Unfortunately, that art teacher is me! Yep, the art job disappeared at spring break when the grant money evaporated. While other teachers in LAUSD got pink slips the same day, but still teach until the end of the year, the art program had to pack up and go home. The big stimulus package didn't trickle down far enough to save the position. Sad for kids, sad for education, sad for me!
In California, and LA in particular, art teachers exist at the edge. While funding has been precarious over the years, never more so than now. It is especially sad when you realize that despite the money issues, this will be the only time the kids are in elementary school and the opportunity is lost for them.
Hopefully, the brief time we had together at that school will always be memorable. How many spelling tests do you remember throughout your life? But art projects you do. It's always been remarkable to me to listen to adults recount those in later life. I well remember a sixth grade maraca project made out of light bulb -- it's what made me decide that teachers shouldn't grade art projects if they can't help students fix their art!
However, we just wish there was still an art class to fuss about right now! It's going to be a long climb to tackle this money hill and restore art to its rightful place in the school curriculum.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
How the Creative Classroom Differs From the Traditional
When the goal is to create students who self-initiate their learning and are excited by it, they have to have a teacher who provides that kind of atmosphere. First of all, the teacher has to believe in it and support these kind of activities. The classroom must be a warm and friendly place. As much as I'm in and out of various classrooms, I see this attitude less and less. Believe me, there's so much intense pressure to drive kids through a very prescribed curriculum that I understand it to a degree.
I think that what's happening in education is destroying teachers and kids alike. For creative thinking to take place, teachers must be able to provide the kinds of activities that stimulate it. Not much time for that, I'm afraid. They also have to train kids not to be dependent on them as the authority for all right answers. But in "left-brain"subjects, correct answers are all there are. The teacher either knows them, or the book that has them is right on her desk. The solution is already worked out. Of course, that's how it is when kids have to learn multiplication or spelling.
But if we want kids to be good problem-solvers, they need a different kind of approach entirely somewhere in their school day. In this case, the teacher is not the final authority, as the focus is not on finding the one right answer. Instead, an encouraging atmosphere conducive to exploration in depth and experimentation is needed. This is the opposite of memorization. Kids and teachers have less and less experience with this type of classroom activity. And yet, this kind of thinking is what society will need.
I was rather sad to read about studies that show the naturally creative child is not always liked by his/he teacher. If good behavior is considered to be polite and quiet, the child who is full of curiosity, questions the teacher, and has plenty of original ideas himself can be a handful. But once engaged in a meaningful activity, the student is no longer out of his seat and distracted, but actively learning independently. This is actually the habit we want to cultivate -- taking individual initiative and making meaning of their learning. But since school has become almost entirely "left brain" -- focused on the subjects that can easily be measured by through testing -- students have become extremely dependent upon the teacher for every aspect of their learning. Kids either sit waiting to be told what to do, look constantly for her approval, or must follow formulaic procedures rather than explore their own inventiveness.
I see the result of this in art classes, even down to the youngest students in kindergarten. They are so conditioned to work sheets, and being spoon fed instructions each step of the way, that they have a hard time knowing what to do when presented with an open-ended project to figure out on their own. It's hard to witness this happening, but it's really accelerated in the last decade under No Child Left Behind. I'd say, No Imagination Left!
I think that what's happening in education is destroying teachers and kids alike. For creative thinking to take place, teachers must be able to provide the kinds of activities that stimulate it. Not much time for that, I'm afraid. They also have to train kids not to be dependent on them as the authority for all right answers. But in "left-brain"subjects, correct answers are all there are. The teacher either knows them, or the book that has them is right on her desk. The solution is already worked out. Of course, that's how it is when kids have to learn multiplication or spelling.
But if we want kids to be good problem-solvers, they need a different kind of approach entirely somewhere in their school day. In this case, the teacher is not the final authority, as the focus is not on finding the one right answer. Instead, an encouraging atmosphere conducive to exploration in depth and experimentation is needed. This is the opposite of memorization. Kids and teachers have less and less experience with this type of classroom activity. And yet, this kind of thinking is what society will need.
I was rather sad to read about studies that show the naturally creative child is not always liked by his/he teacher. If good behavior is considered to be polite and quiet, the child who is full of curiosity, questions the teacher, and has plenty of original ideas himself can be a handful. But once engaged in a meaningful activity, the student is no longer out of his seat and distracted, but actively learning independently. This is actually the habit we want to cultivate -- taking individual initiative and making meaning of their learning. But since school has become almost entirely "left brain" -- focused on the subjects that can easily be measured by through testing -- students have become extremely dependent upon the teacher for every aspect of their learning. Kids either sit waiting to be told what to do, look constantly for her approval, or must follow formulaic procedures rather than explore their own inventiveness.
I see the result of this in art classes, even down to the youngest students in kindergarten. They are so conditioned to work sheets, and being spoon fed instructions each step of the way, that they have a hard time knowing what to do when presented with an open-ended project to figure out on their own. It's hard to witness this happening, but it's really accelerated in the last decade under No Child Left Behind. I'd say, No Imagination Left!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
