, if I am to present an activity then I should add examples of what I want them to create.
In terms of improvement, it was mentioned that "Whilst you began to conclude, you did not create a definite ending. Reaffirming your learning outcome should come here", speaking to Anna and Kate, they spoke how you should say your learning outcome at the beginning and at the end in order for your peers or the children to understand what they were meant to have learnt. This is something that we should consider when conducting the workshop. Therefore we need to have a defined reasoning for the workshop. One person mentioned that the introduction could have been clearer and I do agree with this. I should have practiced this more, or one person mentioned an introduction to my own practice and with either of these suggestions would have been good to do. It is clear, that you need to have confidence in your speech and carefully word and conduct this.
One thing I noticed when I created this session was the planning that went around it and the number of hours I spent either preparing the handouts or getting the materials. For me, it was only for a 10 minute presentation but some teachers will have a whole day to prepare for each day of the week, for the whole of the school week.
In terms of the structure of the day, I planned to have the introduction last for three minutes, however, when I began conducting the session I realised that I did not need these three minutes and rather it was only one. For this session it worked out well as it gave my peers more time to create the work. This is something that I need to consider in the workshop, if I was to have a presentation that ran out of time, then I would need to prepare for this eventuality. After the session Kate mentioned that it is better to have a few good activities and then back up activities if there is still time. This is something we should think about in the planning of the workshop.
I wanted my peers to learn through themselves, seeing what they could create however would give some of my knowledge. When they asked questions, I would respond to them and told them about my website where you could other examples, one person mentioned in their feedback "can't wait to see your website... Got me motivated", which was pleasing to hear as I had clearly picked an interesting topic. However, there could have been improvement with one feedback mentioning "images of own work would have been good", in hindsight I should added these to the handouts that I created. Taking this onto the future for the workshop, if I am to present an activity then I should add examples of what I want them to create.
In terms of improvement, it was mentioned that "Whilst you began to conclude, you did not create a definite ending. Reaffirming your learning outcome should come here", speaking to Anna and Kate, they spoke how you should say your learning outcome at the beginning and at the end in order for your peers or the children to understand what they were meant to have learnt. This is something that we should consider when conducting the workshop. Therefore we need to have a defined reasoning for the workshop. One person mentioned that the introduction could have been clearer and I do agree with this. I should have practiced this more, or one person mentioned an introduction to my own practice and with either of these suggestions would have been good to do. It is clear, that you need to have confidence in your speech and carefully word and conduct this.
One thing I noticed when I created this session was the planning that went around it and the number of hours I spent either preparing the handouts or getting the materials. For me, it was only for a 10 minute presentation but some teachers will have a whole day to prepare for each day of the week, for the whole of the school week.
In this graph above, it is apparent that all of the other elements of teaching add up to roughly the same time as teaching. It is becoming increasingly apparent that teaching is not a 9 to 5 job and will take more hours in your week, not just your working week. If you are to spend this amount of time on your profession, then it is clear that you need to enjoy your work and be passionate about it.
http://www.oecd.org/edu/EAG2014-Indicator%20D4%20(eng).pdf
Week Four - Planning the workshop at DACA
In my practice, I am used to working by myself and therefore I have to be very self motivated and self driven which is a dramatic change from working within Unit X and relying on others. This is something that I am struggling to work with as I would rather get the work done but obviously, people can not run on my very own timetable. We have organised meetings, and I have tried to be to every single one but unfortunately people have previous commitments and therefore the progress of the workshop has been slow. Despite this, we have created a very basic plan of the day, basing the workshop on the Holi Festival. During the holidays, I researched this and sent my research to the others. The Holi Festival is an ancient Hindu festival, which is a celebration of colour and involves throwing power paint, baring this in mind, we wish to create this colour fight at the end of the day.
When speaking to Clare, she spoke about students coming from the Hindu background and they may feel patronised by this due to understanding more about the day. Not considering this before, we have decided to change the focus of the day and as a result, we are now going to focus on colour. Clare also spoke to use about disaster management, if it was raining on the day, then we would be unable to create the powder paint fight outside and so considering this, we spoke about doing it inside with dusk sheets to cover the room. As they would be covered in powder paint and we do not want to ruin their clothes, we need to provide protective clothing as well dusk masks. Realising this, it is apparent that we need to create disaster management for every single activity in order to prepare for every single event.
As we have now changed the day onto colour, we need to focus down onto certain aspects of colour, one of these ideas is to look into the semiotics of colour, which would bring in the emotions of colour. One idea is to play a happy and sad music and ask them to create a piece of artwork dependant on the music played. One thing that we all noticed at the school is there is not much experimental work, and therefore their work is structured and similar. We want to introduce this idea of creative freedom and are considering experimental mark making using different tools. At the same time, they would be listening to the music stimulating emotions within them. Something we want to do, is introduce these different methods of working to create work in the future.
Jackson Pollark is an artist who does this and it is my job to do the research for this, as well to find other artists and I will be doing this for next week as I realise that the workshop is fast approaching. I will also be researching different types of music for the day.
Clare also spoke about getting feedback at the end of the day and we spoke about how it would be boring to do this via a questionnaire. We have decided to wear plain white t-shirts and get the children to write on our backs after ask them questions. This I feel is an exciting way to do this after the a day filled with activities as well as being informative for us. It is also important to note that doing this will hopefully let the children be honest in their feedback as it is easier to write it down rather than speak about it.
When speaking to Clare, she spoke about students coming from the Hindu background and they may feel patronised by this due to understanding more about the day. Not considering this before, we have decided to change the focus of the day and as a result, we are now going to focus on colour. Clare also spoke to use about disaster management, if it was raining on the day, then we would be unable to create the powder paint fight outside and so considering this, we spoke about doing it inside with dusk sheets to cover the room. As they would be covered in powder paint and we do not want to ruin their clothes, we need to provide protective clothing as well dusk masks. Realising this, it is apparent that we need to create disaster management for every single activity in order to prepare for every single event.
As we have now changed the day onto colour, we need to focus down onto certain aspects of colour, one of these ideas is to look into the semiotics of colour, which would bring in the emotions of colour. One idea is to play a happy and sad music and ask them to create a piece of artwork dependant on the music played. One thing that we all noticed at the school is there is not much experimental work, and therefore their work is structured and similar. We want to introduce this idea of creative freedom and are considering experimental mark making using different tools. At the same time, they would be listening to the music stimulating emotions within them. Something we want to do, is introduce these different methods of working to create work in the future.
Jackson Pollark is an artist who does this and it is my job to do the research for this, as well to find other artists and I will be doing this for next week as I realise that the workshop is fast approaching. I will also be researching different types of music for the day.
Clare also spoke about getting feedback at the end of the day and we spoke about how it would be boring to do this via a questionnaire. We have decided to wear plain white t-shirts and get the children to write on our backs after ask them questions. This I feel is an exciting way to do this after the a day filled with activities as well as being informative for us. It is also important to note that doing this will hopefully let the children be honest in their feedback as it is easier to write it down rather than speak about it.
Week Four - Confidence in Teaching and MicroTeaching Brief
Confidence in Teaching
It was apparent during the placement at DACA that if you did not have strong confidence, then the children would notice this and not respond to you as you wish. It is apparent that people will more likely respond to those who are calm and unnerved in their tone and body language and I noticed this from the first lesson I was placed in. Confidence, generally is something I struggle with as I am naturally a shy person and therefore when it comes to public speaking with new people, I struggle, however, as time went on it became easier.
Clare addressed this issue in one session, realising that this can not hinder us in any way due to having to hold an authoritative role with the children. She played us this clip by Amy Cuddy "Body Language shapes who you are". The clip spoke about "Fake it till you make it", which means, fake the confidence until you have confidence. This made an impression on me and I wanted to test this out, so in the evening I was out with people and decided to test this out and it did work, I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
MicroTeaching Brief
For this unit, we have to complete a 10 minute Microteaching session to our peers. Introducing this, Anna performed a microteaching session on Art Direction to us. It was clear that she had managed to include all types of learners into the workshop, visual learners with the powerpoint and demonstration, audio learners by listening to her in the session and kinetic learners by allowing us to complete a task. Having these three types of teaching is something I need to consider in my own workshop in order to be successful.
Following this, we worked in pairs practicing teaching another person to make something out of plasticise. I personally found this to be very helpful as I had never performed a teaching session and working with Louise gave me things to improve on. For example, sometimes I can forget that others aren't keeping up with my pace or do not understand what I am trying to say and in order to comeback that I need to slow down and consider how I word what I am saying.
Anna advised us to keep the idea very simple as we only have 10 minutes and to do something that we specialise in or know a lot about. My background is in Fine Art, specialising in paint and I wanted to incorporate this into my session but have to make this very basic. Thinking about this, I have decided to look at the reactions of a water-based paint against a oil-based paint.
It was apparent during the placement at DACA that if you did not have strong confidence, then the children would notice this and not respond to you as you wish. It is apparent that people will more likely respond to those who are calm and unnerved in their tone and body language and I noticed this from the first lesson I was placed in. Confidence, generally is something I struggle with as I am naturally a shy person and therefore when it comes to public speaking with new people, I struggle, however, as time went on it became easier.
Clare addressed this issue in one session, realising that this can not hinder us in any way due to having to hold an authoritative role with the children. She played us this clip by Amy Cuddy "Body Language shapes who you are". The clip spoke about "Fake it till you make it", which means, fake the confidence until you have confidence. This made an impression on me and I wanted to test this out, so in the evening I was out with people and decided to test this out and it did work, I did find I became more confident. It became apparent that I have to do this is in the workshop but it is also evident that I can use this skill in the future with interviews etc.
MicroTeaching Brief
For this unit, we have to complete a 10 minute Microteaching session to our peers. Introducing this, Anna performed a microteaching session on Art Direction to us. It was clear that she had managed to include all types of learners into the workshop, visual learners with the powerpoint and demonstration, audio learners by listening to her in the session and kinetic learners by allowing us to complete a task. Having these three types of teaching is something I need to consider in my own workshop in order to be successful.
Following this, we worked in pairs practicing teaching another person to make something out of plasticise. I personally found this to be very helpful as I had never performed a teaching session and working with Louise gave me things to improve on. For example, sometimes I can forget that others aren't keeping up with my pace or do not understand what I am trying to say and in order to comeback that I need to slow down and consider how I word what I am saying.
Anna advised us to keep the idea very simple as we only have 10 minutes and to do something that we specialise in or know a lot about. My background is in Fine Art, specialising in paint and I wanted to incorporate this into my session but have to make this very basic. Thinking about this, I have decided to look at the reactions of a water-based paint against a oil-based paint.
This is my basic lesson plan for the day. I realise that I need to practice this to other people to firstly, make sure that it works, to make sure that the timings run according to my plan and finally to make sure that I understand and know what I am talking about.
I have also created these handouts for my peers to give them some background knowledge of what we are using. I do not plan to read them out but rather allow them to follow up on them if they wish to know more, which follows on from the Delegator style of teaching I had learnt previously.
Over the next couple of days, I will go over my teaching session and have everything ready before the day. This will not only make sure I am prepared but will allow me to have time to sort anything out before the session if something goes wrong.
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Key Blogpost One
What are they key points? What surprising aspects have you discovered?
Body language. Depending on how I was composing myself would determine how the children would react to me. When I first went to DACA, I was nervous and this showed in my body language, I was a little hunched with my arms crossed and as a result, the children would not respond to me and ignore my suggestions and helpings. As the two weeks progressed, I began to become more confident in myself and therefore my body language responded accordingly so, with me standing up straighter and my arms not crossed over. This resulted in the children responding to me differently, listening to what I was saying but also having small talk with me. It became very apparent that if I wanted the children to listen to me, then I would have to make my body language more confident and this is something I will do in the workshop.
As with body language, the tone of my voice is also important. It is apparent that the teachers tone of voice will determine whether they listen and behaved well. However, her tone of voice did change with the different years. This was something that surprised me, but I remember when I was in school, the tone of the teachers changed as I grew older. For the younger years, the teachers tended to be more strict in their tone, but as they grew older, they began to relax in their tone and speak the children as if they are someone of their own age. It was apparent the reasoning for this is to make them feel more mature and not patronised - which in turn would make them less responsive. Again, I will need to but this in practice with the workshop, the plan at the moment is to teach they year 7's and so therefore I will need to have a more strict tone in my voice, in order to get them to behave.
I realised there were cut backs in the Art Education, however, I did not realise how much they were and the impact it has caused. The number of art teachers in school has cut down by 11%, with some schools beginning to drop Art, Music and Drama. Although DACA will still be doing these subjects, Louise told us that if the students do not get the grades, then the Art Department will not be as strong as it is at the moment. As they are having to get the children the grades, it was evident that they had to follow a plan, meaning the individual pupil would not be getting the grade due to their own creative freedom but rather because they followed the "plan". It is a great shame that this is happening in the education as the creative industry is so vast and full of many opportunities, "...as their talents would have been constricted by schools being pushed to prioritise an unnecessarily narrow range of subjects that reflected the past and not the future. The creative industries are worth more than £60 billion a year to the UK economy and it would have been a catastrophe if creative subjects such as design & technology had been lost from schools at Key Stage 4. Now we need to see the same breadth included at A Level too."1
What has strongly influenced your ideas and their development?
One thing that has strongly influenced me is the the cuts made in the Art sector in Education. I noticed in the school, that they are unable to teach individual people different techniques due to the lack of funding, teacher time and the strong importance of getting the grades to help them progress into higher and further education. Therefore the children are having to follow a strict set of guild lines set not only by the examining board but also the school, and this has resulted in there being a lack of creative freedom and development. By doing this workshop, I want to expose the children to different techniques that could hopefully inspire them and something they could bring into their own work. At the current time, we have thought of different ways of bringing this in to the workshop, e.g. making marks with toothbrushes or mops.
I also noticed how the different subject areas didn't blend with each others, this is terms of their only being painters in Art and only photographers in Photography. This however, does not happen in any industry, whether it be creative or otherwise. Blending the subjects together is something that Finland does, and rather than having subjects, they have topics that would help them in their future careers "we need now is a different kind of education to prepare people for working life. We therefore have to make the changes in education that are necessary for industry and modern society... there will be a more collaborative approach, with pupils working in smaller groups to solve problems while improving their communication skills."2 It would be interesting to see how we could do a workshop that blended the subject areas together. We are currently discussing using different types of fabric and layering the paint on to that. Most of the children only paint onto canvas board and haven't tried painting onto different types of "canvases". We also plan to film the day and edit it, creating a performance piece. Performance art was not discussed there and by introducing this to them, it could influence them now or in the future.
Identify the area(s) or process(es) you tend to explore - and why. How do they relate to your own practice, and the professional context of your work?
In terms of the areas I wish to explore, is the use of colour and different types of paint. My own practice the exploration of paint as a material and how I can change it and the chemical properties. I noticed at the school, that they only had access to acrylic paint and when speaking about different types of paint, the children either hadn't heard of it or didn't have any means of using it. By using a different form of paint, it will allow the children to expand their own knowledge and could inspire them to try different methods and techniques. The workshop I hope, will allow the children to build up their confidence and capabilities in their own practice. Although I look the chemical side of paint, I feel like this would be too difficult to understand for the year 7's, therefore it is important that we comment on the patterns, textures and finishes that it will create.
At the moment, we are discussing using different types of paints that we can use, which will also include inks and powder paint, and if we are to still use acrylic paint, we are thinking of using different acrylic mediums, for example, watering the paint down and pouring medium.
In the workshop, as we have textiles students in our group, we are planning to use different fabrics to help produce the work. I have never used different types of fabric as my "canvas", so it will be interesting to see how the different types of paint react to the surface. Not only will it be informative for the students but it will allow me to learn, develop and expand my own practice.
Reflect and discuss a key discovery/interest. Discuss within a professional aspect
One thing that stood to me was one teacher and the style she taught for Year 13. It was obvious that she was allowing the students to do what they want, following the path they wished, making new discoveries and allowing mistakes to happen. Looking into the styles of teaching, I realised she had taken the process of Inquiry-based Learning, which focuses on student-centered approach, "in that students play an active and participatory role in their own learning process." 3 and in the category the teacher went through the "Delegator" in which "Teachers act as a "resource" to students, answering questions and reviewing their progress as needed. Teachers play a passive role in the students learning; students are active and engaged participants in their learning. The main goal of the Delegator is to foster a sense of autonomy in the learning progress." 3
This was the most evident when I went through a pupils sketchbook and her proposed final piece, I was able to see and discuss the mistakes and learning curves the pupil had undertaken and how this had informed her in her work and understanding of it. The pupil was able to tell me why the final piece hadn't worked and how she was going to change her idea and create something different.
Speaking to the teacher about this, we discussed how she preferred this teaching method. She commented on how the pupils learnt a lot more through this and how their thoughts and ideas were not being moulded or changed by her, she was only a guide in their learning. She then went on, that although this won't work for every pupil, especially those who aren't self-motivated, it is important as a teacher to realise and use this method.
It was apparent that this style of teaching is not the adopted one in DACA, as another teacher had words with her in the classroom, it is however, something that I, if I was to go into teaching is one that I should look into. It allows the students to have a hands on approach and to be in charge of their own learning, realising their own mistakes and the path, creatively they wish to take. However, it is also important for me to note, that whilst this works with the older pupils, if I was to do this with the younger years, it wouldn't as due to their level of maturity.
1 http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/february/ebacc-threat-removed-in-government-u-turn
2 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html
3 http://teach.com/what/teachers-teach/teaching-methods
Body language. Depending on how I was composing myself would determine how the children would react to me. When I first went to DACA, I was nervous and this showed in my body language, I was a little hunched with my arms crossed and as a result, the children would not respond to me and ignore my suggestions and helpings. As the two weeks progressed, I began to become more confident in myself and therefore my body language responded accordingly so, with me standing up straighter and my arms not crossed over. This resulted in the children responding to me differently, listening to what I was saying but also having small talk with me. It became very apparent that if I wanted the children to listen to me, then I would have to make my body language more confident and this is something I will do in the workshop.
As with body language, the tone of my voice is also important. It is apparent that the teachers tone of voice will determine whether they listen and behaved well. However, her tone of voice did change with the different years. This was something that surprised me, but I remember when I was in school, the tone of the teachers changed as I grew older. For the younger years, the teachers tended to be more strict in their tone, but as they grew older, they began to relax in their tone and speak the children as if they are someone of their own age. It was apparent the reasoning for this is to make them feel more mature and not patronised - which in turn would make them less responsive. Again, I will need to but this in practice with the workshop, the plan at the moment is to teach they year 7's and so therefore I will need to have a more strict tone in my voice, in order to get them to behave.
I realised there were cut backs in the Art Education, however, I did not realise how much they were and the impact it has caused. The number of art teachers in school has cut down by 11%, with some schools beginning to drop Art, Music and Drama. Although DACA will still be doing these subjects, Louise told us that if the students do not get the grades, then the Art Department will not be as strong as it is at the moment. As they are having to get the children the grades, it was evident that they had to follow a plan, meaning the individual pupil would not be getting the grade due to their own creative freedom but rather because they followed the "plan". It is a great shame that this is happening in the education as the creative industry is so vast and full of many opportunities, "...as their talents would have been constricted by schools being pushed to prioritise an unnecessarily narrow range of subjects that reflected the past and not the future. The creative industries are worth more than £60 billion a year to the UK economy and it would have been a catastrophe if creative subjects such as design & technology had been lost from schools at Key Stage 4. Now we need to see the same breadth included at A Level too."1
What has strongly influenced your ideas and their development?
One thing that has strongly influenced me is the the cuts made in the Art sector in Education. I noticed in the school, that they are unable to teach individual people different techniques due to the lack of funding, teacher time and the strong importance of getting the grades to help them progress into higher and further education. Therefore the children are having to follow a strict set of guild lines set not only by the examining board but also the school, and this has resulted in there being a lack of creative freedom and development. By doing this workshop, I want to expose the children to different techniques that could hopefully inspire them and something they could bring into their own work. At the current time, we have thought of different ways of bringing this in to the workshop, e.g. making marks with toothbrushes or mops.
I also noticed how the different subject areas didn't blend with each others, this is terms of their only being painters in Art and only photographers in Photography. This however, does not happen in any industry, whether it be creative or otherwise. Blending the subjects together is something that Finland does, and rather than having subjects, they have topics that would help them in their future careers "we need now is a different kind of education to prepare people for working life. We therefore have to make the changes in education that are necessary for industry and modern society... there will be a more collaborative approach, with pupils working in smaller groups to solve problems while improving their communication skills."2 It would be interesting to see how we could do a workshop that blended the subject areas together. We are currently discussing using different types of fabric and layering the paint on to that. Most of the children only paint onto canvas board and haven't tried painting onto different types of "canvases". We also plan to film the day and edit it, creating a performance piece. Performance art was not discussed there and by introducing this to them, it could influence them now or in the future.
Identify the area(s) or process(es) you tend to explore - and why. How do they relate to your own practice, and the professional context of your work?
In terms of the areas I wish to explore, is the use of colour and different types of paint. My own practice the exploration of paint as a material and how I can change it and the chemical properties. I noticed at the school, that they only had access to acrylic paint and when speaking about different types of paint, the children either hadn't heard of it or didn't have any means of using it. By using a different form of paint, it will allow the children to expand their own knowledge and could inspire them to try different methods and techniques. The workshop I hope, will allow the children to build up their confidence and capabilities in their own practice. Although I look the chemical side of paint, I feel like this would be too difficult to understand for the year 7's, therefore it is important that we comment on the patterns, textures and finishes that it will create.
At the moment, we are discussing using different types of paints that we can use, which will also include inks and powder paint, and if we are to still use acrylic paint, we are thinking of using different acrylic mediums, for example, watering the paint down and pouring medium.
In the workshop, as we have textiles students in our group, we are planning to use different fabrics to help produce the work. I have never used different types of fabric as my "canvas", so it will be interesting to see how the different types of paint react to the surface. Not only will it be informative for the students but it will allow me to learn, develop and expand my own practice.
Reflect and discuss a key discovery/interest. Discuss within a professional aspect
One thing that stood to me was one teacher and the style she taught for Year 13. It was obvious that she was allowing the students to do what they want, following the path they wished, making new discoveries and allowing mistakes to happen. Looking into the styles of teaching, I realised she had taken the process of Inquiry-based Learning, which focuses on student-centered approach, "in that students play an active and participatory role in their own learning process." 3 and in the category the teacher went through the "Delegator" in which "Teachers act as a "resource" to students, answering questions and reviewing their progress as needed. Teachers play a passive role in the students learning; students are active and engaged participants in their learning. The main goal of the Delegator is to foster a sense of autonomy in the learning progress." 3
This was the most evident when I went through a pupils sketchbook and her proposed final piece, I was able to see and discuss the mistakes and learning curves the pupil had undertaken and how this had informed her in her work and understanding of it. The pupil was able to tell me why the final piece hadn't worked and how she was going to change her idea and create something different.
Speaking to the teacher about this, we discussed how she preferred this teaching method. She commented on how the pupils learnt a lot more through this and how their thoughts and ideas were not being moulded or changed by her, she was only a guide in their learning. She then went on, that although this won't work for every pupil, especially those who aren't self-motivated, it is important as a teacher to realise and use this method.
It was apparent that this style of teaching is not the adopted one in DACA, as another teacher had words with her in the classroom, it is however, something that I, if I was to go into teaching is one that I should look into. It allows the students to have a hands on approach and to be in charge of their own learning, realising their own mistakes and the path, creatively they wish to take. However, it is also important for me to note, that whilst this works with the older pupils, if I was to do this with the younger years, it wouldn't as due to their level of maturity.
1 http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/february/ebacc-threat-removed-in-government-u-turn
2 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-schools-subjects-are-out-and-topics-are-in-as-country-reforms-its-education-system-10123911.html
3 http://teach.com/what/teachers-teach/teaching-methods
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Placement week two at DACA
Day Four
For the first two periods I was placed with a year 7 art. It was a different class and straight away the teacher was strict with the class, telling them all to line up at the back of the classroom. She then placed them in a seating plan with the naughty children placed in particular spots and then girl boy arrangements. It was apparent her reasoning for this was to show the children the level of discipline and behaviour that she expected in her lessons.
The tutor then went through the topic for the upcoming weeks. What I found interesting was that before she went through everything, she had a few sentences that were not do with the lesson. The children were not listening to her at this period and it was apparent that she did this so the children would listen to the vital information. An interesting tactic that I should utilise in the future.
The topic that they would covering for the next 8 weeks was Zoomorphia and they would be making clay heads, based on Melody Ellis. The tutor showed examples in the style of work she wanted created, it was important that she did this to show the level of work she expected and it helped the children form their own ideas. She then told them how to layout their work with telling them the size dimensions and colours to use etc.
It became apparent that the children were being told to do this to reach targets and expectations. This is currently a big topic going on at the moment, many teachers are leaving this profession due to this new method of teaching. "...it’s getting harder to recruit the target number of teachers with an apparent 7% shortfall in the required number of trainee teachers." Perhaps the reasoning for this is done to "Pupils have become instruments for teachers to achieve their performance management targets rather than individuals. I am still bemused by the expectation that all pupils are expected to make the same amount of progress within an academic year."1
The next two periods I was placed with the Year 12 Art group. This I feel was one of the most interesting periods as we were able to help those with their exam work as well as their coursework. I worked with two different girls and spoke to them about how to progress and develop their work. What I found disappointing was they were no different use of materials or different artistic methods. However, could this be the reason? "It cited figures showing that since 2010, the number of arts teachers in schools had fallen by up to 11%, teaching hours and teachers for design and technology were down 11%, drama teacher levels had fallen by 8% and teaching hours for the subject, including hours taught by non-specialists, had reduced by 4%. The number of art teachers had also fallen by 4%, while the subject had seen a 6% decline in teaching hours, it added." With the number of teachers falling and the number of hours they are able to teach for the subject, it is apparent they are losing their resources and therefore, they are unable to help with the creative freedom. This, however is a major concern by many people about this, "There are major concerns that the educational system is not focusing on the future needs of the cultural and creative industries and the broader needs for innovation and growth in the UK," the commission said."There is a general agreement within the cultural and creative industries, and industry more broadly, that the government's focus on science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) should include the arts (Steam). But the commission said ministers were "obsessed with a siloed subject-based curriculum" and early specialisation in arts or science. "We need creative scientists as much as we need artists who understand the property of materials and the affordances of new technology," it said."2
The Department of Education does however saying, "A Department for Education spokesman said arts subjects were statutory in primary schools and up to the start of GCSEs. And he highlighted that the number of pupils taking music; and art and design GCSE had risen between 2013 to 2014. "As part of our plan for education, we are ensuring all pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum which will prepare them for life in modern Britain - the arts are a key part of this. "We are clear that arts education should be every bit as rigorous as the rest of the school curriculum, and we have strengthened the national curriculum in these subjects and reformed the music and art GCSEs and A-levels to make sure this is the case." The DfE added that it was providing £109m for 2014-15 to support music, art and cultural education projects - £17m more than the previous year."2 Hopefully this will mean, that the arts curriculum is on the increase and taken seriously.
Day Six
For the first two periods I was Year 13 Art. As they were doing their exam work and finishing everything off for their handing dates, we could only briefly speak to them. However we were able to look at the exam and coursework papers from AQA Exam board. What I found interesting was the the paper gives you suggestions of ideas that you can look at within the theme and artists correlating to it. For example, the theme was "Flaws, Perfections, Ideals or Compromises", and for the Fine Art section it spoke about classical Greek and Roman sculptors, who corrected imperfections and an example is Marc Quinn's portraits of Alison Lapper and John E. Sutton. I spoke earlier that often the schools were telling students what they should do in order to get the grades, but from this, it seems that the exam is doing the same. There is no creative freedom within the paper, and allowing students to develop their own ideas and work. Reports claim "A survey of students and teachers in schools, colleges and universities, conducted by University of the Arts London (UAL), found more than half had little faith in the content of the present A-level. Nick Juba, director of UAL awarding body, says: "We know that the A-level in art and design probably isn't as good as it could be, purely from fact that there are so many students taking a foundation diploma, a one-year course sat after A-level that most students have to take if they want to go to a selective art school."3
For the last two periods, we were given a debrief about the two weeks, asked how they went and how to get into teaching. It became apparent in the last two weeks, that you truly have to want to become a teacher. If you didn't enjoy the placement, which was the case for me, then it is clear that you would not enjoy teaching. However, it could be the age group and I feel that I shouldn't say no to teaching completely until I have volunteered with primary school. Louise gave us tips, for example if we were going into teaching, we should start doing unpaid volunteering at a school. If you decide to do a PGCE, then hopefully the school can offer you a placement or either future employment. It is important to create as many contacts in any venture that we go down, as it getting increasingly difficult to find employment. As mentioned earlier, there is fall in the number of Art teachers, however, speaking to Louise, one of the reasons for this is school hire a new Maths or English teacher. "It believes the government’s focus on science, technology, engineering and maths needs also to include the arts. It says: “Policymakers are obsessed with a siloed subject-based curriculum and early specialisation in arts or science disciplines that ignores and obscures discussion around the future need for all children to enjoy an education that encourages creativity.” 4 Although I don't feel like I would go into teaching, I can always use the placement at the school on my CV, as well as the workshop that we will create in the future as an Artist Residency.
We also got to start making plans for the workshop. As there is so many of us, we will be splitting into groups and giving two different workshops, one of those I will be involved with. The workshop will take place over the school day so will be 5 hours and 20 minutes. We are able to choose the year group that we wish to teach and will have students that are under the category "Potential to be Outstanding" (POG). Generally this will mean that we have the well behaved students who are hard working. The workshop will take place in one of the classrooms but we are allowed to go outside providing the weather is good.
Things we need to prepare in advance for the workshop:
1 http://mylifemylove.com/2015/04/02/why-ive-left-teaching/
2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31518717
3 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/23/arts-and-design-a-level-fails-to-prepare-students
4 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematically-removed-from-uk-education-system
For the first two periods I was placed with a year 7 art. It was a different class and straight away the teacher was strict with the class, telling them all to line up at the back of the classroom. She then placed them in a seating plan with the naughty children placed in particular spots and then girl boy arrangements. It was apparent her reasoning for this was to show the children the level of discipline and behaviour that she expected in her lessons.
The tutor then went through the topic for the upcoming weeks. What I found interesting was that before she went through everything, she had a few sentences that were not do with the lesson. The children were not listening to her at this period and it was apparent that she did this so the children would listen to the vital information. An interesting tactic that I should utilise in the future.
The topic that they would covering for the next 8 weeks was Zoomorphia and they would be making clay heads, based on Melody Ellis. The tutor showed examples in the style of work she wanted created, it was important that she did this to show the level of work she expected and it helped the children form their own ideas. She then told them how to layout their work with telling them the size dimensions and colours to use etc.
It became apparent that the children were being told to do this to reach targets and expectations. This is currently a big topic going on at the moment, many teachers are leaving this profession due to this new method of teaching. "...it’s getting harder to recruit the target number of teachers with an apparent 7% shortfall in the required number of trainee teachers." Perhaps the reasoning for this is done to "Pupils have become instruments for teachers to achieve their performance management targets rather than individuals. I am still bemused by the expectation that all pupils are expected to make the same amount of progress within an academic year."1
The next two periods I was placed with the Year 12 Art group. This I feel was one of the most interesting periods as we were able to help those with their exam work as well as their coursework. I worked with two different girls and spoke to them about how to progress and develop their work. What I found disappointing was they were no different use of materials or different artistic methods. However, could this be the reason? "It cited figures showing that since 2010, the number of arts teachers in schools had fallen by up to 11%, teaching hours and teachers for design and technology were down 11%, drama teacher levels had fallen by 8% and teaching hours for the subject, including hours taught by non-specialists, had reduced by 4%. The number of art teachers had also fallen by 4%, while the subject had seen a 6% decline in teaching hours, it added." With the number of teachers falling and the number of hours they are able to teach for the subject, it is apparent they are losing their resources and therefore, they are unable to help with the creative freedom. This, however is a major concern by many people about this, "There are major concerns that the educational system is not focusing on the future needs of the cultural and creative industries and the broader needs for innovation and growth in the UK," the commission said."There is a general agreement within the cultural and creative industries, and industry more broadly, that the government's focus on science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) should include the arts (Steam). But the commission said ministers were "obsessed with a siloed subject-based curriculum" and early specialisation in arts or science. "We need creative scientists as much as we need artists who understand the property of materials and the affordances of new technology," it said."2
The Department of Education does however saying, "A Department for Education spokesman said arts subjects were statutory in primary schools and up to the start of GCSEs. And he highlighted that the number of pupils taking music; and art and design GCSE had risen between 2013 to 2014. "As part of our plan for education, we are ensuring all pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum which will prepare them for life in modern Britain - the arts are a key part of this. "We are clear that arts education should be every bit as rigorous as the rest of the school curriculum, and we have strengthened the national curriculum in these subjects and reformed the music and art GCSEs and A-levels to make sure this is the case." The DfE added that it was providing £109m for 2014-15 to support music, art and cultural education projects - £17m more than the previous year."2 Hopefully this will mean, that the arts curriculum is on the increase and taken seriously.
Day Six
For the first two periods I was Year 13 Art. As they were doing their exam work and finishing everything off for their handing dates, we could only briefly speak to them. However we were able to look at the exam and coursework papers from AQA Exam board. What I found interesting was the the paper gives you suggestions of ideas that you can look at within the theme and artists correlating to it. For example, the theme was "Flaws, Perfections, Ideals or Compromises", and for the Fine Art section it spoke about classical Greek and Roman sculptors, who corrected imperfections and an example is Marc Quinn's portraits of Alison Lapper and John E. Sutton. I spoke earlier that often the schools were telling students what they should do in order to get the grades, but from this, it seems that the exam is doing the same. There is no creative freedom within the paper, and allowing students to develop their own ideas and work. Reports claim "A survey of students and teachers in schools, colleges and universities, conducted by University of the Arts London (UAL), found more than half had little faith in the content of the present A-level. Nick Juba, director of UAL awarding body, says: "We know that the A-level in art and design probably isn't as good as it could be, purely from fact that there are so many students taking a foundation diploma, a one-year course sat after A-level that most students have to take if they want to go to a selective art school."3
For the last two periods, we were given a debrief about the two weeks, asked how they went and how to get into teaching. It became apparent in the last two weeks, that you truly have to want to become a teacher. If you didn't enjoy the placement, which was the case for me, then it is clear that you would not enjoy teaching. However, it could be the age group and I feel that I shouldn't say no to teaching completely until I have volunteered with primary school. Louise gave us tips, for example if we were going into teaching, we should start doing unpaid volunteering at a school. If you decide to do a PGCE, then hopefully the school can offer you a placement or either future employment. It is important to create as many contacts in any venture that we go down, as it getting increasingly difficult to find employment. As mentioned earlier, there is fall in the number of Art teachers, however, speaking to Louise, one of the reasons for this is school hire a new Maths or English teacher. "It believes the government’s focus on science, technology, engineering and maths needs also to include the arts. It says: “Policymakers are obsessed with a siloed subject-based curriculum and early specialisation in arts or science disciplines that ignores and obscures discussion around the future need for all children to enjoy an education that encourages creativity.” 4 Although I don't feel like I would go into teaching, I can always use the placement at the school on my CV, as well as the workshop that we will create in the future as an Artist Residency.
We also got to start making plans for the workshop. As there is so many of us, we will be splitting into groups and giving two different workshops, one of those I will be involved with. The workshop will take place over the school day so will be 5 hours and 20 minutes. We are able to choose the year group that we wish to teach and will have students that are under the category "Potential to be Outstanding" (POG). Generally this will mean that we have the well behaved students who are hard working. The workshop will take place in one of the classrooms but we are allowed to go outside providing the weather is good.
Things we need to prepare in advance for the workshop:
- age group
- parental consent/ acknowledgement of the activities you plan to do
- theme of the workshop
- activities
- any equipment needed, including, materials, clothes etc
After realising what we needed, we then spilt into two groups based on our interests and expertise. My group has decided to look at the Holi Festival, which has a colour fight during it and to give the workshop to year 7's. We decided to teach year 7's as they would be the ones most excited and engaging by the topic, as well as having the most freedom and willingness in their young, unmolded, creative mindset.
The Holi festival is a celebration that uses colour, it has a vast historical and contextual ideas, so in order to present this idea we need to keep it simple so the younger years will understand.
The Holi festival is a celebration that uses colour, it has a vast historical and contextual ideas, so in order to present this idea we need to keep it simple so the younger years will understand.
1 http://mylifemylove.com/2015/04/02/why-ive-left-teaching/
2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31518717
3 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/23/arts-and-design-a-level-fails-to-prepare-students
4 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematically-removed-from-uk-education-system
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Gallery workshop at Manchester Art Gallery
On Thursday 19th March, we had a workshop with Manchester Art Gallery and were spoken to by one of the managers in the learning team. Manchester Art Gallery has a learning team with the manager sitting with the other senior managers. As a result the learning, engaging and giving skills is considered very important. There is a diverse learning team which covers schools, families, community project, volunteer and health and wellbeing. At the present time, there are no adults learning team. It is funded by the arts council. The workshops they of help build skills and confidence and see creativity as important and how they can reverse the stigma. For example AQA recently tweeted "Schools, colleges and universities are fundamental to the success of creative industries.", "Applicants for creative subjects are increasing at a much higher rate than other subjects.", "Six principles for creative decision making - Structure, pattern, meaning, performance, human interaction, and practice. We want these six concepts to give coherence to animate the whole curriculum.". From these quotes we are able to tell that Art is starting to have the stigma changed.
The lady who we were given the talk by was the School Manager. Her job is to engage with the adults in the schools to convince them to come to art galleries. The sessions run with the school curriculum and you can book the sessions. Schools can apply to be put in Artsmark which is the "Arts Council England’s flagship programme to enable schools and other organisations to evaluate, strengthen and celebrate their arts and cultural provision", schools apply for this and it helps fund the arts. Manchester Art Gallery will help with this and by doing this, it is helping to connect learning the school with the Art world.
We then went through a number of activities with her. The first activity was to choose and answer and move to the side of the room with the chosen choice. The reason for doing this activity was to bring energy, engaging and expressing an opinion without having to say something. After reflecting on this game, I thought it may be something that we could use when teaching the workshop in order to quickly get the children focused.
The second activity was to follow on a line on the painting and looking at the light and dark. We were then asked to look at the painting and see what you see beyond it. The reason we did this activity next was to change the pace, bring it down and as a result, it allows them to have their moment and create their own thoughts. It also gets them to actually look and take in the painting. It is another good activity, as if they do not think they are of the creative mindset, then this helps them get into the "creative mindset".
Carrying on from the last activity, we were asked to draw what we saw beyond the painting and then one of was to move around the room and explain our painting. What I found from this activity is that it engaged you with other people in the room, but you also learnt how to explain your thoughts of the work and draw your ideas.
We spoke about what makes a good workshop as apposed as a bad workshop. She mentioned to not over push your group, rather have a few good activities rather than lots. It allows them to engage in the work. Going with this, is to have good organisation. It allows you to run things smoothly and not panic. In terms of group activities, it is important to have individual and group work. It is also good to start with a group activity as it allows everyone to bounce ideas, take away the fear from people and everyone is involved. It is also important to have a quick pace as it takes away pressure and gets the rubbish out.
We then went through a number of activities with her. The first activity was to choose and answer and move to the side of the room with the chosen choice. The reason for doing this activity was to bring energy, engaging and expressing an opinion without having to say something. After reflecting on this game, I thought it may be something that we could use when teaching the workshop in order to quickly get the children focused.
The second activity was to follow on a line on the painting and looking at the light and dark. We were then asked to look at the painting and see what you see beyond it. The reason we did this activity next was to change the pace, bring it down and as a result, it allows them to have their moment and create their own thoughts. It also gets them to actually look and take in the painting. It is another good activity, as if they do not think they are of the creative mindset, then this helps them get into the "creative mindset".
Carrying on from the last activity, we were asked to draw what we saw beyond the painting and then one of was to move around the room and explain our painting. What I found from this activity is that it engaged you with other people in the room, but you also learnt how to explain your thoughts of the work and draw your ideas.
We spoke about what makes a good workshop as apposed as a bad workshop. She mentioned to not over push your group, rather have a few good activities rather than lots. It allows them to engage in the work. Going with this, is to have good organisation. It allows you to run things smoothly and not panic. In terms of group activities, it is important to have individual and group work. It is also good to start with a group activity as it allows everyone to bounce ideas, take away the fear from people and everyone is involved. It is also important to have a quick pace as it takes away pressure and gets the rubbish out.
Photos from the event
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Week Two - Placement at DACA
Day One,
What I notice from the very first lesson was the level of discipline. This was because of the year of the student. I had Art with Year 7 for the first two periods. The tutor had a stern tone to her voice and kept this going throughout the lesson. When she used this voice the pupils responded to what she was and reacted accordingly. For example, she used phrases of "I'm getting agitated by..." - when she did this the pupils would stop doing what they were doing. In the case of them not responding to her, she would say you have a detention. When this was mentioned, you were able to tell the pupil was annoyed by this and their behaviour and stopped accordingly so.
When I first was there, I thought that it was too strict, for example, a pupil was given detention for being in the toilet at the wrong time. However, when reflecting on this, I understand why they are like this. In order to get the pupils to behave accordingly for their whole academic career at DACA, they need to behave in a certain way and by being this strict in their first couple of years, it will help the school mould the child into the behaviour they want to see. In terms of the workshop that we are going to do, I realise that I have to be strict with the younger pupils. By doing this, we will be able to get through the activities that we will plan.
When considering her body language, she would stand up straight, making herself seem bigger and taller than the pupils. I feel the reason for this was to enforce the idea that she is in charge of the students and what she says, goes. It is important to note that she was not being aggressive in her body language but more affirmative in this.
Her tone of voice however, did change when it came to the sixth form which I had in the last two periods. The tutor became more relaxed in her tone. The pupils however still behaved well. She did not hand out any detentions nor start any of her sentences with "I'm getting agitated", even when a pupil went to the toilet without permission, for example. With this clear level of difference of tone there is clearly an apparent reason to why the tutors do this. I feel this is because, if you were to be very strict with the older pupils, they would feel patronised and wouldn't behave well. If you allow them to feel more adult, then they will behave accordingly so. When thinking about this for the workshop, I plan to speak the older pupils as I would to someone my own age.
In terms of how the pupils responded to my presence, I found it differed from the two different years. When helping the year 7's, I would suggest something for their paintings and found that the shyer ones would listen to me and respond to my suggestions. However the more naughty kids, would ignore me and then do something different to my suggestions. This was down to my body language, how I worded the sentence and my tone of voice. As I had no authority in any of the these, the children did not feel like they had to react to my suggestions.
When I was helping the sixth form, the pupils responded to me very differently. They listened to what I was saying and we were able to have a conversations and help them move on their project. This, I feel was down to their maturity level being higher and the realisation that you are able to help then and help develop their skill and understanding.
Day Two,
For the first two periods I was helping with year 10 GCSE art. They were finishing off their work for the exam periods. I was helping a boy with his exam piece and went through his sketch book. It became apparent that the boy had natural talent but he was difficult as he didn't apply himself. This was apparent in how the tutor treated him. You could tell the tutor was a bit tired of having to make the boy do work and made a comments such as "Don't try and get out of it.." "Come on, its only a couple more days". The tutor was clearly having to push the boy with his work. There could have been a different way of doing this, I suggested to the tutor to teach the boy different drawing techniques to spark his interest and commitment. However, speaking to the tutor that they wished they could do this, however they have limited funds and limited time and with this they try to get to get the kids to get the grades and therefore have to follow a set plan. I plan to look at the restrictions that Art courses face in the academic curriculium.
I noticed that the tutor had a very different tone of voice generally to the other two years that I saw yesterday. Whilst the tutor was not as relaxed as with the sixth form, it was not as strict as the younger years. They have been given some freedom, which would have made them feel as if are more mature, and so they wanted to react in a mature act. I also noticed how the tutor reacted differently to each child, it became apparent that he had studied the child and took note of how they were and responded accordingly so. Thinking about this, it becomes apparent that I have to react differently in my tone according to each student. Some will need more attention than others.
For the next two periods I was with year 7 in textiles. They were making pinhole cameras for the Solar Eclipse taking place in the next couple of days.
As it was the younger years, they were quite a noisy class. It became apparent that the tutor was a new teacher, as they would not immediately settle down and she would not have the authority nature that I had previously seen. However, she did impose techniques and made her tone accordingly so. For example, she would count down from five, raise her hand and have a stern voice. When she did, after a few moments the class would settle.
As seen in previous classes, the tutor treated each child differently. She helped those who clearly needed to pushed creatively and let those who were capable to their own devices. I know when we have the workshop later, we will be teaching kids who "have the potential to be outstanding", however, I still believe that we will need to treat each child differently and respond to their needs.
In terms of how the children responded to me, it was differently to the previous classes. We were able to have a general conversation. When it came to my suggestions, they responded to the ideas and allowed me to help them if they were struggling. I feel that this was partly caused by the conversation I had with them which is something I hadn't done in the previous day. Having this conversation is something I should do when I carry on in the future.
Day Three
This day worked differently to the other days as we were placed in different areas of the school. I was put in a year 9 maths class. It became very apparent that this was a difficult class as they were noisy and disruptive. After the register was taken, she took in the homework, those who has not done the homework had their names placed on the board. This technique clearly worked as the students who's name were on the board were not happy about this.
Her voice was very stern throughout the whole class and as a result the class would settle down, she also used the counting down technique which would further settle them down. It became apparent that she had to be stern in order to get through the work and help them learn, something I will need to do if the class is stern.
Although she was stern, she did however joke with class, but was blunt in her jokes. In order to help get through the lesson, she promised treats of chocolate to those who behaved well. When this was promised, the pupils became more settled and got on with the work. When speaking to her afterwards, she mentioned although the pupils think they are grown up, they still are childlike in their response to chocolate.
Another technique she used, was if a particular pupil was disruptive, she would ask them a maths question. This seemed to settle that particular person. Another technique she used was write their names on the board. If they continued to be disruptive, she would place a tick by their name and if they reached a certain amount of ticks, they would receive a detention. It was interesting her use of this, if she was to give out detentions straight away, they would lose their power. Again, something to think about.
Later in the class, she told a kid off with a comment that could have been interpreted badly. The children picked up on and this and this rattled them. Outside of the classroom, she apologised the pupil however the children kept pulling this up. In order to get their attention back to the work, she made her voice stern, said she had been dealt with it and told them to carry on with her work. It was interesting to see how she didn't admit her fault to the children, as that would be admitting to her wrongdoing and would stop the pupils from learning.
This day was the most informative, it was interesting to see the techniques the tutor placed into a subject that they did not enjoy. She was stern throughout it but joked with them, as a result, giving the pupils a sense of maturity but still being able to take control of the class. She used chocolate as an incentive to make the pupils work and she used detentions as a method to stop them misbehaving. For the workshops these techniques are something that I would look to use.
What I notice from the very first lesson was the level of discipline. This was because of the year of the student. I had Art with Year 7 for the first two periods. The tutor had a stern tone to her voice and kept this going throughout the lesson. When she used this voice the pupils responded to what she was and reacted accordingly. For example, she used phrases of "I'm getting agitated by..." - when she did this the pupils would stop doing what they were doing. In the case of them not responding to her, she would say you have a detention. When this was mentioned, you were able to tell the pupil was annoyed by this and their behaviour and stopped accordingly so.
When I first was there, I thought that it was too strict, for example, a pupil was given detention for being in the toilet at the wrong time. However, when reflecting on this, I understand why they are like this. In order to get the pupils to behave accordingly for their whole academic career at DACA, they need to behave in a certain way and by being this strict in their first couple of years, it will help the school mould the child into the behaviour they want to see. In terms of the workshop that we are going to do, I realise that I have to be strict with the younger pupils. By doing this, we will be able to get through the activities that we will plan.
When considering her body language, she would stand up straight, making herself seem bigger and taller than the pupils. I feel the reason for this was to enforce the idea that she is in charge of the students and what she says, goes. It is important to note that she was not being aggressive in her body language but more affirmative in this.
Her tone of voice however, did change when it came to the sixth form which I had in the last two periods. The tutor became more relaxed in her tone. The pupils however still behaved well. She did not hand out any detentions nor start any of her sentences with "I'm getting agitated", even when a pupil went to the toilet without permission, for example. With this clear level of difference of tone there is clearly an apparent reason to why the tutors do this. I feel this is because, if you were to be very strict with the older pupils, they would feel patronised and wouldn't behave well. If you allow them to feel more adult, then they will behave accordingly so. When thinking about this for the workshop, I plan to speak the older pupils as I would to someone my own age.
In terms of how the pupils responded to my presence, I found it differed from the two different years. When helping the year 7's, I would suggest something for their paintings and found that the shyer ones would listen to me and respond to my suggestions. However the more naughty kids, would ignore me and then do something different to my suggestions. This was down to my body language, how I worded the sentence and my tone of voice. As I had no authority in any of the these, the children did not feel like they had to react to my suggestions.
When I was helping the sixth form, the pupils responded to me very differently. They listened to what I was saying and we were able to have a conversations and help them move on their project. This, I feel was down to their maturity level being higher and the realisation that you are able to help then and help develop their skill and understanding.
Day Two,
For the first two periods I was helping with year 10 GCSE art. They were finishing off their work for the exam periods. I was helping a boy with his exam piece and went through his sketch book. It became apparent that the boy had natural talent but he was difficult as he didn't apply himself. This was apparent in how the tutor treated him. You could tell the tutor was a bit tired of having to make the boy do work and made a comments such as "Don't try and get out of it.." "Come on, its only a couple more days". The tutor was clearly having to push the boy with his work. There could have been a different way of doing this, I suggested to the tutor to teach the boy different drawing techniques to spark his interest and commitment. However, speaking to the tutor that they wished they could do this, however they have limited funds and limited time and with this they try to get to get the kids to get the grades and therefore have to follow a set plan. I plan to look at the restrictions that Art courses face in the academic curriculium.
I noticed that the tutor had a very different tone of voice generally to the other two years that I saw yesterday. Whilst the tutor was not as relaxed as with the sixth form, it was not as strict as the younger years. They have been given some freedom, which would have made them feel as if are more mature, and so they wanted to react in a mature act. I also noticed how the tutor reacted differently to each child, it became apparent that he had studied the child and took note of how they were and responded accordingly so. Thinking about this, it becomes apparent that I have to react differently in my tone according to each student. Some will need more attention than others.
Final Piece for the Year 10
For the next two periods I was with year 7 in textiles. They were making pinhole cameras for the Solar Eclipse taking place in the next couple of days.
As it was the younger years, they were quite a noisy class. It became apparent that the tutor was a new teacher, as they would not immediately settle down and she would not have the authority nature that I had previously seen. However, she did impose techniques and made her tone accordingly so. For example, she would count down from five, raise her hand and have a stern voice. When she did, after a few moments the class would settle.
As seen in previous classes, the tutor treated each child differently. She helped those who clearly needed to pushed creatively and let those who were capable to their own devices. I know when we have the workshop later, we will be teaching kids who "have the potential to be outstanding", however, I still believe that we will need to treat each child differently and respond to their needs.
In terms of how the children responded to me, it was differently to the previous classes. We were able to have a general conversation. When it came to my suggestions, they responded to the ideas and allowed me to help them if they were struggling. I feel that this was partly caused by the conversation I had with them which is something I hadn't done in the previous day. Having this conversation is something I should do when I carry on in the future.
Pinhole cameras created by various students in the Year 8
Day Three
This day worked differently to the other days as we were placed in different areas of the school. I was put in a year 9 maths class. It became very apparent that this was a difficult class as they were noisy and disruptive. After the register was taken, she took in the homework, those who has not done the homework had their names placed on the board. This technique clearly worked as the students who's name were on the board were not happy about this.
Her voice was very stern throughout the whole class and as a result the class would settle down, she also used the counting down technique which would further settle them down. It became apparent that she had to be stern in order to get through the work and help them learn, something I will need to do if the class is stern.
Although she was stern, she did however joke with class, but was blunt in her jokes. In order to help get through the lesson, she promised treats of chocolate to those who behaved well. When this was promised, the pupils became more settled and got on with the work. When speaking to her afterwards, she mentioned although the pupils think they are grown up, they still are childlike in their response to chocolate.
Another technique she used, was if a particular pupil was disruptive, she would ask them a maths question. This seemed to settle that particular person. Another technique she used was write their names on the board. If they continued to be disruptive, she would place a tick by their name and if they reached a certain amount of ticks, they would receive a detention. It was interesting her use of this, if she was to give out detentions straight away, they would lose their power. Again, something to think about.
Later in the class, she told a kid off with a comment that could have been interpreted badly. The children picked up on and this and this rattled them. Outside of the classroom, she apologised the pupil however the children kept pulling this up. In order to get their attention back to the work, she made her voice stern, said she had been dealt with it and told them to carry on with her work. It was interesting to see how she didn't admit her fault to the children, as that would be admitting to her wrongdoing and would stop the pupils from learning.
This day was the most informative, it was interesting to see the techniques the tutor placed into a subject that they did not enjoy. She was stern throughout it but joked with them, as a result, giving the pupils a sense of maturity but still being able to take control of the class. She used chocolate as an incentive to make the pupils work and she used detentions as a method to stop them misbehaving. For the workshops these techniques are something that I would look to use.
Smarties for the test / treat
Week One
Possible things to look at during placement at Darwin Aldridge Community Academy -
- The tone of voice with the tutor and how this differs from year to year. Talk about why and how you would incorporate this into your style of teaching for the workshop.
- The body language of the tutor and how this differs from year to year. Talk about why and how you would incorporate this into your style of teaching for the workshop.
- How the pupils reacted to you and did this change from year to year.
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