Generational teaching: turning art students into lifelong learners

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2005 by Kimberly B. Severance

Did you ever notice the same parents always attend art events? Those same parents also visit during open house.

Conversely, other parents never participate in the arts and may even demonstrate art phobia! Perhaps these parents, former students themselves, know what we need to know. Art teachers do a great job of making art a part of a student's school week but how often does it become part of a student's life? Not as often as we would like.

The goal of educators is always to create lifelong learners. How can we make our students become lifelong learners in art? My answer to this is what I call "generational teaching." In short, doing anything and everything that involves and instructs both parents and children.

Why is this necessary? It's true that the field of art education has improved dramatically over the years. We now have national standards for art education (for a listing of them, go to www.getty.edu/artsednet/resources/ Scope/Standards). We incorporate critical-thinking skills and use discipline-based art education (DBAE) theory. These components enable our art programs to present art as it fits in with all other academic areas and our culture. We now do a better job explaining why art is important. These improvements can be furthered with the following generational activities.

THE ART MUSEUM SHOW Focusing on art careers, our fifth-grade students learned about all the careers available in an art-museum setting. Special focus was placed on positions that would be filled during the project-based activity of putting on a museum-type show.

As the project unfolded, the students set to work at their jobs. The curator decided on the theme of the show and what the show would look like including the color of the walls. Another grade of students acted as artists and filled out a simple resume and artist statement to accompany their art. The fifth-grade jurors learned about the jurying process and selected the art for the show. The preparators hung the show with creative input from the curator. The educators created an exit survey for visitors to fill out. The survey provided input on ways to improve future shows and demographic information. The curator developed an academic brochure for the visitors.

Each student involved learned the responsibilities of the other jobs. An insightful article on artist rejection was also shared with students to remind them that if one door doesn't open for them, there are other doors to try. Never give up!

The annual district art show was the setting for the show opening. Many student-artists came with their families to see their work on display. All the participating students enjoyed the project, learned a great deal about art careers and had great fun, too!

ARTISTIC SCARECROWS Our local home and garden center has an annual scarecrow contest. Focusing on Visual Arts Standard 4 (visual arts in relation to history and culture) the students created a different scarecrow-artist in each class. Students worked at six different tables to create a part of the project, then the parts were put together to form a whole. Included on each scarecrow was a brief summary that included the name of the artist and a few tidbits about the art. All 600 of my students were able to participate and it was a great community event!

GIANT CHESS GAME Teaching the game of chess and making a giant chessboard is a great collaborative project for two teachers. One can teach the strategy of chess while the other facilitates creating the chessboard and pieces. The board can be created out of corrugated cardboard and the pieces can be made out of quart-size milk containers and papiermache. The fun really begins when the parents can play along with students at the annual art show or curriculum fair. This project incorporates Visual Arts Standard 6 (connections among visual arts and other disciplines).

INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS These displays can be placed on a bulletin board in the art room during an open house, at an art show or at a curriculum fair. Art-museum educators commonly use inquiry-method tours. The Visual Art Standard here is 5 (analyze, interpret and evaluate artwork). To create an inquiry-method display, select a combination of art prints that are either important to know (works by Picasso, for example) or an interesting mix. Include inquiry-method questions and activities for the parents and children to work from.

Examples are:

* Compare/contrast two pieces of art.

* Discuss other mediums (materials) that could have been used to create the art.

* Discuss which art pieces the students or parents would like to have in their own home and why (plant the seed about art collecting).

* Tell a story about one of the paintings or sculptures. Explain the characters, setting and plot.

* Which art is the oldest, newest, biggest, most interesting, most meaningful, etc. (many of these do not have wrong answers; learning how to discuss art is the goal here).

* Have a treasure hunt. Ask parents and students to find objects in the art.

* Describe a work of art using one emotion.