What should be in a school plan for visual arts?

Not a syllabus – the curriculum is the syllabus. Not a list of activities for each class – this is also the curriculum. In my view the following is the ultimate school plan – in a nutshell

In every class in our school the children will be enabled to

 develop an awareness of the elements of art as they exist in the environment and as they can be used in his/her own art

 develop a variety of art skills and techniques in order to effectively engage in the process of making art

 engage in the process of making art, in both 2-D and 3-D forms, through experimenting with a wide range of art materials in order to visually represent his/her experience, imagination and observation

 develop a critical awareness of his/her own art, the art of classmates and of a variety of artists from various times, cultures and genres

Looking and Responding – Awareness, Appreciation and Appraisal in the primary school curriculum

Dr. Michael Flannery

Below is an edited version of the slides used by Michael in his workshops. His background

- Primary teacher

- Senior Lecturer at Coláiste Mhuire, MIE

- Continuing professional development and online CPD - PhD in Education @ NCAD

- Research: Online continuing professional development: Discourse analysis of primary

teachers’ perspectives regarding Awareness, Appreciation and Appraisal in Art

- Masters in English Language Education @ Canterbury Christ Church University - Higher Diploma in Community Arts Education @ NCAD

Some proposed reasons for the inclusion of looking and responding - exercising critical and imaginative thinking

- developing reflective intelligence - applying cognitive emotions - visual literacy

- cultural literacy

- appreciating multiple perspectives and viewpoints - the value of attentive looking

o the importance nuance o the relevance of metaphor - the value of time with respect to

o shifting perspectives o snowballing

- developing our art making skills repertoire - communication (confidence and competence) - knowledge of other subject areas

- exploring the real, unreal and the surreal realms

The primary school curriculum promotes balance between looking and responding and art production throughout all four levels

Looking at and talking about works of art [craft and design] is also presented as one of four suggested practical starting points for art production

Curriculum reviews and national research indicates that art awareness, appreciation and appraisal is not embraced as successfully as other aspects of looking and responding or the visual arts curriculum

1999 Visual arts primary curriculum

Developing form in clay Looking and responding Making constructions Looking and

responding

Painting Looking and

responding Creating in fabric and fibre Looking and

responding Making prints Looking and

responding Making drawings Looking and

responding

Another way of perceiving LAR in the primary school curriculum (LAR as a hub strand unit which is shared by all six media orientated strands)

Strand units Developing form in clay Making constructions Painting Creating in fabric and fibre Making drawings Making prints

Looking

and

responding

One definition of art - What is art?

- Institutional theory proposes

o Any object which has altered or influenced by human agency or effort o The resulting object has been in an art gallery, museum or shown in an

exhibition context.

Taste, preferences, appreciation versus informed opinion, reasoned evaluation, criticism and appraisal

- We all have preferences - What are yours?

- Taste defines the viewer - Personal connection

- Stages of artistic development - Interaction

- Shifting perspectives

One suggested approach to artworks which have a tangible work to be viewed - Pair, share and compare

o Talking about your preferences and consider why? o Examine the work in relation to

 Content  Form  Process  Mood o Whole class survey

- Orange card signifies a liking, connection or a wanting to do learn more about the work

- Blue card signifies disconnection, disinterest or dislike - Discuss different perspectives

Art history tells us how often the general public takes awhile to embrace emerging art forms or the avant garde

- Contestation and anger - Confusion

- Increased Familiarity

- Growing appreciation with shifting perspectives - Becoming much loved

- Considered a canonical work of art Not all works of art aims to communicate beauty Some art works trigger questioning

Some work concerns itself with rule breaking and non conformity

Some artworks change or perceptions and definitions of what is and what isn’t art

Art

- Communicates

- Is another way of knowing

- Thrives on its multiplicity of viewpoints - Evolves from theory, invention and discovery - Does not always concern itself with beauty - Both conforms and rebels

Criticism

- Is a genre of verbal discourse - For some is all about interpretation - For others involves reasoned evaluation - Often commends and recommends - Evolves with emerging theories of art - Involves both emotion and cognition - Is grounded in theory

A suggested approached abbreviated as FISH was introduced to teachers via OCPD - Obtain first impressions

- Investigate further o Content o Process o Form o Mood

- Use as a stimulus for art production

- Ask ‘Have we learnt something from the artwork, the artist or the process?’

A suggested FRAME for LAR

- Find work allow work find you!

- Research a little to be fair to more ambiguous work and the artist in question - Ask three interesting questions

- Mediate children’s responses - Evaluate the LAR experience