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The Art of Teaching.
By: Bo Jones
Having just completed my Masters at BCU in Art Practice and Education I find myself wondering "what comes next?" and searching for new ideas and inspirations to challenge and stimulate myself.
Back in my classroom, the realisation that I can only make Art if I'm teaching has led me to ask why this might be, and to explore how I could develop my own practice further in the "outside" world.
Bo Jones
Artist, Teacher, and father of two, I have been Head of Art at the same secondary school for nearly 16 years now.
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Year 10 pupils., Mod roc.
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Year 10 pupils., 'Image 1', Mod roc.
# 27 [1 May 2013]
There is a distinct probability that I could be setting out to provoke this morning... Whether or not this is a good idea, or even if this is the right arena, we shall have to wait and see, but as always for me, this is a forum to test and question my own thinking and sometimes sanity.
I have been teaching a module to my Year 10 GCSE cohort based around Steampunk... the assemblage of different articles and materials based around the industrial revolution when steam power came into its own.
As part of their research work, I asked my pupils to study the work of Robert Gober - (whose work it could be argued, isn't suitable for this age group... point 1) - instructing them to take ideas from his work and using previous drawings they had created to construct their own piece in his style. What they chose to produce was entirely up to them as had been their sampling of objects for the drawing exercises.
On occasion, I permit my GCSE pupils to work in groups to prepare work, - (point 2; is this acceptable?) - as I would any other Year group. Working in collaboration with another person, as I am finding out for myself, often stimulates and generates new ways of working and encourages further experimentation and risk or chance taking...
Two of my male pupils decided to work together and set about shaping the "Booby Fire Extinguisher" (image 1) as a response to Gober's work...
For me, I totally "get it". Despite some flaws with its construction, I think it's a very clever response to a difficult and challenging subject matter. With reference to adolescent lust and connotations to masturbation, the question really starts coming down to its appropriateness to a formative education establishment... Should I have permitted them to make it? (Point 3).
Place this object in any room, and it'll change that environment and the conversation within it. It requires no gallery to have impact and will engender discussion - as any good piece of art should...
But should I show it?
Appropriateness?
At present it is hidden from the younger pupils... but my two students wish to gauge opinion and place it in various locations around the school to photo, film and record reaction...
Should I let them?
Artistic license?
Again the artist and the teacher are in conflict. I know what they both say individually, but I need them to function simultaneously, together... cohesively.
Is my function the same as both artist and teacher; to promote art in all aspects?
I remember when Roland Piche interviewed me for a place on my BA at Canterbury. He asked me about the suitability of adolescents viewing the work of Robert Maplethorpe? Not knowing the work at that time, I stuttered out a response and left the interview convinced I'd blown my chance... I was offered a place... so I know I hold the answer...
But what do you think?
What would you do?
Who takes priority here? Artist or teacher?
What am I supposed to teach as an artist?
What becomes acceptable?
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oops.... ran out of words.... last sentence was supposed to be: (Heard that phrase somewhere before, Susan Coles?)
posted on 2013-05-02 by Elena Thomas
Perhaps because I know Bo, I realise that any conflict here is more a device to prompt discussion than a real battle. Of all the artist teachers I know, the title sits with him the best. I struggle with it far more. He will have undoubtedly considered all of the things you suggest, Nancy, very carefully. He is an experienced, knowledgable, professional teacher who understands very clearly his responsibilities to the establishment I am sure. But I think in reading even a little of this blog it is clear he also understands his responsibilities to his students. His opening sentence told us he was setting out to provoke, and I think the blog format is absolutely the “right arena” for this. Post up a provocative image, light the blue touch paper and stand well back… in the hope that you get a response that engenders discussion. Comments that follow, be it from artists, parents, teachers, head teachers, inspectors or examiners are then really useful in gauging the interpretation of criteria. Useful for Bo, as well as other blog readers. Also, I think, those of us who are more cautious, are made braver by the discussion and his example. I think the fact that he threw out a few questions, and we responded, says quite a lot about the culture of Bo’s studio/classroom too. “Working in collaboration with another person, as I am finding out for myself, often stimulates and generates new ways of working and encourages further experimentation and risk or chance taking…” Being Bo’s collaborator isn’t easy. I’d bet anything that being one of his students isn’t always easy either. He doesn’t let me get away with anything! Those boys will have had to research, discuss, critique, justify and explain their actions and decisions every step of the way. Where and how they eventually get to show their work, they will be strong and confident defenders of it because of Bo’s passion in promoting and defending his subject.(Heard that phrase somewhere before, Susan Cole
posted on 2013-05-02 by Elena Thomas
.... which can, in turn, help break down traditional educational canons..... but that's another story :)
posted on 2013-05-02 by nancy wynn-sumner
"The notion that a module needs to stay tethered in a fixed position and cannot evolve into a new theme is completely alien to me as a practicing artist, so impossible for me to share in my practice with my pupils." I am sorry to say that this is a common misinterpretation of an (Edexcel) module. Modules can (and should) be creatively interpreted and do not need to be fixed in any way. The journey of exploration is paramount and should be encouraged and you as an artist and educator should facilitate this. "The whole questioning nature of Art as a subject ensures for me the genesis of new and varied responses and it would be criminal of me if I didn't enable my pupils to explore themes that interest them..." New and varied responses should be explored by students, encouraged, celebrated and, importantly, guided by yourself as an educator and artist, taking into account your responsibilities as a pedagog, being sensitive to the school ethos and other (female/religious etc.) students. It is a myth that 'someone' has said that contemporary art should not be embraced within the classroom, as, after all, it is totally relevant and symbiotic (with children) in today's society. Guidance and common sense is the key here. Discourse is, of course, always difficult to assess and cannot be assumed, (trust me, I've had run ins with OFSTED about this... how to quantify discourse in art) so, as long as processes, ideas, plans, development etc are recorded, if thought necessary for that part of your project (you said it was just one element, so you may not deem it necessary), then all's good. There need not be this struggle between yourself as an artist and yourself as an educator...... creative interpretation of the curriculum/specification is so important in producing refreshing and thought provoking work, which inspires and encourages a lifelong interest in students. Contemporary art practice and education can be used to influence the cultural hegemony within a school
posted on 2013-05-01 by nancy wynn-sumner
I am responsible for the work that is created in my Art room, not my head teacher, and it would be cowardly and somewhat foolish to not involve parents in their child's art education which again I take complete ownership of. It would of course be ill advised not to work in harmony with the school ethos or support of my senior managers, but I still need to be true to my subject and I'm sure that in its own time, had the Statue of David been created in an education establishment, it too would have caused some consternation in certain circles... not that I'm suggesting that my pupils work is on a par with it. The notion that a module needs to stay tethered in a fixed position and cannot evolve into a new theme is completely alien to me as a practicing artist, so impossible for me to share in my practice with my pupils. The whole questioning nature of Art as a subject ensures for me the genesis of new and varied responses and it would be criminal of me if I didn't enable my pupils to explore themes that interest them... after all, I am attempting to empower the artists of tomorrow. This was a pair of pupils; not an individual "fondling boobs" for a couple of weeks. Discourse must have ensued, decisions made and procedures discussed. The depth in the work is self evident and boobs weren't simple stuck onto a ready made object. The artists work was discussed in depth and an original response was sort as a development and learning piece to be included in a concise, well thought out project. This is not the sum total of it; just one element that I chose to show.
posted on 2013-05-01 by Bo Jones
don't know what happened but it was meant to read..... 'papier mache boobies' .... !!
posted on 2013-05-01 by nancy wynn-sumner
lol..... firstly, forget Artist/teacher..... think head teacher !!..... I am not sure it is your decision as to whether or not is is on show.... I'm not saying that because I am a party pooper but if there is any come back it will deflect onto you.... there is always going to be someone who doesn't 'get' the creative 'thang' even if it does come from some kind of educational contextual background..... (whether or not it is deemed appropriate in the first place !) and you don't want some kind of negative reaction from staff/parents deeming it inappropriate (even if your yr 10's have been fondling paper māch?oobies for several weeks lol).... as an experienced moderator for Edexcel I have seen far more 'thought provoking', shall we say, works than this and wouldn't deem it as inappropriate (they were kept in a room away from the general bulging eyes of KS3).... I would however question the understanding behind the piece..... the depth of knowledge and the understanding of the responses it could evoke.... Do be sure to vet all artists before you use them with students, it is your responsibility as to whether or not it is appropriate.... you don't want shallow responses to a brief where students copy boobs from an artist's work..... make sure they go on a creative journey..... make sure they understand what/why they are doing it.... not just because someone else did !!..... As for you as an Artist in the classroom, absolutely !!... they are the very best of teachers..... be true to yourself within the boundaries of the education system (which is open to interpretation, of course) but the brief wasn't about 'reaction', as I understand, just make sure their response is relevant to the brief and that your students aren't taking you for a ride and don't just want to shape boobies and dildos for weeks in your lessons..... Not sure if that helps in any way ?.... lol
posted on 2013-05-01 by nancy wynn-sumner
Thanks for the comment Sophie. I too take my two daughters (11and 7) to as many shows as possible. I don't think thought provoking, varied and imaginative, confrontational or controversial should be the sole right of adults. Far to often as a child I was told my opinion didn't count as it wasn't properly formulated! How can youngsters possibly test their views if even education says "no go!".
posted on 2013-05-01 by Bo Jones
You raise some very interesting questions - it is a very arresting image! Can't comment regarding students as I am not a teacher but with regard to letting my own children look at work - I take them to everything - so much goes over their heads anyway. Although I must admit to hurrying through Tracey Emin's animation of her 'scratching her bottom drawings' (10year old son's interpretation) at the Hayward! Not sure I really wanted an interesting conversation at that point!
posted on 2013-05-01 by Sophie Cullinan
In my own setting I am probably over-cautious. I am in a Catholic primary school. My head teacher is hugely supportive of me, and the arts and any creative endeavours the children undertake. I am therefore respectful not to cause undue alarm! I push things here and there, but would hate to put her in a position where she had to defend me and my decisions. This is probably cowardly, but our relationship is excellent, it is an excellent school and I don't want to spoil that for the sake of a few tits and bums!
posted on 2013-05-01 by Elena Thomas
Thats really useful Susan, thank you. I guess I already know what my intentions are with regards to how I let them develop their work, but it's nice to hear some sanity and humour in support of what I think is incredibly interesting work and discourse matter. External sources, i.e. other departments tend not to see Art in such a liberal way and feel they need to impose their principles on it, but as long as the intent as you say is supported, and relevant to learning taking place, I believe there is a richness and worth to this kind of work.
posted on 2013-05-01 by Bo Jones
I have no problems at all in using a wide range of contemporary artists with students. I am sensitive to individual schools and would have to think twice about what I use in a catholic or faith school. If it is appropriate to their intentions then that's fine. The issues lie with external factors, I remember one head teacher taking down our Nan Goldin inspired work from the wall when it was a year six open night, I remember a governor complaining about obscenities in a sketch book where a student had looked at censorship in art (ironically) but you just make sure they observe any protocol which protects the integrity of their choice in their work. Kids also surprise me still- we took a group to see the Chapman Brothers show, the one with all the sculptures of children with penises for noses. Some of the kids rushed in and said " Eeeeeh Miss, look at that.....they've all got the same trainers on ". I have also made a point of making sure that parents know in advance if we are using controversial artists or visiting controversial or age limited exhibitions. When I worked in a school (and in my current adviser role) I have not yet had a parental concern expressed. Some of my best conversations with young people have been when looking at the work of Grayson Perry, Tracy Emin et all.
posted on 2013-05-01 by Susan M Coles
By doing the "teacher thing" am I not letting down my subject? Contemporary Art is becoming increasingly subversive - what with "poo" being the latest in thing. At what stage does Art stop becoming a Art and isn't it my responsibility to get my pupils to think about these issues? I'm curious as to what you then think is inappropriate for pupils from your teachers perspective and whether or not that would restrict how you interact with your pupils? Would that be different to your artist persona and why? How you would overcome that?
posted on 2013-05-01 by Bo Jones
I know, working in primary, that there are artists and work that is inappropriate for me to show. My decisions are easier because of that. You know that I would say yes, let them show it. But perhaps people who would disagree with us need to see that the teacher is in control here, so that the "right tone" is maintained... or at least you can say it is! I know you don't do the facebook thing, but I am going to post a link to this post on the NSEAD page, hopefully to engender some discussion among a larger body of art teachers than found here... let's see what they say!
posted on 2013-05-01 by Elena Thomas
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Bo Jones., 'Fresh.', iPad painting..
# 26 [21 March 2013]
I have no idea what I will write here today. The Easter holidays are fast approaching and that means there is a tendency for me to switch down from teaching and let the artist emerge... but both have collaborated well together since the last holiday and a good balance prevails...
There is a blurring now between what I write here and on my other shared blog with Elena Thomas... most of the work I'm making is towards our exhibition in October and the majority of the projects I have taught this term are reaching conclusion... Mythical Celtic illustrations, Steampunk sculptures and Floral paintings allow pupils freedom to express and develop ideas already researched... creating their own version... becoming the artists...
My own work progresses along interesting lines, moving away from shared starting points...
Here is different... I don't write for the sake of writing... words and thoughts are precious and I'm sure readers don't want to read dribble... writing generally clarifies the jumble of thoughts, ideas and resentments that I carry around... freeing me from them... creating a vacuum that needs filling with something fresh... challenging.
There is a huge requirement for teachers to think... to think fresh... minute by minute... hour by hour... day by day... and so on. I wonder how different this is in other professions? I wonder if we are alone? If the general public fully appreciates the demands of this job? If You understand? That need for originality... the New...
Thinking fresh... now there's an art. Teaching, like design agency work, has a very high burnout rate... people leaving the profession after a number of years. I'm not surprised and I don't base this on any official or recorded statistics... added to the pressure of trying to manage often-unruly, young, independent thinking, challenging personalities... no wonder! Thinking novel is a challenge...
I went on a course Tuesday of this week... hosted by Apple it posed some innovative questions for me... The event was really based around iPad's and to a degree was a commercial exercise between Apple and educators. Yet I came away feeling inspired, as though I'd learnt something new and eager to experiment with what I had been taught...
I'm not one who needs convincing about iPad's in the classroom. For the two years of my Master's course I struggled to make contact with some of the leading supporters for iPad classrooms, yet here they were on Tuesday, all assembled under one roof and ready for me to network with... and that freshness of thinking was SO evident...
I came away considering my own secondary education. Why had I switched off midway through Year 9? What had I been taught that I use regularly in my working life after school; if ever? What education now means to me, and primarily, what is my role today as an educator?
In his introduction, Michael Munn, Director for Education, Apple UK, cited an example where 500 teachers at an educational conference where given a two minute familiarization task... they were given two minutes to research a given subject... and to a person, each teacher pulled out their phone and Googled the answer...
Two points to this...
... Not one teacher asked the speaker - the teacher - for the answer!..
81% of schools in the UK do not allow pupils to use their own devices!..
Michael Munn's point was very simple... "If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow".
Fresh... particularly in light of the fact that 79% of schools believe in the technology.
If technology is to be embedded at the forefront of future education, "fresh thinking" has to be leading the way. Diehard, out dated philosophies have to be ended. New solutions that embrace technology have to trialed and implemented. The teacher has never been needed more and the pupils' journey needs to be curated to suit their needs. Learners self esteem is critical. They need to achieve on their own... lead and plan... space manage and peer coach. As educators we need to facilitate these possibilities for them, not hold them back within our own education. As the world moves forward we need to be there, leading the way...
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Schon, Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner Ashgate 1991 the comment box didn't like the umlaut on the o!
posted on 2013-03-21 by Elena Thomas
It was: Sch?Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner Ashgate 1991... the bit about reflection in action....
posted on 2013-03-21 by Elena Thomas
Bo... I can remember reading something about teachers thinking minute by minute and adapting as they go along..... Will track it down for you....
posted on 2013-03-21 by Elena Thomas
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Bo Jones., 'Test Card.', iPad painting.
# 25 [12 March 2013]
So there it is... the fundamental flaw with education today, beautifully illustrated in TES this week under the heading "The catastrophic impact of league tables for individual teachers".
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6323230
For me it serves as a warning and a highlighter of the possibilities of tomorrow... the risk we are at if we follow down the same path that appears to be so attractive to politicians, governors and the blame culture admiring press...
My eldest daughter recently failed her 11+ by one mark (which is perhaps why I am writing this) at our local Grammar school, which resulted in her not being offered a place. I'm not one to make excuses for her, but with Level 6 predictions for her SATS this summer, I would like to point out a few excusing factors on her behalf.
Four years ago last New Year I had a heart attack that resulted with me being off work for nearly 9 months. This was compounded for my daughter two years later when my partner had a bought of flu that she still has not recovered from, leaving her confined to a wheelchair with very little strength and consequently placing a huge amount of pressure on my eldest to help care for her and her younger sister. Pre-occupied with her mothers illness at a critical stage in her development, my daughter has never once complained or overtly let it effect the way she conducts herself, but I know it has had a huge impact on tiredness and her social interactions. Four years of helping ones parents who should be caring for you, is bound to take its toll...
... and yet... she is judged on one assessment.
I cannot convey her disappointment strongly enough... exacerbated by her best friend being offered a place... leaving my daughter distraught and her confidence shattered...
So what Art is there in assessment?
It strikes me that there is a certain hypocrisy in the "value" of assessment.
The Chambers Dictionary defines value amongst others as: -
1. Worth
2. A fair equivalent
3. Intrinsic worth or goodness
4. Recognition of such worth
5. That which renders anything useful or estimable
6. The degree of this quality
And assess as: -
1. To estimate, judge, evaluate (eg a person's work, performance, character).
To estimate???... character?
As a starting definition to how we assess, this cannot be suitable? Or fair?
In the last elections held in this country, the leaders of the main political parties took part in three live debates aired nationally on television. Three debates!.. Three examinations!.. If we applied the same evaluation principles on our fair leaders that are requested of us, surely Nick Clegg would now be Prime Minister; he came out the clear winner from that first debate. So why two other examinations? Why do they get the opportunity denied the majority?
Or should character count for more? Should it be applied equally?
Our system determines that we set the majority up for failure. By definition only one person can be "the best"... the rest fail. Some of my hardest working pupils will never attain the highest grades yet their work ethic and commitment are never rewarded, evaluated or appreciated by the examiners. What lesson is that for them?
I have nothing to hide. I will hold up my hands and take my part of the blame in my daughter's deemed failure. She will not hold us responsible for pushing her to do her best.
Unfortunately as the article suggests, value added doesn't really add value... it cannot be an alternative assessment criteria, as assessment as it stands doesn't do what it should or claims to do. The whole notion of testing needs radical reform.
Assessment like teaching should be an Art. My main function as a teacher is to build confidence and belief in young people who most often doubt their own abilities and lack the conviction to press forward their ideas. Assessment must start to evaluate the character rather than the work to construct a worthwhile and competent, rounded overview of individuals, or cease to be relied on as relevant judgment of ability...
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Thanks bud...
posted on 2013-03-12 by Bo Jones
So right Bo, as you often are.... it should be an art, something treated with respect and delicacy, not a one-test-fits-all, sledgehammer to crack a nut! Character - there is a word - Those children who show character, don't you love them? Even when they might be challenging to deal with, you know they will be ok in the world - as will your daughters. They have strength and character, intelligence and humour. Wherever they end up going to school they will be fine, I have no doubt, and will find their own way, a credit to their parents.
posted on 2013-03-12 by Elena Thomas
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Bo Jones., 'Time Management.', iPad painting..
# 24 [4 March 2013]
So now as I approach the busiest time of my working year, this blog becomes about the Art of Time Management as much as about the Art of Teaching! As I work forwards into the GCSE marking stage of the year, pretty much everything else stops as hours of grading kick in for me...
Yet... I still want the artist to have a little life. As vice versa, he now supports the teacher - offering relief from the comparisons, the backwards and forwards of the order of merit in the course work finally submitted... the pressure of necessity to get it right; to get the best I can for my pupils... whilst they plow on with the pressure and huge ask of the externally set exam...
... Other Year groups also need catering for... as a one man department I cannot stop teaching those who will over the next few years also seek examination... they need feeding, nourishing and challenging. Things cannot stop.
The artist works quietly; occasionally sat at the front of the room, another pupil sharing in the workspace, preparing the ideas and initial sketches for his up coming show in October - which will soon be here... An equilibrium exists for now... balance... teaching and Art harmonized...
Other students come up and question the work... discussion breaks out and new ideas evolve from their curiosity... it feeds their work to, showing them an artist at work... a teacher capable of doing what is taught... an example... an exemplar...
Things start to fit together... sense makes sense... the thoughts and storms correspond at last and slots for various tasks are allocated. Teacher teaches artist and artist teaches teacher. There is an Art in this, a pattern, a formula. Cohabitation is possible... the best of both... like sliced bread...
Structure is imperative. The pupil needs order, so why not the artist? The artist craves that adventure, that discovery. So why not the pupil? (I worry that all I do is repeat everything that I have written before, just changing the words... semantics... but for me this is process... onion skinning... layer removing until I reach that point of clarity that moves me forward... rekindles my confidence, enables my teaching... my learning... my making.
I don't know how much time I can give to this for the next few months. I will try and sustain one blog per week... if only briefly. This to is a part of my medication. This, my subconscious thought helps clarify and allows me to go home calm and whole... baggage left on the doorstep.
My second blog also needs nurturing. It carries different responsibility... occupies and illuminates the processes that I explore. It is closely linked to this... this being responsible for it's own existence... besides it has a moral voice within that questions and brings me back in the form of Elena... unlike here... yet still echoes resonance...
Education... timetable!
Timetable? Six 50 minute periods a day. Six different subjects. Six separate opportunities to time manage... Art and teaching linked. Lesson learnt. Solution found... and then the bonus of the "free"... my time... Bo time... playtime... artist time... five times a week... this time...
I have the time.
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hmmmm.... or maybe I'm just lazier than you....?
posted on 2013-03-05 by Elena Thomas
I suspect that just because you don't do the same amount of days, you do still have the same time management issues, and finding time to fit everything in is still difficult... but some would say; thats just life! What do I know?
posted on 2013-03-05 by Bo Jones
I'd better stop moaning about the 2 1/2 days I work in primary school then.... I don't know how you fit it all in.
posted on 2013-03-05 by Elena Thomas
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Bo Jones., 'The Madness of Insanity.', iPad painting.
# 23 [26 February 2013]
Do I want to write today?...
Madness sits uncomfortably on my shoulder, urging me to pour my heart and frustrations out in search of consolation and sympathy... yet my life is good and I have nothing to complain about!!!
The artist completely took over half term two weeks ago, and art once again took me to the edge of distraction. I HATE Art at times...
Do you get that? Have you felt that?..
You embark on a rich vein of research... you know you are making good progress... the work is flowing, coherent, supported with well-documented evidence... image after image moves the work forward and you intuitively know your progress is good... you feel enlightened...
There's a word... Enlightened!
You don't want to do anything else... your concentration and focus clash as those around you try and engage your attention... late nights... early starts... that sickness of creativity...
Then the crash... the doubts... the misgivings... the pressures...
What if I've got all this wrong?.. The work is crap... unconnected... the research faulty... those in the know will shoot you down... laugh at you... pull you apart... ridicule...
You check... double check... go over... revisit... and whilst you're recasting progress halts... unfounded uncertainty annihilates that feeling of earlier euphoria...
So you stop... everything stops... shut down...
It's that painful reactivation... that necessity to breathe... function... that slowly lifts you from the dense murkiness... days have passed... tolerant loved ones have bemusedly soothed, tolerated... and you awaken from the daze to try and rationally correlate your thoughts... re-adjust and re-engage with your responsibilities...
The work now sits... neatly stacked and bundled... filed and indexed... waiting patiently... baiting you enticingly... summoning you like sirens away from your duties...
I have to work... teacher is required... bills need paying... family needs caring... pupils require instruction... friends awaiting responses...
Yet... I want to submerge and bathe in the mania again...
Why?
Art is my drug... my fix... my get me up... my pick me up... it lifts me... motivates... inspires and animates me. Privileged; it is my luxury that I occupy daily...
Obsessional... addict... addiction... there's the myth, isn't there? The myth of the artist... tormented soul... I get that. Perhaps that's why I need to teach? Balance? 24/7 Art would surely lead me to the mad house...
So why not others? How do you address the balance?
We see it so often; fallen stars. Van Gogh, Pollock, Modigliani... the list is endless, yet in modern times, not such an occurrence. I pray I'm not tempting fate, but I would ask; how do you stay sane?
The teacher tells me to finish "writing up" my previous two blogs. "Let the world know about your final thoughts on your iPad training day". But the moment has past. The momentum gone... Art took over and muddled the memory... obliterated...
Is Art a drug? Certainly a form of escapism for me. Why do we make it? Why do you make it? Does it fulfill a craving, a need? Do you get a rush when you're on it? When did you first feel that? When did I first feel it?
I work in series... short attention span... three to four paintings and then move on. The iPad has changed that a bit as I can rapidly produce hundreds of images... yet I still produce series... swop... change...
I always sell the first one for a million... (in my head)... that allows me to produce more... sets me up... literally and metaphorically... fuels the fire of the fantasy... I've made it before I even start work on the second... name up in lights... glory... recognition... fame... destruction...
Should I be allowed to teach? Fantasist!
Teaching is my sedative... surrounded still by Art, yet restrained... having to focus away from the ego... sickness restrained... young minds constantly questioning sidetrack my malady... restore my reason... rationality...
... for now...
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It has taken me a while, Bo, to read and re-read this post, knowing I want to respond, yet not really knowing how. It is moving, poignant, honest, brave blogging. You've really put yourself out there. So how can I not comment, and tell you so, reassure you and say thank you?... yes, I do feel like that too. I can be very anti-social, prickly and mean to the people closest to me, just wanting to be alone with my thoughts at times. But you are right, balance is the key... real life the cure for these ills, that sometimes, don't feel like ills at all!
posted on 2013-02-27 by Elena Thomas
# 22 [7 February 2013]
Yeeeha.....! Celebration time...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/michael-gove-forced-into-humiliating-uturn-over-exam-reform-8484074.html
Sorry... bit immature I know... but great news...
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YEAH! I've hung up my bunting!
posted on 2013-02-07 by Elena Thomas
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Year 11 male pupil., 'Image 1', iPad painting.
# 21 [4 February 2013]
...continued...
I would be lying if I said everything ran smoothly. There were some interesting lessons to be learnt and a few minor teething problems lets say... but these are issues that I will attribute to the learning curve and a setup of ICT capability that I had no control over.
Throughout my introduction, pupils were distracting each other by Face Timing one another! This is of course easily resolved. By going to settings, Face Time can be deactivated, ensuring pupils can't use it... something the ICT department in the school and myself failed to think of or check. Secondly, one of the teachers who loaned us their iPad failed to turn off their email, resulting in an email being sent and circulated around the whole school!.. Again easily resolved with a simple check... my mistake...
I took these things for granted as the ICT technicians in my school sort these things in advance of me getting the hardware... good lessons learnt for future visits.
Another issue arose when it came to printing pupil's introductory images. At my school each pupil has a school email address that can be accessed from any computer/tablet through our VLE (via the active directory user account)... once again set up by the ICT department. This hadn't been set up on the iPads the students were working on in this new school, but was resolved with a quick demo from their own technician to the pupils, who were then able to send their work to a classroom computer and print. An easy option around this for future demonstrations would be to use a wireless printer and send directly to that... providing email accounts had been set up.
Once these issues had been overcome the day took off and for the most ran smoothly...
I rarely use iPads as my canvas. I try not to teach using the iPad as a canvas... it is a powerful development tool that is often compared to other software such as Photoshop... but for me it is far more than that. I tend to teach developmental skills.
I need to show pupils all options, and when the department isn't mine it's also advisable to let other staff know all the options.
From Photo Booth, work was saved onto the iPads camera roll making it accessible in all other apps. As a warm up, pupils traced their photos in a fresh app using a variety of brushes and colours (image 1) prior to printing off. I needed a starting piece of work, which generally I would have produced with groups prior to using iPads. This obviously throws up some issues - tracing work at GCSE? I'd like to debate that - a photo taken by the pupil, as I understand it, is a primary image. Illustrators, graphic designers, advertisers all use this method to produce new imagery. By introducing mark making etc, I contend that the new images produced are primary images and therefore usable. Illustrator, Photoshop, both contain these assets and have historically been used in exam work. As a starting point; its what you go on and do with the image that counts for me.
The resulting drawn images were turned into stencils using traditional paper cutting techniques before being spray painted onto cardboard and re-photo'd with the iPad.
Play time.
I'm running out of words again...
I could show pupils a 100 different apps, all of which do something slightly different. For me the whole process of using iPads stems down to a selection process... selection of app, image, manipulation, combination of apps etc. Give pupils to much choice and you cause confusion, mess and irregularity.
I had pre-selected 17 apps for the school to load onto the iPads prior to my arrival at a cost of £25... a reasonable price for a whole set of new options... film, sculpture, drawing, painting, photo manipulation and animation...
"Use your stencil photo to create something you can turn into something new..."
To be continued...
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Bo, when you start to do teaching staff cpd sessions, put me at the top of the list please!
posted on 2013-02-04 by Elena Thomas
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Year 11 male pupil., Spray paint on cardboard iPad manipulation..
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Year 11 female pupil, Collaged drawing iPad manipulation..
# 20 [31 January 2013]
This should be easy to write today, shouldn't it? But I want it to read right... I want to contaminate you with enthusiasm...
Eight years I've been working with tablet technology. Eight years I've been waiting to get into a classroom where every child has been issued an iPad/Pod... Thank you to the staff of the school who I visited yesterday, to those of you who gave up your iPad for the day to make this possible for me and the 28 pupils I worked with.
A while back I submitted a proposal to my bosses that outlined and requested the implementation of a minimum of 15 iPads (one between two pupils) to add to the four I already have in my classroom. After careful consideration, my request was turned down; with the suggestion that I get some other departments on board before resubmitting for further consideration in the future. To "play the game", I have been canvasing other departments, but the truth is that if I got them, I'd be loath to release them... I would use them every lesson...
Funding is an issue, but plenty of companies offer very competitive packages to encourage these proposals... yet evidence is also a key factor in many schools holding back on investing.
Build the evidence...
Opportunities to experience the new are sparse in this profession, yet our job is to offer fresh and supplementary encounters every lesson. When you get a chance for yourself, take it.
I don't like taking money out of other Art departments. I think the money is there for resources to inspire kids and give that opportunity not exposed to before. For me to facilitate my day's residency, my school requested that I should pay for the cover in my absence, so it was necessary for me to charge. And yet, I am a resource... a valuable resource... so it was nice that on my arrival I found the head teacher had changed the brief and requested that I worked with those who were underachieving or failing their GCSE, and had become willing to pay for my time out of his own budget. Thank you.
On our arrival, my brother introduced me to a few other people we bumped into along the corridor. "The Art room?" they asked as they tried to hide their expressions. "Good luck!"
28 GCSE pupils.
28 iPads.
6 hours.
I love fishing. Why don't I do it more - get out there, away from familiar complacency? Different establishments? Different faces? Casting my hook and slowly reeling them in. Watching their body language and expressions change as their interest awakens. What I wonder, would education be like if teacher's swopped schools more often... used their specialisms to inform and give pupils tasters... Ha! Ha!.. Maybe that's it??? Artist teacher?
?
As the students filed in, they helped themselves to an iPad. Instantly they started caressing the screen, intuitively knowing how to turn them on and Face Time one another. The more inquisitive started opening apps - behaving as I had expected them to.
None owned an iPad. Three had iPod touches. All had mobile phones. Only one pupil had ever downloaded an Art app across all platforms, confirming the research from my Masters that it tends to be a far older age range that use iPads.
They wanted to play with the familiar rather than work. My question and answer intro went down like a lead balloon. They weren't engaging with me. One female became spokesperson for the group - I suspect out of sympathy for my plight.
Give up? Run?
Secret weapon. Engage.
"I would like you to open up Photo Booth please and take a picture of yourself".
Photo Booth if you didn't know, has a number of different distortion filters that will morph your face like those magic mirrors you find in Fun Houses at the fair. It's a great starter. Save the image and you've got something to work with. Kids love to laugh at one another...
...They bit,... The hook was loaded. The room became animated. I had their attention. They wanted to know more. They became hungry for information and listened attentively as I set out the plan for the day.
Ten or so apps and six hours later, the majority of pupils had produced at least fifteen useable images each to the astonishment of their teachers, in a variety of mediums.
I am out of words!
To be continued...
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Hi Rodney. Thanks for your comment. Yes, i always seek pupils consent prior to publishing their work and for the school I just visited i also sought consent from their managers... as well as individual pupils. Generally pupils like to have their work shown. As for pupils reading this; I don't know. I don't self publicise with them. Not really sure I want them reading all my insecurities... but neither am I hiding this. Those interested tend to find I guess...
posted on 2013-02-26 by Bo Jones
Hi Bo Really liked your last post. I wanted to get your thoughts about incorporating student's work into your blog. Do student's give consent for this and do they follow your blog themselves?
posted on 2013-02-26 by Rodney Dee
Morning Bo! Great post - now wondering how I can borrow 30 iPads (and the extra budget) for my school to get you to visit me too! A couple of things jump out at me - one was the reaction of people hearing that you were heading for the art room - a place of dread? surely not! The second is your honesty.... it didn't start well.... we've all experienced this, but the temptation would have been to gloss over that bit and tell us the filtered version. This is refreshing. I'm sure I'll get to hear and see more about it over the coming days... can't wait!
posted on 2013-02-01 by Elena Thomas
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Pupil test piece., iPad /photo/paint..
# 19 [29 January 2013]
I have a rare opportunity tomorrow to try out some of my ideas in an establishment where I'm not known; where the pupils are new to me - as is the idea of working with iPads. My brother is Deputy Head in a school the other side of the country to me, and his Art department is about to implement iPad technology into some of their lessons. I am going in as a visiting artist/teacher for the day, and will be working with 28, GCSE Art and Design pupils and the Art department staff, specifically on iPads... very exciting... this the first time I venture out to try and make use of the learning I did for my Masters... the first time I have done a residency outside of my own department...
I have planned well... I know what I'm going to do with them... stencil cuts... portraiture... artist links... spray paint... video... mirror boxing... projector-ing... apps-ing... and then freedom for development so that hopefully I learn something to...
...I know I will learn...
My intention is to connect conventional practice with contemporary technology in a bid to amalgamate the work so it is difficult to determine which is the hand of the machine or that of the artist. The iPads will be used as development tools, not canvas', yet work will be initiated and originate from them also.
The last essay I wrote for my Masters discussed the integration of iPad technology into Art education, but I was criticized for not presenting enough of a difference between what I was proposing and work created within Photoshop. I presented no examples to my assessors and ultimately I concede that they were right in their summations. Here I have a possibility of correcting that view. I am so grateful to the department for inviting me; I suspect that I will probably instigate some form of excitement that may cause issues when I have left... some of what I'm going to do has been "tested" on my own pupils... but isn't that the point? Should I not be going there to create an atmosphere for "more"? And if I can trigger that in the staff also... I'll be well worth the money!
I will show examples of what is created...
Is this beginning to sound arrogant? I pray not. Its opportunity... excitement... privilege... occasion...
I shall report further...
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would love to be a fly on the wall for this performance...
posted on 2013-01-29 by Elena Thomas
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Bo Jones., 'Building Block.', iPad painting.
# 18 [22 January 2013]
I'm back to un-coding the code.
Maybe we shouldn't be called teachers... Maybe we should be called examples - exemplar? Isn't that just a better way to describe what we should be doing? Our job description?
I made a mistake with my rant last week. I stood in judgment where it was not my place to, but worse still, I talk of change, yet offer little of or any practical alternative. What kind of example is that?
I don't know if I believe that pupils learn from us anymore. They carry search engines around with them that'll dial up anything they happen to want to know... information technology - very cleverly named. I wonder who coined that expression. Yet, that's precisely what it is... An information highway where increasingly users are born with an umbilical cord driving license...
Interesting turn of phrase there...
...users...
addicts..?
junkies..?
Examples should prescribe something different... shouldn't they?
My most recent exemplar has been Marion Richardson. Introduced to me at university by another inspirational example, I became smitten with her pedagogy and simplistic teaching philosophy... though on initial first appraisal, it's anything but simple.
Is the future buried in the past?
My work appears to be finding direction at last. Inspired at Christmas by again seeing Mike Osborn's mathematical paintings that I mentioned previously, I've started pixelating and altering imagery. But its not so much that that I'm interested in... yes, I have developed a methodology using apps that create working drawings to be developed further, but it's the notion that the single pixel is the key to what I seek...the code to image making... the code to construction that must inevitably be the code to teaching...
Marion Richardson, a great advocate of child Art, meticulously deconstructed the Art of the Art room for her pupils. She pixelated paint, colour, light, dark, imagination, drawing, memory, recall, amongst a host of others, fragmenting them down into simple explanations that fired and inspired her students. Everything was brought down to its simplest form...
De-coded...
In 1917 Marion Richardson wrote in a statement to accompany an exhibition at Dudley Girls' High School by her pupils, "....drawing is a language, which exists to speak about things that cannot be expressed in words - emotional ideas about the beauty of the world, that come to us. It is these ideas and not literal and photographic representation of appearances that the artist seeks to express"...
...Inherent? Primal? Spiritual?
R. R. Tomlinson and Wilhelm Viola both describe Child Art as needing to be spontaneous, fresh and untroubled, not copied and imaginative, but also cautioned on the role of the educator and the influence that they can impose on their pupils, particularly in a historical context where students were taught by trained artists who had themselves been educated in similar fashion without the freedom of expression or creativity.
So why not just give pupils the building blocks? What would there work look like if we did that - gave them starting points to run with? What are the building blocks? What work must I make as exemplar's for this theory?
I know what I'm doing at last...
...he thinks..!
If this is about convincing a skeptical government about the worthiness of our subject then lets match their ideas with opportunities they cannot ignore. If they remain hell-bent on pushing through reform, then lets make the reform reflect the ambition of our pupils and plug into a future deserving of change.
I suspect in the not to distant future, the majority of institutions will be working with tablet technology. The technological changes already in my lifetime have been phenomenal. When I started school computers didn't exist... I'm not that old...
I hear commentator after commentator bemoaning the lack of programmers. A further marriage of the Arts with technology could give us a pivotal life jacket with those who would witness the demise of our cultural heritage... as a starting point.
Digits, letters, atoms, numbers, signs... aren't these all pixels? The educational building blocks? Add them together; you create something new... words, sentences, structures, solutions, equations.
I have my starting point...
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Thank for your comment Rob. I was using the dictionary definition with particular reference to "the ideal model", though there are other definitions I would happily run with ;- exemplar /eg-zemˈplər or -pl? noun A person or thing to be imitated The ideal model A type An example A copy of a book or other text ORIGIN: L exemplar, from exemplum example exemˈplarily adverb exemˈplariness noun exemplarity /-plarˈ/ noun Exemplariness Exemplary conduct exemˈplary adjective Worthy of imitation or notice Serving as a model, a specimen, an illustration or a warning exemplary damages plural noun (law) I concur that the "revolution" as we seem to have now termed it, must start now; indeed I feel it is already underway and gathering momentum and if I read you correctly, then yes, we need to educate pupils better in the development of their technology and not just in its use. To replace gadget after gadget just because a newer version is available seems pointless to me, but to aid young minds to engage with its future uses seems extremely commendable. If you continue to follow these posts, I hope to show how I believe a marriage between Art and technology is almost inevitable, and possibly the only way forward in maintaining its worth within education.
posted on 2013-01-27 by Bo Jones
Ah yes, Rob... But what is Rome these days? What exactly are we aiming for?
posted on 2013-01-27 by Elena Thomas
I know I get confused easily! exemplars? I googled it and it related to science and philosophy not art? but hey ....I can take these leaps of faith no problem? yeh , atoms, letters, numbers as pixels I get that, but the revolution has to be now Elenor ..doesn't it Bo? I see a technological revolution, I see a creative revolution, I see the re-mortgaged version of capitalisation extended into the lives of young talented people, who need to be educated to see outside of what their own disposable income can purchase. Neo Capitalisiatian in Europe, what is that ? Watery versions of the same global corperate muscle or a refreshing new sustainable more localised economey? Anyways, art, politcs and science all roadfs leads to Rome dont they?. .
posted on 2013-01-27 by Rob Turner
Of course I know this is all pie-in-the-sky, but also, I think there is always room for idealism and optimism, and sometimes, when idealism seems least appropriate, that's EXACTLY when you need it. Also... all us artist teachers know that when children are doing art, they're not just learning about art... no other subject is marginalised, because art is all inclusive... how about that for idealism?
posted on 2013-01-23 by Elena Thomas
Elena, I think that unfortunately the time for idealism isn't quite now though I admire your optimism. A second literacy art hour does sound good, but then aren't we just marginalising other subjects in a similar way to the EBacc. We need a solution that is all encompassing, that fits every subject so we can't be accused of hypocrisy by those that seek to justify there own unfairness...
posted on 2013-01-23 by Bo Jones
Thanks Issy... On my radar and something I intend to discuss and explore
posted on 2013-01-23 by Bo Jones
You know texts such as the Bhagavad Gita state words of wisdom translated as follows...you are only responsible for your thoughts, words and deeds...this fits nicely with the idea of being an example/exemplar. I was educated as a performance artist whereby we took what ever we can from the environment and made art with it...could we consider pixels in just the same way...as materials? IJT
posted on 2013-01-23 by Isabelle Taylor
Bo… I know we have spoken before about how primary art education - in my opinion - should be about language, vocabulary and grammar. Come the revolution, I would love to give more time to the development of this language - another “literacy hour”? What could I do if I could give each child in this school an artist teacher for an hour a day? What an amazing example would that be for them how to live life? To provide embedded culture - a favourite phrase of mine - for 210 pupils - 30 new ones every year. Think of the skills they would have; think of the brains they would have; what they would be capable of doing! Imagine how it would change the way they thought of each other, and their society. I like to think that by year 6 they would be greedy to learn, able to express fluently their ideas, thoughts, ambitions, and see ways of bringing them to fruition Learning should start with what we know, and build on that, pushing forward, challenging, but always with an eye on what is already known. One letter, one number, one pixel, one stitch, that’s all it takes to start. Don’t you think it amazing at my age that I am still an idealist about education?
posted on 2013-01-22 by Elena Thomas