Children Never Were What They Were

Week 7

             I was very intrigued by Freud's theories regarding adult behavior towards children. I also believe adults treat children differently because of they are afraid of being call childish themselves. Society has always had this false view about children. We always sugar coat everything for them without realizing what their capabilities can truly be. I think that as a nation, we should start thinking differently about them. The videos shown in class are proof of what children can truly be. They can be outstanding innovators if we could only allow them to see the real world instead of shoving our image of childhood on them. 
            Personally, my image of childhood is one full of exploration and play. Children shouldn't be stopped from being exposed to things they are curious about. By doing so, we are only limiting them. The reading just contextualized things I've thought of before. As an older sister to a sibling of 6 years of age, I never hid anything from her such as television shows or video games. If she was curious about them, I would show her but wouldn't explain anything unless she asked me to. My perspective regarding television, is that she will only understand, what she understands. The explicit comedy content will just be a blur because she doesn't understand the context of it yet. I've realized this is true myself when I've gone back to several family movies I watched when I was a child but now I understand the context in them. As educators, we shouldn't be limiting children to how society thinks we should. Instead, we should go further and make children be better adults than we were. 
            In my opinion, we might change our classroom practices by thinking of children as responsible beings. We shouldn't be limiting them to supplies we think they can't handle. They are pretty capable of understanding how to use them as long as we educate them to do so. We need to get rid of this idea of babying them so much. 

           The image I chose is a demonstration of how times have changed. The reading stated that children used to be workers at a young age capable of doing what adults did too. They were apprentices and mastered a skill when they were young adults. This is something that seems to be lost in this contemporary society. Other countries such as Italy and the town mentioned in the reading challenge students to use supplies that would be found dangerous in the states. Children there seem to be more productive and innovative artistic-wise because they are being exposed to things they should explore. The states on the other hand, keeps using the same commercial products everywhere made for different age groups because of what we keep thinking about them. Finger-paint, water color, giant colors are starting to make children art repetitive. It doesn't seem to be advancing. Instead, as art educators, we should take a risk and develop different ways of having students experiment with different mediums. It is time to innovate that stereotypical image of children art we have imposed as a society.

Virtual Worlds; An Emerging Educational Tool

Week 6

             The articles discussed this week intertwined with topics that are being discussed in my other classes.  The article by Sherbine and Boldt discussed how teachers should be taking risks and become nomadic thinkers. The article discussed how teachers need to start breaking out of the old style classroom and start incorporating new technologies in their class. Sherbine discussed how Poptropica was used in her classroom and what positive results she observed in her class from students using this game. Students seemed to be excited to play this game and it also encouraged them to plan out what they were  going to do once they had a chance to play with it. In a way, this game was encouraging them to imagine and create how they were going to play. I see this game as an educational tool meant to challenge students to expand creatively. 
             From an educator's point of view, more teachers should start exploring these types of computer games. Times are changing and so are student's way of thinking and interests. We may no longer be able to grasp a student's attention with only a marker and board. Instead, we should start exploring new ways of teaching them our subjects' core values. I think the use of games such as Poptropica that offer a virtual world for students to communicate in are a great example of an emerging educational tool. As I mentioned before, the topics discussed this week also related to other classes I am currently taking. I've been learning in ARE 469 different ways of utilizing the virtual world called Second Life as a tool educators can use to teach students from all over the world. It seems like a great tool to connect people of similar interests together so we can learn together and promote discussion. I believe this type of tool can be adapted to different age groups so it can make teaching unique and engaging. In class we discussed the addition of a ket aesthetic to this type of game if we are to use it as an educational tool. I believe there should be an involvement of ket depending on the age group you are targeting the virtual world to. 

                 As of now, I've been exploring the potential benefits of including this type of educational tool in the classroom. It seems to me that it is still far from perfect and teachers should get together and start exploring it more often. Depending on the age group I decide to teach, I do plan to incorporate a tool similar to Poptropica as long as I have determined goals and objectives for my students to complete. I wonder how this type of educational tool might affect an ELL school setting in relation to the arts. I think this type of tool can do way more than just help students expand creatively; they can also practice other subjects in it as well. The above image is a screen shot of the virtual world Second Life. I've been reading how many college professors have been conducting experimental classes via this virtual world. In comparison with Poptropica, Second Life seems to be adapted for older students. Using these types of tools is still experimental and there are many challenges present if we do decide to use it. Hopefully, this type of tool will catch on and we'll see more innovation in our nations' classrooms. 
               

Child Observation Presentations

Week 5
  
             My classmates presentations were very interesting to observe. I got the opportunity to see how different children differed from each other when making art. The examples provided demonstrated how different theories tied into how children made decisions when drawing. I saw many of Lowenfeld's stage theories in the presentations as well as my child observation. Seeing how each child produced an art piece made me realize how accurate some of the theories learned in class actually are. One of the things that caught my attention was the presence of the ket aesthetic in almost every presentation. I realize how the media out there influences children's artistic creativity. Personally, I don't think of it as being particularly bad but I do see some cons to this aspect. If children are just drawing what they see from day to day, they aren't fully experiencing their unique imagination. One of my classmates brought up an important point. What if the child grows out of their interest to a particular cartoon they've been drawing over and over again? Based on my classmates experience, he noticed that Dragonball was the only thing he was good at drawing. When he finally grew out of that interest, he realized that all the time he spent perfecting that style of drawing affected him in his later years because he didn't get to practice drawing other things. His artistic ability came to a halt.  A thought I came up with based on this experience was to make children explore drawing other things as well. There should be a time for them to draw out of pure interest but also they should learn technique as well so they don't fall behind. 
                 Based on my child observation, I learned how the presence of a friend might also affect the way a child draws. When I was observing my child, I realized that at first she was a little tense because she couldn't really talk to me about her interests. Once her friend showed up, she loosened up and became more talkative and she also began drawing freely. This made me realize that as educators, depending on the age we are teaching, we should make an effort and try to connect with our students by researching their interests and dropping hints about them every once in a while, while we teach. This not only makes them realize that we think their interests are important, but they'll be more engaged in what we are teaching.

               Based on my personal experience while conducting the child observation, I picked out this image because it focuses on the importance of collaboration when drawing. Tying this image back to the Ivashkevich article, I also realized that collaboration makes children take ideas from each other as inspiration. A child might take an idea from a friend but it might have a different context than the original drawing. As an educator, if I ever get the opportunity to teach elementary, I will definitely emphasized collaboration in my art classroom. I believe that it might also lower the chance of children drawing from ket. When they have each other to explore different art topics, they might get to explore other things than media when making art.

Constructivism & Art

Week 4


                    Freedman spoke about including costructivism in the classroom. From past observational experience, I find constructivism a highly effective method of teaching. Students generally learn a topic in a day and make connections to what they learned the second day.The article stated "Students learn by appropriating information and restructuring it in relation to what they already know." (pg 101, Freeman) By making connections, this method allows students to retain information and recall it better. This is definitely a strategy I plan to use as an educator. This article only reinforced my opinion about constructivism especially because I learned that several artists like Kandinsky were strong supporters about it. Freeman also stated "Constructivists argue that students learn best through deep engagement in activities with medium levels of complexity that reflect life experiences and provoke several levels of thought"  (pg. 101, Freedman) In my opinion, based on this quote, educators should also incorporate life experiences in their lessons and activities so that students can be more engaged. Activities shouldn't be difficult to understand so I also agree that they should be in a medium level of complexity. Students should be able to make connections from what they've learned and be able to apply that knowledge on activities they are working on. 
                     The second article, "Use and Uselessness", talked about a "U" shaped developmental curve. I was very intrigued by this because it spoke about children usually reaching a peak of artistry in which there's a decline afterwards. Only a few children are able to recover from that decline and those who do are the ones who are highly rich in artistic creativity. The only thing I wondered about this aspect is if it is possible for children to recover from the decline during another age through proper guidance. I would like to learn more about this curve and see what can be done as an educator to avoid a high percentage of students not recovering from the decline. Since I want to be a high school art teacher, I wouldn't want to think that some of my students never recovered from that decline. If I feel that this is the case, I would like to help them expand if possible so they can recover and explore their creativity even more.

                         The image above is a representation of Lowenfeld's stages of artistic development. I found this image interesting because it related to the "U" shape curve discussed in the reading. This image states how children progress artistically and how many of them don't recover from a decline of artistic creativity. I feel that as an educator, by using constructivist methods, I should teach and challenge children the techniques required for them to progress artistically so most of them recover from the decline mentioned in the reading.

Local Visual Cultures & a Museum Visit

Week 3

                   I was really interested about learning how artistic collaboration among children might be positive yet negative. In the reading, Ivashkevich mentioned how two young girls collaborated while making their artwork and their way of communicating really interested me. They seemed to copy one another but at the same time they would tweak their pictures so they wouldn't look entirely the same. Personally, I saw this type of collaboration as something positive. I believe that children should communicate their ideas in art so each one of them can either take or leave inspiration. At the same time, I also thought this might be troublesome because the child who is copying another is not really extending his/her imagination. As a teacher, I would encourage certain age levels to collaborate but to a certain extent so it doesn't become a habit like it did to the girls in the article.I agreed to what Ivashkevich said "Collaborating drawing among peers provides interesting insights into picture making as a part of children's culture." (pg. 56) Collaboration is something good when it comes to creating but it's something children shouldn't rely on all the time. One thing I questioned though, is how can collaboration be encouraged in a high school setting? This is something I will have to research and ask high school teachers for their perspective. 
                   By Thursday, I could make connections from Wilsons' readings regarding children's artwork across cultures. Reading about their research made me rethink the way children's art looks around the world instead of my central focus of America. Wilsons' article also made me realize since children's artwork differs around the world, in reality, there isn't an example of perfect children's art or a standard view of what it should look like. After reading their article, I got to look at children's artwork from a whole, different perspective. While on my visit to the Tucson museum of art, I noticed how child refugees from around the world depicted their experiences before living in Tucson. Although they were from different places, their age similarities made their works of art similar to one another. The only differences, like Wilson stated, was the way in which they drew people. Their works had a lot of cultural influences as well as setting. I enjoyed learning about the places they came from and how drastically their lives changed for the better when they moved to Tucson. Learning about how children's art differentiates from one place to another made me realize how as a teacher I'll be exposed to different kinds of art if I plan to teach in different places. It'll be really exciting. 

                      The image above is a photograph I took while on my visit to the Tucson Museum of Art. I read the artist's statement and I realized the importance of having students practice writing their own every time they finish an art piece. Because each child wrote a description of their artworks, other people can connect with them as well. Personally, I connected with this child's art piece because I also used to make up my own heroes when I felt lonely as a child. We both had a love for animals especially felines. I think children should practice writing artist statements to strengthen the bond adults have with children. Adults will get to know them better and see what kind of culture they explore as children. 

Impure Drawings & Ket Aesthetics

Week 2 

                         This week gave me an insight into how sex is viewed in art education elementary settings. It also made me think about what my actions would be if I ever have this type of dilemma going on in my class. From past experience and new information discussed and read in class, I believe that as elementary educators, we shouldn't provide sexual content in our lessons. Instead, we should keep books and other materials available for students in case they are interested in the subject. Following my past teacher's example, I would only allow a handful of students who I believe are mature enough to handle looking at that type of material without giggling or joking about it. I know that it'll be a missed opportunity for the other students not allowed to view the material but I think that by choosing a few, it'll make the others reflect. Students not chosen to view this type of material will have the opportunity to reflect why they weren't chosen. I found it very interesting how children think it is shameful or not correct to draw such images. A quote that stood out to me was “I suppose that by keeping this aspect of their drawing underground, they have successfully obscured an important dimension of child art.” (pg 54).As an educator, I don't think it's a good idea for us to change their opinion around but we should make it clear that it is acceptable to draw anything in art. It's solely their decision and they can decide whether or not they want to be mature about it.        
                      Another issue I was interested in was the power adults have over children culture. Something that I've always wondered is how adults test certain cartoons they want to air for children. What makes them believe children will find it appealing? As educators, I think it's a good idea to be knowledgeable of contemporary cartoons or aspects that children are drawn to. We could use them as a way of bonding with them and making them aware that we are also interested in what they are. We shouldn't bash anything they like into a "Ket-Aesthetic" without learning why they like it in the first place. I believe that there is more to children's likes/interests than we believe there is. Also after the class discussion, some students brought up the point that so much media might be causing children to not challenge themselves as they should to imagine and create. This is evident in the art work we were shown in class. Some students decided to draw based on things they've already seen in TV even going as far as to try and duplicate several characters. I didn't see this as a problem. I saw it rather as a opportunity to sharpen their artistic skills. 

                         The image above is an example of what my little sister used to watch before she was 5 years of age. I sat down several times with her to watch this show. I recognized that many of the actors in this kid show were actually comedians whose main focus in acting has nothing to do with children. Instead of being freaked out about it, I went along with it and let her watch this show. Until this day, I have not regretted my decision because I feel like I gave my sister her personal freedom. Because she knew that her interests were welcome, she now explores her creativity more freely. As educators, we must be aware that children also have their personal interests. In the art field, they should all be welcome as long as we give them the option of expanding creatively as well.

First week in ARE 440

Week 1

                      This week, I got the opportunity to explore an introduction to children's art. As an aspiring high school art educator, I haven't really given much thought to exploring this type of art but this week changed my mind. I was really interested in further exploring things like meaning and how to critique children's art. I know that there is an ongoing debate about whether or not we should value children's art instead of just throwing it away. I want to explore more information about this topic so I can formulate my own opinion. During discussion, I got to listen to everyone's perspective on the subject but couldn't really agree 100% with anyone for some reason. I will definitely be researching on my own so I can determine what I really think about it. 

                    What caught my attention were the artists' perspective on children's art mentioned in the reading. Picasso stated "When I was the age of these children I could paint like Raphael. It took me many years to learn how to paint like these children." (p.23) To me this stood out from the reading because I believe children are there to teach us important things. The image above is a representation of what an adult can learn from a child's creativity. It should be something more adults need to explore. I think I will be learning more from my students when I first begin teaching. When I get to teach high school, I plan to transmit Picasso's thought on regarding children's art. From a spiritualist point of view, in order to achieve happiness, one must never lose their childhood innocence when socializing and interacting with the world. Being in touch with your inner child should be something you need to always do especially when creating art work. I believe that this way, there will always be that innocent touch to any type of art work you create. It'll be unique and at its purest state.
                     As an educator, I plan to apply what I learned in class in a high school setting. This is my teaching age preference and I have yet to formulate a type of lesson that will recognize my students' inner child. An idea I've been thinking about is: setting up a warm up exercise for them so they can free draw whatever comes to their mind without posing any exceptions. This will give them an opportunity to reflect on their drawings so they can also decide whether they should be considered valuable or not.