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
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
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
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