This entry is an activity for Teach-Now while working towards a teaching certificate. Specific goals and requirements had to be met by this entry and is by no means designed to be an independent feature.
As I have mentioned in a previous entry, Visual Art assessment can be very subjective. Generally, an art instructor can review skills: visual conversation or story, material or medium use and its degree of execution, composition, art theory implementation, and successful intentional rule breaking. Effort has a great influence on the evaluation. Before the year, the semester or the quarter starts; I would want to know where the students have come from mostly in terms of art making. I would hate creating a curriculum that does not challenge or interest them if they have already worked on similar ideas or techniques. I want to challenge skills and creativity.
Along with getting to know the student, I could evaluate previous terms artworks and efforts for their application and control of mediums and the demonstration of art “rules.” From that assessment data, I then design a set of activities specific to a group’s developing artist level that has some tailoring to a specific student’s ability. Unlike most subjects such as Math, Science, History or Social Studies; Visual Art does not seem to have as concrete a definition to knowing the subject or content. Take for example, Math: a student can either know or not know what a quadratic equation is, understand how to construct one, why and when to use one to solve a problem, and/or solve it successfully. But for Art we could assign a value to participation, dedication, and concept application of visual art’s principles and elements. There is a big difference of what can be proven with some subjects and the subjective explanation describing quality performance.
An Example Demonstrating Knowing Before Doing
The first step
So I described the concern, but how can I implement this idea of making a lesson work for everybody while addressing unique challenges? Well, before 22 students enter their first class, I should make the time to review each student’s current body of artwork to know their readiness. This review would mean:
- talking to their previous instructor or reviewing the instructor’s comments;
- viewing any portfolio, submitted artwork, and sketchbooks;
- and/or asking for students to submit a pre-term project that should only take 1 hour of their time.
In an ideal world of all smoothly moving processes, I have gathered this data. So with the 22 emerging artists: five of them have met the high qualifications of practiced skill as well as experimental developments in story and medium; twelve of them show basic practiced skill meaning they can and understand art’s elements and principles and have satisfactorily demonstrated them; and the final five demonstrated struggling or stalled ability. With this data I could design challenges within each activity suitable to the student’s skill level. If I did not differentiate the projects and content, I would certainly risk boring the five with experience and alienating the five that would struggle to not give up.
Considering the high-readiness five
The five that have great readiness would be directed into independent study based on project assignments either created by them and approved by me or work on themes and projects assigned by me. These five would then explore and produce based on their level with the expectation that should be challenging and stretching what they know into another level of practice. For example, one of the students can currently render in pencil a realistic portrait that looks very closely to a black and white photograph — to expand that student’s practice, she would start with a small challenge by rendering in the same medium but in five times real size or to render the same image in watercolor. Group projects could also tackle any communication needs as well as develop the art language used by art critics to peer-assess.
Working with the majority
The twelve mid-range students would be the set the class curriculum has been based to stimulate. These students would be introduced to more practice with guidance. Theories and techniques would be explained encouraging this group to gain a new level within their skill. Historical context would provide examples of exploration that could inspire them in a new direction as well as understand how certain styles came to be. Their products will be successful if they meet the standard rubrics of providing full passion and effort that will easily inspire great care in medium control and experimentation, composition study, and specific activity goals. Additional attempts may be required and those could happen at home or further in-class activity. Art is a study of practice and effort with demonstrated comprehension of principles (pattern, rhythm/movement, proportion/scale, balance, unity, emphasis) and elements (line, shape/form, color, value, texture, space/perspective) (Oberlin).
Caring for the final five
The struggling five will experience the same instruction as the mid-level EXCEPT these art students will have more guidance and overview during projects which may include additional walk-through’s or “we-do’s”. Projects will not be as intense in expectation but equal consideration for effort and passion. The students could design goals similar to the base curriculum but with projects that could fit their need and their interests. For example, the base curriculum could be a watercolor landscape. For these five, I would accept a student watercoloring a mass-printed landscape. Another appreciated effort could be watercoloring mosaic materials that are then assembled into a landscape. Their goals will be set to create challenges but not expect them to be fine artists—only to encourage them to be one. Some of the expectations will be:
- providing stronger visual story telling without relying on preconceived symbols and icons that we cognitively apply for all objects we encounter;
- explanation of art terms;
- using art to illustrate these terms.
But that is not all
Visual Arts has other objectives or standards that could be evaluated to comply to the state’s needs. New York, and other states, enforcing the significance of art education; they have created the standard art test. The test tries student knowledge not in just ability, but also context, theme, interpretation, critical thinking and history. Students are asked to consider art eras or periods, techniques, elements, principles, theories, and artists and their works. Within a visual arts class, allowing students to explore these topics create alternative interests in the other visual art fields. Students can be art critics, historians, curators or theorists. Lessons or discussions other than art techniques could be integrated providing students to gain different knowledge if they need it. For example, if students already know the difference between Monet and Manet, they could render a contemporary theme with one of these artist’s styles. On the other end, a different set of students who are not aware of who they are would need to do research on their art eras, their work, and provide a presentation to be evaluated by their peers. A third set of students who are familiar with them but mix them up would need to critique a set of three artworks from each artist and provide a compare/contrast.
Not all students draw well, but all students can draw well if properly guided and practice. This is the core of my visual arts instruction. Certainly, history and context is necessary to make the activities relevant; but if students can understand that there is a “growth mindset” they, too, can achieve through practice and effort. But, art has a very interpretive side based on some perceptive translation of a thought, emotion, or theme into a visual communication through a developing or developed style — a teacher cannot grade or reward an emotion and its delivery by a solid set of objectives. Art critics can only rigorously evaluate based on their own taste, their experience, and education as well as what is cultural expected and trending. So grading art can only be based on passion of participation and the effort applied to practicing techniques. Can we not say the same with Physical Education? Are we expecting every student to be a Ronaldo?
References:
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson.
Arts Edge. (read 2015). The Kennedy Center Arts Edge. Art Critiques Made Easy. Tips for leading classroom discussions about works of art. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/how-to/tipsheets/art-crit-made-easy.aspx
NYSED. (2015). The Arts Standards. Curriculum and Instruction. New York State Education Department. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/arts/artstand/home.html
Oberlin. (2015). Vocabulary – ELEMENTS OF ART: The visual components of color, form, line… Oberlin College & Conservatory. http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/asia/sculpture/documents/vocabulary.pdf