Teaching Media Arts: Discussion

Dear Kelda,

What I could access of the 'Arts pop' site on Scootle (2015) was drudgery to read though I found its initial idea inspiring. Using a story boarding is a fantastic tool for aesthetic education in making, presenting and appreciating and in using an app to understand and create their work ties the digital technologies and ICT general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2015). Fraistat & Jones (2009) talk about the role of editor using technology and insists that the role of the editor is to "maximize the resources of whatever editorial environment he or she chooses to work within - and, increasingly, in digital media those resources will include image, sound and video" (p.10). I think that it is really important to remember that in learning to teach within these new modes that we experience them for ourselves and to realise what it is that we as end users appreciate about digital media and teach for this aesthetic as well.

While I haven't an example story-boarding, I have quickly put together this PowerPoint animation. It was fiddly, it doesn't look great and I wouldn't recommend using something so crass as powerpoint for animation. I would recommend using an app like Animation Desk - Sketch and Draw (Brakefield, 2015). Animation and story-boarding are something to practice more of, as you can see with my own efforts here.

Regards, 

Tracey

References:

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015, May 15). The Australian Curriculum: Design and Technologies and Digital Technologies (Version 7.5), Foundation to Year 2, Years 3 and 4, Years 5 and 6, all curriculum elements, all curriculum dimensions. retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/download/f10

Brakefield, S. (2013). Storyboard Studio. in Googleplay. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brakefield.storyboard&hl=en 

Fraistat, N. & Jones, S. (2009). Editing environments: The architecture of electronic texts. Literary and Linguistic Computing. 24(1) 9-18. doi: 10.1093/llc/fqn032

Education Services Australia. (2015) Arts-POP: media arts. Scootle. Retrieved from https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home 

Teaching Music: Reflection

Dear Kelda,

As we are thinking about teaching music this week, I wondered about composing and teaching composition as a generalist teacher. The thought was irksome to me as I had never really been exposed to composition in music, and our lessons this week show that it can be as simple as Jeanneret and Swainston (2012) indicate, as allowing children to experiment with sound. Although given my own family attempt at creating a soundscape are not too promising.

You can listen to it by clicking here: 

I attended a music teaching conference this year with Australian Society for Music Education run by TASME who include and represent many differing types of music education stakeholders (Baker, B, 2015), and found it very interesting that those who were in attendance were all specialist teachers. I definitely felt a little intimidated given the participation involved and have no doubts about the comment Jeanneret and Swainston make that 'Lack of confidence to teach music is a common problem for the generalist' (2012, p. 93) and is definitely one that I felt. In saying this I know that it is not too difficult to bring music, song and dance into younger classrooms, though as a generalist I wonder how I would endeavor to do this with upper primary students.

I was very impressed with the learning I received from music teaching specialist Susie (pictured left) and I really recommend her and her husbands website as a fantastic resource for teaching music even for generalists. She uses the Orff Schulwerk method, and while I was only briefly introduced to its existence andpracticed using it. Doing this gave me courage and interested me in gaining knowledge and understanding of the Orff method.

Yours faithfully,


Tracey

References:

Baker, B. (2015). ASME Tasmania. Australian Society for Muisc Education (Tasmanian Chapter). retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/asmetasmaniaaustralia/home 

Davis-Splitter, S. & Splitter, P. (2015). Welcome to music. Retrieved from https://www.welcometomusic.net/ 

Jeanneret, N. & Swainston, A. (2012). Making musical and cultural connections. in Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N & O'Tool, J. Education in the arts. Oxford University Press. South Melbourne.

Teaching Dance: Discussion

Dear Kelda,

I really connected to the idea of teaching dance although my memories of school dance don't coincide with this excitement. I remember formal barn dances we were taught and it was a cultural learned choreography, not learning how to explore and share ideas using your body in fundamental movements, and to choreograph your own work as in now indicated (ACARA, 2015). The thinking around teaching dance has certainly changed over time.

Recently during NAIDOC week my practicum class attended a cultural learning experience at the sustainability center in Mt. Nelson. One part was a dance lesson given by Aboriginal sharer of knowledge Linton Burgess who encouraged the students to make the movements of a particular animal or two and to dance as that animal to some clap sticks. He asked students “when no-one knows how to dance what is it they look to, who do they watch?” going back to the Aesthetic learning process in Sinclair (2012, p.47), it was a very intentional ploy to get students to appreciate, and create. This was very powerful teaching. 

Source: Linton Burgess During NAIDOC week

After watching videos of students having dance/movement lessons from prep to grade six, (see youtube) it is important to understand how the concept of using your body evolves and the method of teaching develops with the students physical and cognitive abilities. The difference looking at little preppies becoming horses, bunnies and frogs, and the Grade six's using sport motions to synchronize a choreographed dance sequence shows this natural progression both in physical control of their own bodies but also in the ability to work together, to use symbolic gesture and to solve problems.

Here is my own universal writing dance technique, it is not always the end product but the process of making that is worth reflecting on. I would gladly use the universal dance technique with my own students.

Good Luck,

Tracey


References:

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015, May 15). The Australian Curriculum: Dance (Version 7.5), Foundation to Year 2, Years 3 and 4, Years 5 and 6, Years 7 and 8 and Years 9 and 10, all curriculum elements, all curriculum dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/download/f10].

Sinclair, C. (2012). Teaching for the Aesthetic, Teaching as Aesthetic. In Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N. & O’Toole, J. (ed.) Education in the Arts. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.  

Teaching Visual Arts: Reflection

Dear Kelda,

I loved Mary Clare Powell's article on ‘Art and the inner lives of teachers’. I found it was so beautifully written and speaks right into your heart.  I was particularly taken when she was talking about the arts building a tolerance for failure (p.452) and remember clearly the media messages we have been receiving that we need to build a tolerance for failure in order for innovation to thrive in Australia (Business Council of Australia 2006; Honourable Bill Shorten, 2014).

Picture Source

As for the depth or breadth (cafeteria) debate, I am sure that I had a bit of both, and I would love to have had the opportunity to develop in all of the five arts domains, (or four while I was at school) and I don’t remember any arts appreciation learning, just some technical skills. I still dabble every now and then when I can and am attempting to broaden (or rather deepen) my understanding of arts. I agree with some and lament that life is just too short.

Kelda your drawings are amazing! My main complaint is always the one ‘it doesn’t look like I want it to’, so trying the 'Fauve' (The Art Story Foundation, 2015) style of painting really gave me the courage to just do it, because you know that the end result wont end up looking just like your subject anyway.

Given your success in this ‘you be the judge’ readings, I might give it a try also.

Yours Faithfully, 

Tracey

References

Business Council of Australia. (2006). New concepts in innovation the keys to a growing Australia. Retrieved from http://www.bca.com.au/publications/2006-reports-and-papers 

Honourable Bill Shorten. (2014). Speech 'Science: A national priority' Science meets parliament gala dinner. Retrieved from http://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au    

Powell, M. (1997). Art and the inner lives of teachers. The Phi Delta Kappan. 78(6) pp.450-453.

The Art Story Foundation (2015). Movements - Fauvism. Retrieved from http://www.theartstory.org/movement-fauvism.htm 

Teaching Drama: Reflection

Dear Kelda, 

Reading your letter it sounds like you have great understanding of the powerful impact that using dramatic elements such as taking on a role, experiencing the tension and climax that drama can provide and understanding the importance of de-role. 

I love the idea of utilising drama strategies to unpack literary content with students. Two strategies that I could effortlessly assimilate into a teaching practice would be writing in role and freeze frames. As you have mentioned using a freeze frame of the story and having the students express the emotions, context and the thoughts of characters using only they’re bodies, gestures and expressions is a wonderful way in which students can utilise their understanding of complex sentiments. I think it is important for students to reflect on these so that as Gibbs (2010) encourages teachers, learning is ‘informed by thinking, feeling, knowledge, values and beliefs’ (p.25). 


Keeping the aesthetic education processes [AE] in mind [Making, Presenting, Responding] (Sinclair, 2012, p.47), we can see that even in only using a few dramatic strategies in our teaching we give students the opportunity to operate in the AE way for instance by making a tableau or freeze frame and here students will also present this freeze frame to themselves and each other, and respond to it when reflecting.

While this type of drama in the classroom is exciting and relatively simple to explicate the extent of my own teaching with drama in classes has been limited to dramatic readings and asking students to identify characters thinking and feeling so the idea of bringing drama comprehensively into literacy is a wonderfully dynamic way to bring life into literacy.

I was quite titillated by the Drama for learning and creativity initiative [D4LC] and am curious about its uptake in Australia. I did find founder Patrice Baldwin’s page and it mentions Australia but the UNESCO, (n.d) paper on D4LC doesn't. One other thing to add to my findings is the idea of Augusto Boal’s process drama and it being somewhat equal to children’s play (Bird et al. 2012, p.68). Specifically that I can use Augusto Boal's unscripted style of play in the context of the story, having everyone being involved and maximising that potential for learning using process drama.

Regards, 

Tracey




References:

Baldwin, P. (n.d). Drama for Learning and Creativity (D4LC). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/artseducation/pdf/fullpaper301patricebaldwin.pdf 


Bird, J., Donelan, K., Freebody, K., O'Tool, J., and Sinclair, C. (2012). Drama: Social Dreaming in the 21st Century. In Sinclair et al. (Ed.). Education in the Arts. (p.68). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Gibbs, C. (2012). The Reflective Practitioner. in Gibbs, C. To be a teacher: Journeys toward authenticity (pp. 25-45). Sydney, NSW: Pearson.

Sinclair, C. (2012). Teaching for the Aesthetic, Teaching as Aesthetic. In Sinclair et al. (ed). Education in the Arts. (pp. 43-53). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.