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● Directing Attention
● Listening
● Encouragement
● Looking for Patterns
● Making Connections/comparisons
● Discussion
● Modelling
● Questioning
● Reflection
● Identifying
● Investigating
Armed with knowledge of the elements
of Art and understanding of scaffolding
techniques, a teacher can then establish
the relevant skills, knowledge and attitudes
that will support children in their visual
communication. The role of the teacher is
therefore critical in the process of affecting
artistic development in a ‘real’ fashion
which is directly related to Art in the wider
community and society.
I have been actively employing this
approach to Art, predominately with drawing,
for many years, working with small groups
of children (from between five and ten at a
time). Many of our projects have become
long-term investigations into the natural
world. Living in Dunedin has provided us
with an abundance of natural landscape
features which we have accessed with the
centre van. The children have explored
coastal tunnels, lava caves, giant sand
dunes, volcanic pyramids, a penguin colony
and ancient concretions. These places
are full of both geographic and cultural
history, providing us with inspiration and
a ‘reason’ to draw. In addition to outdoor
excursions, other projects about the natural
world have included; flowers, sharks, flax,
deep sea creatures, wild animals and more
recently, space.
Through the Space project I will endeavour
to illustrate the Magic of Drawing. The initial
interest in the planets of our solar system
came from a four year old boy, and soon
after, ignited the imagination and interest
for several of his peers, for a further five
month period. Drawing became our platform
for in-depth investigation and exploration
on the subject matter, Space. Add another
layer of exploration into the ‘Language
of Art’, and therein lies the recipe for the
MAGIC of Drawing. Time is also an important
ingredient. Children are naturally curious
and in a world where so much demands
their attention for so short a time, we need
to promote and extend this curiosity. Time
allows children room to become secure in
their knowledge, to listen, assimilate and
reflect on what they have experienced in
the world. It offers an expansive landscape
with freedom to explore both subject matter
and the ‘tools’ of the trade more extensively.
Time then allows room to make a response,
to acquire a sense of mastery, room to think
and feel, room to engage with materials
and mediums, room to rehearse and to
try new things. It has been time that has
given me the greatest insight into children’s
thinking and capabilities in terms of their Art
development.
In practice, the day to day experience of
what the boys called, ‘doing space’ was
analogous to participation in a finely tuned
series of dance improvisations. It was the
responsive/reciprocal nature of our deep
connection through a shared interest that
bound the group for so long, through
so many conversations, provocations,
challenges and risks that empowered
this group to achieve such a high degree
of mastery, confidence, sense of identity,
work ethic, communication skills and Art
knowledge base. The complexity and
multifaceted manner of working holistically,
across different levels and layers of meaning
is evident in the drawings amassed during
this experience.
The original interest in planets soon
morphed into a series of provocations that
took us into further unforeseen directions,
including exploration into the science,
history, mysteries, drama and beauty of
space. The children’s motivation and drive
captured the interest of other children who
joined us at various intervals along the way.
This this became a welcome intrusion and
opened up new dialogues that moved us in
new directions.
The role of the teacher is of great
importance within a socio-cultural setting.
For me it begins with setting the scene each
day for investigation and excitement. It is a
matter striking a balance between providing
teacher led provocations, resources and
challenges; and an openness to accepting
the contributions that children bring to each
day. Together, both the process and the end
product are richer for this balance.
It can be time consuming to develop sets
of resources appropriate to each project,
especially as drawing is a visual language
and requires imagery to reinforce and
illuminate ideas and information. Regarding
the Space project, any first- hand, physical
experience of this remote part of the
natural world was out of the question, so
provocations centred around resource
books, library, You Tube, video, film and
a visit to the Dunedin Planetarium. I am
careful to source the best possible images
and laminate them for protection and future
use. I sourced both real and imagined
images of space, so there was room for
those who preferred to work more with their
imagination, as well as for those whose
interest was rooted more in the reality of
space. As it turned out, the boys embraced
both lines of direction. Since ‘pictures tell a
thousand words,’ the more meaning we can
gather from external sources, the richer the
children’s drawings will become. Creativity
does not happen in a void and as we are
immersed in developing a visual language,
the more experiences and images the better.
Imagery feeds the sense of sight and adds
to children’s visual repertoire.
I also draw alongside the children. They like
an adult to be an active participant and it
has proven to be such an important part of
how I teach and an effective way for children
to learn. An example of this began when I
noticed that everyone was drawing Saturn
with its rings going across the planet, as
opposed to going around it. I didn’t correct
this, but I did draw Saturn with its rings
stopping at either
December 2017
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