Erin Knutson and Professor Donna Kay Beattie, Art Education

While in London, I visited Aimee Mills at the Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls. Aimee is the area head and after observing her classroom, she allowed me to observe Paul Allison’s classroom. This interested me as Paul also had a student teacher. I was able then to observe not only Aimee, but Paul and the student teacher. This gave me greater insight, because I observed various teaching styles. Students in Great Britain if similar to these classes, also seem to be better behaved. I was able to view classroom management techniques, lesson plan ideas, and past projects. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph student work, nor include Aimee’s lesson plans in my ORCA project, because she wished them to be for my use only. Lesson plans for her school are set up much like ours in the US. There are objectives, aims of the lesson, standards, vocabulary, activity plans, assessment, and evaluation.

Their assessment techniques, however, are much more involved than ours in the US. Students are required to pass a rigorous art examination at the end of their term. This test is both written and practical, usually a portfolio review, and is graded on what we might call “a state level” by examiners not affiliated with the school. Lesson plans also differ in the sixth form (similar to our Advanced Placement) in that they require the student to expand a single idea/theme rather than focus on a specific technique. Aimee requires the following for the students’ sketchbooks:
1. Title page
2. Artist statement (complete with photo of finished project)
3. Brainstorming page including concept map
4. Magazine images that relate to your concept map
5. First artist biography, style, and why he/she worked in that style
6. Example of above artist’s work
7. Replication of example with discussion on what you see, and a critique of the artist’s original work
8. Take the example and make it your own. Discuss.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 with a second artist
10. Complete three primary source drawings/paintings in three different media with photographs of originals. Statement of why those images represent your idea (e.g. The student is exploring floral and leaf patterns in textiles, so you replicate actual leaves.)
11. Repeat steps 5-8 again with a different example (e.g. you research pattern with flowers and people, look at work of Egon Schiele and his nudes)
12. Repeat step 10 for idea that evolved from step 11
13. Explore initial ideas for your final product
14. Take photographs of your own ideas. Draw, paint, explore
15. Now put ideas together, practicing your chosen medium (e.g. draw first, then explore block prints). You must explore at least three variations of media.
16. New Artist (repeat above)
17. New Artist (repeat above)
18. Develop your idea–color swatches, variations of size
19. Explore your chosen medium, practice using and becoming familiar with that medium
20. Think the project through– materials, special considerations (printing produces an OPPOSITE)
21. Try variations of color in the actual medium–do experiments
22. Take the project to the next level (e.g. instead of just printed fabric, create a shirt in an original design)
23. Do several sketches of your ideas in color
24. Find magazines and other artists that support your idea
25. Make a mock up of your final idea
26. Take photographs of you finalizing your piece, discuss the process.
27. Include final outcome
28. Each example must have at least one paragraph of discussion
29. Complete an essay on what your project is about (compare your artists)

From this, I have learned that making connections in and through art is the main theme for Art Education in Great Britain. Students are successful as they link projects together to create and explore a single concept. This research has helped me in my student teaching experience, as I created a lesson plan incorporating the state requirements in commercial art into one term-long project. Teachers must instruct students in the following skills: grid drawing techniques, various media, Photoshop tools and techniques, InDesign tools and techniques, and professionalism in the workplace. I incorporated all necessary state-required skills in the following manner: Students were introduced to surrealism as an art form. Students were then asked to create their own concept of a dream, incorporating details that held symbolic meaning. They wrote in their sketchbooks a description of their “dreamscape.” Students then were taught grid drawing techniques. They had to chose one element from their dreamscape and re-create it three separate times, once using prisma colored pencils, once using collage, and once using Photoshop tools. A class critique offered solutions to various problems students encountered. Students were then instructed on more involved Photoshop techniques and required to scan one of their grid drawings into the computer and implement it into their surrealist dreamscape. Other images needed for their dreamscape could be found online. Students then placed their dreamscape images into a magazine spread they created with instruction in InDesign. The text for the magazine article was a criticism article the students wrote on their own dreamscape, allowing students to experience both the part of the artist and the critic. The most successful students had the entire project placed into an art exhibit for Timpanogos High School. This teaching style has greatly improved my students’ learning, because they see a reason for an artwork, rather than simply creating small and simple projects to teach a state requirement.

Due to the nature of student teaching, I am still in the process of writing my article for Arts and Activities Magazine. I plan to complete and submit all associated lesson plans by March 2008. I could not have gained this wealth of knowledge without physically being in the classroom to observe teaching styles, assessment tools, and completed artwork. I also plan to present my research to the Art Education Department through the National Art Education Association Student Chapter. I have already contacted the chapter president and anxiously await a response. This will allow me to introduce ideas gleaned from my research to future art educators.