Read & React - Week 13

The TED talk videos were sources of inspiration to me in brainstorming ways to create a playful environment for future students. I find the idea of creating a place of security to evoke play very interesting. It does seem logical, after hearing the explanation, that to share our most wacky and playful ideas we must feel a sense of security, knowing that we will not be suddenly rejected or criticized. I believe that it is extremely important to create this sense of security as early as possible in your classroom. For this reason, I have thought often about what I want the first few weeks of school to look like in my classroom. Above all, I know that I want to often, almost always, incorporate this freedom to play.

I love the way Pink described the need for play in the 21st century, "a move away from sober seriousness as a measure of ability and the elevation of the next essential high concept, high touch aptitude: play." I am intrigued by the association of laughter and play with the right side of the brain. It seems natural to me that the logical left side of the brain does not master play nearly as well as its counterpart. It also reminds me of the brilliant ads featuring the left and right sides of the brain. I think it would be a great unit for students, to study the left and right sides of the brain and their functions. I think that it would also be a very meaningful exercise for them to figure out which side of their brain is dominant, and how to unleash the right side in the art classroom.

Play is a theme that I think needs to be applied outside of the art classroom, too. I believe students would be much more engaged and intrigued by other subject matter if there was an element of play intertwined. While I was teaching abroad in South Korea, we were told to always include games in the classroom, to give the students a sense of play while they were learning. I found this strategy to be very successful in that it created an exciting, student-centered environment in which to learn.

Results of the play assignment!

You can't really see the resin in the photos, but in person it looks like the thinnest sheet of glass sitting on top of your canvas. Super cool!

This week’s assignment to play got me curious enough to do something that I have been wanting to do for a while but somehow couldn’t find enough a good reason to do it. After studying the abstract expressionists in one of my art history courses, I became intrigued by the idea of creating freely, without a specific concept, plan or arriving at a particular meaning. I usually like to work this way anyways, but I do not usually work in a visibly abstract way. So I decided to whip out my inner Jackson Pollock and just paint what ever rose to my imagination. I also decided that I have been wanting to “play” or experiment with a resin coating on my painting, so I tried that, too! And I must say, I absolutely love the effect, which does not measure up in photographs. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to play this week, for one because it was fun, but more importantly, because it again made me realize the importance of giving my students time to do the exact same thing – play! Also, abstract expressionism can be very therapeutic, don’t you think??

What is the role of art education (or art educators) in teaching students to be media literate digital citizens?

What is the role of art education (or art educators) in teaching students to be media literate digital citizens?

Art education should play a major role in teaching students to be media literate digital citizens as it is an opportunity to teach visual literacy and engage students in critical thinking. It also, from an art advocacy standpoint, makes art education more valid in the eyes of the community. Visual literacy is a skill that all students need to be equipped with living in a world bombarded with thousands of images and messages every day.

After watching the documentary Killing Us Softly, the power and manipulative tendency of advertising was reinforced in my mind. Advertising and media are deciding what the “ideal” looks like and then packaging it up and selling it to the world. The problem here is not only that millions of people are being (possibly unknowingly) manipulated, but also that one of the main targets is children. I was unaware before watching Consuming Kids of the laws that were once in place to protect children from advertising. I am shocked that advertisers are not restricted in the messages they send children. For this reason, it is important that visual literacy starts at a young age. If children are being sold ideals through the media they consume, it is our job as educators to teach students to see past the product being sold to them.

Kuan Chung and Kirby’s article was very interesting to me as I have created a unit plan in the past teaching students about advertising. It is not only relevant as a career in the arts, but also as a major component of visual literacy. It would be very valuable for students to have the opportunity to deconstruct the media and advertisements they encounter throughout daily life. I think it would be very interesting to have students take a picture of every advertisement that they see throughout the day, for one day. I would imagine that we could learn something about the student by looking at their collection of images and the advertisers attempting to influence them. We live in a day and age where advertisers know more about the consumer than ever before, and it is important for young people to understand this concept.

Another form of media students could deconstruct is entertainment media. Students seek a variety of media types for entertainment in their free time, ranging from gaming and television to the Internet. It would be interesting to ask them to play a spin-off of hide and seek, looking for any references to products or services in the entertainment they consume. Often we are not consciously aware of the messages we are receiving as they have become so ingrained in our daily lives.

Media literacy could expand to a conversation about news media and the ways in which they intend to manipulate the public. News sources are known for slanted views and the intention to influence the public. Students should recognize that it is often difficult to see the whole picture through only one lens. This relates to VTS as it teaches students to recognize the differing perspectives of others.

I think that media literacy is an opportunity for integration with curriculum from other classes as well. For example, it would be a great opportunity to study history through imagery, architecture, advertisements and any other historical artifact. Students could study civil war through the prints that were created of battle scenes or the monuments erected in the name of fallen soldiers. Art history is an opportunity to combine visual literacy, the arts, and the context of world history. It is not only useful to a visual learner, but to all students as we live in an image driven world.

A 21^st century art education should without a doubt teach students to be visually and media literate citizens. Our students need to know how to deconstruct and interpret text that has crept into every moment of their lives. It is also a platform for arts advocacy as it is an essential skills for 21^st century learners.