Classroom Tales

As I mentioned in my previous post, today marked the end of my fantastic week at the National Gallery.

I’ve finally managed to get home (despite the trains going crazy with the weather) so thought it’d be good to blog some thoughts on using art in the classroom and the week generally!

So here are the top 10 things that I  didn’t know/realise at the start of this week.

1.  The Art can be an incredibly powerful tool in the classroom-  the range of exicting and different activities that can be related to a piece of Art is amazing.  Real, non tenuous connections can be made which add significant value to students.  I fully intend to use pieces of art work (or indeed other visual stimuli!)  in many ways in my teaching practice and beyond!

2. That Art can be used to teach things other than Art (i.e. teaching through Art)- Some of the most powerful ideas we have explored this week have related to teaching through Art.  There is no need to understand the painting in innate detail, nor the art history behind it for it to be a valuable tool in the classroom.   Literacy, Maths, Science, Art, PSHCE, Drama, History, Geography, Dance etc are all possible as a result of working with a paintings (although we also learnt it’s important not to ‘force’ links where there are none)  Lots of examples of this can be found on this website and a basic example in the scheme I posted earlier.

That teaching about the art work is also hugely beneficial (i.e. teaching about Art)- We also experienced that exploring a piece of art work with children an amazing experience.  Every painting has a something to tell, whether this be a story (i.e. a greek myth, story of a meeting), something about life at the time of the painting or how art works were made (amongst other things).  Children love looking in depth and trying to work out what they see.

That this week would be really useful for my general teaching skills- Everything I have learnt this week can be applied in my general teaching.  Things like effective questioning are super useful on a day to day basis, and elements such as cross curricular planning are things that will be increasingly important as the new curriculum is introduced.   This week, for me, has been as much about improving my general teaching then about Art.

That’d I feel confident enough to actually want to lead a whole school cross curricular event and a school trip! I now can’t wait to get on with the next part of the programme, and start to plan my scheme of work for use in school.  I have to plan and deliver a cross curricular scheme using a local painting (which can be viewed here if anyone is interested – I’d love to hear your opinions on them!) and also organise a class visit to see the painting!  I can’t wait to apply all the skills and techniques I have learnt this week!     I am also really excited that my placement school is keen for me to run some whole school cross curricular and art based activities based on the painting as well- this is just one example of the unique opportunities this course has given me!

That’d I’d have the confidence and ability to present in front of a massive painting in the National Gallery! Today, in prehaps my most memorable part of the week, I actually presented in from of  The Ambassadors in the Gallery.   This is a painting which I don’t mind admitting I feel in love with during this week! [I love the fact that there is much more too it than first meets the eye (for instance a massive skull in the centre of the picture!)- info on the painting for anyone who wants it is on the galleries website here.] I really enjoyed presenting in front of it to my peers (who were quite good at getting in role as year 3/4′s!) and leading them their exploration of the painting.  I was quite impressed that there were a few members of the general public who stayed around for the whole presentation- despite me probably sounding like a lunatic asking adults questions that’d I’d ask children!!  If someone had said to me before I started this week that I would be enjoying presenting in the gallery I probably would have laughed!

That I’d enjoy an art lesson! As you may have guessed from my blog post earlier this week, I actually enjoyed an art lesson for probably the first time ever!   Despite this session being the one which I was really dreading, I enjoyed it!   I have learnt a lot of valuable skills and techniques of how to present art in a non-threatning way and a plethora of fun and enjoyable activities to do!    I also shocked myself with the quality of what I could do in a short period of time! (well, ok, it wasn’t amazing but good for me!)

That’d I’d enjoy and appreciate art in the National Gallery, and that I’d feel ‘at home’ in the gallery- At the start of the week, the gallery felt alien and a bit intimidating to me (plus it’s massive and a maze!) but by the end of the week we were all commenting how at home we felt walking through the gallery.  I have also gained, on a personal level, a new appreciation for art, and am starting to ‘understand’ paintings for the first time, which is a really empowering experience!   I no longer see the art in the national gallery as ‘a load of paintings by dead people’ but as a rich collection of detailed works which have so many stories to tell!  Hopefully using the skills I’ve learnt this week I can help children have this empowering experience as well!

That art in the national gallery can be fun- Seeing children in the gallery, having fun, looking at paintings that are 500 years older than them was an amazing experience.  Using the skills I’ve learnt this week, I now know that paintings can indeed be made extremely fun and exciting!

That the gallery education team at the National Gallery are amazing! I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with some amazing people this week.  Particularly my mentors (Jo and Joss), head of schools (Ali) and Luke from the orchestra!  Seeing gallery educators working with children in the gallery was amazing, and made me realise how many incredibly skilled people galleries etc employ!

If you want to know more about what i’ve talked about this week, the The national take one picture scheme is amazing and there are lots of resources and ideas to help on the website.   There is also a fantastic DVD which gives lots of ideas,m examples and some of the skills I have been introduced to this week.   You can also of course contact me (leave a comment etc) and I can  try and elaborate more on anything!

So as you can hopefully see I have had a fantastically amazing time this week!   I am now a true convert into using Art in the classroom and am really looking forward to putting into place what I have learnt.    I think every primary ITE student should experience what I have this week!

All that’s left for me to say is a Massive thankyou again to the Jo, Joss, Luke, Ali and all the amazing people at the gallery for giving me this superb opportunity!

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This will be the last of my blogs on Art things for a short while- but I’m sure I’ll be keeping you up to date with what I’m doing with it on my placements etc!

Normal service  (ICT stuff and general stuff!) will be resumed with earnest I’ve got quite a few bits and bobs I want to blog about- so look out for a blog post or two this weekend (but then I start placement, so doubt I’ll be blogging everyday!)

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