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| Morning Silence, A Reflection. (2011) Photo by Nathan Wirth Retrieved from: http://nlwirth.com/photography/zenscapes-a-reflection/ |
In my practice I often have my students reflect on their process and development. I see it as a valuable tool in refining their artistic practices and laying plans for future success. It also provides an opportunity for me to glimpse their inner workings, thought processes, and challenges, and helps me modify my teaching accordingly. (Cummings, 2010)
In the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB), which makes up about 75% of my classes this year, there are 4 criteria which must be evaluated in the arts - A: Knowledge and Understanding, B: Application, C: Reflection and Evaluation, and D: Personal Engagement.
Criteria C and D often involve activities and assignments which closely resemble the type of entries we were encouraged to do for this blog.
The highest bands of these criteria focus on the types of skills fostered by this sort of activity:
Criterion
C: Reflection & Evaluation
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Criterion
D: Personal Engagement
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7-8
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Student reflects critically and in depth on
his or her artistic development and processes at different stages of his or
her work.
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The student carries out an excellent
evaluation of his or her work. This shows a considered appraisal of the
quality of work produced and details of improvements that could be made.
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7-8
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The student shows excellent commitment and
self-motivation
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- The students actively supports, encourages,
and works with his or her peers in a positive way
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The student is actively receptive to art
practices and art works from various cultures, including his or her own.
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Retrieved from: http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/occ/home/subjectHomeMYP.cfm?subject=artsm
Engaging in these types of activities for my own practice, is useful in that it allows me to think about how I can tailor the Criterion C and D assignments I give to be more relevant, useful, and enjoyable for my students based on the curriculum we are exploring.
I feel that in entries where I was engaging with ideas about potential topics to explore with students, as well as possible teaching strategies, I benefited the most. These occasions allowed me to look at the issues and ideas from many angles, and to explore them through the lens of my students before just jumping right in. I found that these, more than personal production entries, were the most useful types of entries that I created for this blog.
I have tried a variety of reflection assignment formats with my students and have found that using a combination of open-ended and guided assignments works well, allowing students who are just beginning to engage with reflection to develop a sense of what could / should be included in a process log or reflection. It certainly does not come easily to many students, even in the senior grades. Personally, I also like the mixed-style approach. Even as a proficient writer and reflector, it is sometimes nice to have a guiding question or two to start from. For example, I think the questions that we were given to discuss in class during week 8 would have made for really interesting journal entries!
One factor that I felt was lacking with this assignment was the opportunity for feedback or discussion about our entries and fun findings. I have run into this problem frequently in my own teaching practice. Although I wish I had some fabulous solution, it is something I continue to struggle with. I know that placing value on students experiences, interpretations and ideas is essential to helping them to develop authentic studio practices (Hafeli, p.68) and to feeling valued as a member of the classroom community; but, with 30 students to a class, it is often difficult to give as much feedback or one to one discussion time relating to their work ( written or creation ) as I would like. I encourage everyone to participate in class discussions, and try and incorporate opportunities for think-pair-share style responses, but often students will only share their true feelings / thoughts in their process logs and reflections. Generally, the best I can do is to try and provide written feedback on logs and reflections promptly, and then follow up with either a one-on-one chat, or ,if many students address the same issue(s), a guided class discussion.
All in all, I feel that throughout this assignment I was able to delve into some interesting topics and artistic practices which I will be able to bring forward into my own classroom. As I completed my entries I have thought about how I can continue to make the reflection assignments I give my own students as effective as possible, and have gotten back in touch with my own practice of artistic reflection ( as opposed to pedagogical reflection which seems to be nearly constant these days!)
References:
Cummings, Karen L. (2010) "So what. Who cares? Changing Adolescents' attitudes in the art classroom." Visual Arts Research, 36(1), 55-67.
Illeris, Helene. (2008). " I know a lot of things that you don't. You wanna hear some?" Adolescent themes and contemporary art practice. Art Education. 61(2), 59-69.
International Baccelaureate Organization. (2009). Assessment. Middle Years Program: Arts Guide. Retrieved from: http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/occ/home/subjectHomeMYP.cfm?subject=artsm
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