Reading Reflection- “Imagining and Playfulness in Narrative Inquiry” by Vera Caine and Pam Steeves- 3.8.2010
The authors of “Imagining and Playfulness in Narrative Inquiry” use the metaphor of a kite to illustrate imagining, play, and interplay. First, they tell the story of Pam, who reminisces about “playing pretend” with her sister during her childhood while her military family moved to different provinces. The authors discuss play as “a medium which allows for exploration of self,” and play as children’s interactions with their environments. They also discuss how imagination comes from tying together all of your experiences, stories, and encounters. They compare our relationships throughout our lives with the kite-flyer’s relationship to the kite, that they must always be “wakeful and attentive” of the other. The authors discuss narrative inquiry, or the understanding of life and life experiences through stories. They discuss how like a kite, our relationships, stories, and experiences all help to expand our worlds and consequently, our imaginations. Imagination is tied to memory because without memories of people, places, and things, a child is not cognitively capable of imagining and playing “pretend.”
While this article was not really to my personal taste, it did resonate with me, as I used to love to “play pretend” with my brother, who is two years younger than me, when we were younger. We would pretend that my closet was a time machine, and like the article said, the reason we did this was because of our memories and what we already had learned. If we had not read books about time machines, it probably would not have crossed our minds to pretend that my closet was a time machine. Both my brother and I had very big imaginations as children, but we would not have been as imaginative if our mom had not read us so many stories and taken us to so many different places.
I also agree with the part of the article that discusses how our relationships with other people and our relationships with the places we have lived and been are what form our memories, and in turn, feed our imaginations. I am still inspired most today by the people I have met and the relationships I have had, and I think that forming relationships with others is such a big part of life in general, because of this quote from the movie “Into the Wild:” “Happiness: only real when shared.”
Reflection: NAEA- “Learning in a Visual Age” (Part 2) 2.21.2010
In “Learning in a Visual Age,” the authors discuss how art education can be especially beneficial for students who struggle in other subjects or are learning to speak English. Schools and museums are both very important to the position that the arts have in a community. In order for every student in the United States to be able to have the best possible art education they can have, it is important that we conduct more research on what effective art education looks like. Many studies have been conducted on science and other areas of education, but there have been very few studies conducted on art education. Art education teaches students about visual space relationships, the ability to self-reflect, and the ability to experiment. It also has served as a motivator for students who were considering dropping out of school. It is important that the Federal government begins to measure schools’ progress by the visual arts as well as math and reading, include art education studies in research and data collection, and encourage good relationships between art teachers and teachers of other subjects.
I agree with everything I read in “Learning in a Visual Age,” especially what the authors wrote about how students who are struggling in other areas often do well with art and art education. I also agree that students who are learning English as a second language can thrive in the visual arts. When I went to El Salvador over winter break, I taught art classes to the children there. I speak virtually no Spanish and they spoke virtually no English, but we were able to communicate visually- I was able to show them how to complete projects without even speaking. I believe that art is a universal language, which is one more reason why it is so imperative that the government brings back art to American schools. I also have noticed that there are not many studies focused on art education when I had to find empirical articles for one of my classes last semester. I feel like this is because it is more difficult to judge achievement in visual art classes than it is in math and reading classes. You cannot necessarily test students when it comes to visual art, as personal taste, effort, etc. all need to be taken into consideration, and none of those things are measurable.
I believe that the arts benefit everyone. They give people a way to express themselves without having to put their feelings into words. I sometimes find that when I am feeling something that I cannot express in words, I make my best and most moving artwork. As I have already mentioned, art can remove language barriers. It can be used to help us understand where others are coming from culturally and emotionally. Arts benefit children who may feel “dumb” because they find math and reading more difficult than their peers, and they benefit children and people who are looking for a way to validate what they are feeling. Art can be used as a tool to help people with mental disabilities or diseases to cope with their problems through expression. Art is accepting of everyone, regardless of where they are coming from, because anyone can create art and artwork cannot truly be judged.
Reflection: NAEA- “Learning in a Visual Age” 1.26.2010
Summary: This article addresses the importance of visual arts education in today’s society. In recent years, the emphasis on standardized testing and the emphasis of math and science in commercial business have caused many schools to put arts education on “the back-burner.” It is crucial that, as art educators, we emphasize the importance of art education in today’s society. Art education teaches students to become more creative and innovative in their thought processes, to understand different people and cultures, and to appreciate the world aesthetically. Art education also teaches students to look beyond the way the world is and to realize the possibility of improving that world for everyone in the future. Art education teaches students to critically observe this surroundings through looking at the imagery that pervades everyday life and it teaches students the importance of diversity by showing them that for every problem, their can be an infinite number of creative solutions. Excellent art teachers are capable of teaching students to observe their surroundings, to “learn from their mistakes”, and to be creative and innovative when approaching a solution to a problem. Effective teachers also need to enable a understanding, safe, and fun learning environment and need to be able to adapt to the unexpected.
Questions: 1) Through engaging with art, students can expand their knowledge of innumerable people, places, and things without even having to leave a room. When a student interacts with visual imagery, they can learn about other people and where they are coming from in terms of their cultural and historical background. In this respect, art education can help produce peace between different cultures and peoples through compassion and understanding. Students learn through experimentation with different materials and mediums that there are an infinite number of solutions to every problem and that there are no “right” answers. 2) Art is important in the schools because while math and science can provide students with the concrete tools to solve a problem, only the arts “force” students to utilize their creativity. Without art education, everything would be uniform and dull. Art education begets diversity, which makes the world beautiful. Art education teaches children that their uniqueness is what makes them special and irreplaceable and gives every individual person a purpose of contributing their own unique gift to the world.
I loved this article; it reminded me a lot of Eliot Eisner’s “Ten Lessons” that art teaches children, which I find very inspirational. My favorite part of the “Ten Lessons” is that Eisner ends by saying that art education’s position and place in United States’ public schools shows children what adults believe is important. Art education causes children to be more observant and understanding of their surroundings, to solve problems creatively, and that their lives are unique and irreplaceable in their ideas, talents, and purposes.
Riley's EDCI407 