Authentic, aesthetic Art activities and projects relevant to students lives. Photos from an ‘artist in residence’ project that I was involved with in a local school. Here the students are being inspired and gathering reference material and learning elements of photography. Photo: Caroline Ellis: More details go to: (http://carolineellisart.com/images/paintings/mural_kerang_mallee.html)
The Arts can evoke powerful emotions which can be used for many purposes. This photo was instrumental in saving the Franklin River from being dammed (McGrath, 2014).
The Arts can be added to any disciplines and should be used to teach Arts elements. I saw an opportunity to add Art to an Olympics project to add some creativity and fun.
Art produced should be used to increase the aesthetics of the classroom and to instill pride in the students.
I used one of my paintings during a lesson on Writers Note book to engage students on the topic of 'Change' to a local environment.
Whilst using my painting in an integrated literacy/art lesson I discussed the elements of the painting which evoke emotions in the viewer.
Ass. 1. Arts Education Philosophy
Arts education is learning about and through the Arts disciplines. It is about making and creating using our: senses, imagination, experimentation, Arts mediums, techniques and elements; it is also about planning, refining and reflecting.
Presentation of artworks produced during a project is a part of the artistic process and is a great way to showcase students work and to get feedback from an audience. Photos from an ‘artist in residence’ project that I was involved with in a local school. Photo Caroline Ellis: more details go to:(http://carolineellisart.com/images/paintings/mural_kerang_mallee.html)
Cutcher (2013, p. 326) writes about the ‘artist sketch book’, which can be in the form of a visual diary or digital portfolio, graphic novel etc. Cutcher suggests that the ‘artist sketch book’ be used across the curriculum to help develop metacognition. The Arts would be essential to make such an artefact.
"A mural is one way to culminate a thematic unit" (Koster, 2009, p.227) Photos from an ‘artist in residence’ project that I was involved with in a local school. Photo Caroline Ellis: More details go to:(http://carolineellisart.com/images/paintings/mural_kerang_mallee.html)
Presentation of mural is a part of the artistic process and is a great way to showcase students work and to get feedback from an audience. The students were so proud to display their work and it was a great way to show the whole artistic process from engaging with the theme, gathering of ideas and references to planning and then implementing with reflection along the way. Photos from an ‘artist in residence’ project that I was involved with in a local school. More details go to:
Educating through the Arts is a very emotive and powerful pedagogy tool as stated by ACARA, the Arts “fuel the exploration of ideas that cross the gamut of human emotions and moods through holistic learning using cognitive, emotional, sensory, aesthetic, kinaesthetic and physical fields” (2014b.)
This quote by Boyer highlights the unique ability of the Arts to evoke emotions and stimulate the senses, “For our most moving experiences, we turn to the Arts to express feelings and ideas that words cannot convey” (Boyer: source Churchill, 2011, p. 184).
Robinson argues that we cannot cope with the current conditions our world is facing with the current education system. He says “the one thing we have as human beings is this extraordinary power of imagination and creativity and the ability to solve problems as well as to deal with ones that we've just created.” Robinson also argues that the Arts are important as they allow us to develop our creative minds. Our creative minds can then be used in other subject areas to solve problems (Robinson, 2009).
The arts are integral to education and society, the Arts provide alternate languages in which to express emotions which make us human; they allow us to feel, wonder, imagine and create. Now that the Arts have been recognised in the national curriculum we can start bringing them back into our classrooms in their own right and within integrated discipline projects creating rich learning experiences; allowing us to reconnect with our senses. Future citizens coming out of arts rich school curriculums will be able to contribute to their artistic world rather than simply being passive consumers with in it (Emery, 1998, p.1) and they will be equipped with minds capable of divergent thinking ready to face the problems of the 21st century (Robinson, 2009).
Ewing states that “For the first time since European settlement, there is about to be a national curriculum for all Australia’s, and one which, for the first time, mandates the Arts of dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts as a basic entitlement for all Australians” (2010, p. iv). Now that the arts education is formally a part of the national curriculum we need to understand what it is and how to implement it. This essay will address both of these interests and why the Arts are integral to the curriculum and society to begin with.
(Click on word document above for full essay. Click on images below for descriptions)
Find out more about the artist in residence project (Lake Charm, 2008) click on image above to go to carolineellisart.com