Artventure: Fellowship programme 2018/19

Hello friends! I've been involved in the A4G fellowship programme organised by the Singapore International Foundation. The focus this year is on how Arts can be harnessed to empower the youth in our communities. We had a webinar on 31 Oct where the fellows from 10 different time zones participated. The Singapore exchange happened between 20 and 23 Nov and we all met in person. The activities included trips to visit Singapore's Arts and Heritage, Katong and Joo Chiat. I discovered that there is an artist residency at Kim Choo Artiste Residency which I think is quite a brilliant idea! Who would have thought of a Bazhang* business would branch out into an artist residency?

📸: SIF

Ondeh ondeh 📸: SIF

Our Tree of Life assignment. Wonderful interpretation by everyone. 📸: SIF

Learning Journey of Esplanade led by Mr Ravi

At Playeum 📸: SIF

📸: SIF

📸: SIF

Although our days ended at 9.30pm almost everyday, the exchange was energising, spirtual and rigorous. In just four short days, I could see and feel the stoic determination of each. Everyone is positive and hopeful. Since the glocal issues are man-made, then only we can derive the solutions. Since nobody knows everything, it is only by learning to work collaboratively, paying attention and being forgiving that people can develop empathy.

*Bazhang is rice dumping.

Art Class: Misc activity

During the exams, teachers have their timetable suspended and we have a new timetable to follow. Since I'm given the same classes that I'm teaching (just different time/ day), I will explain to the children the reason I'm seeing them twice this week! If I hear them go YAYYYY, then it is good news!

One of the lesson ideas for Primary One children is to get out of the four walls and be a suncatcher. I got them to observe two images. One of which is a child's long shadow and an adult's short shadow and asked them to explain how they think this phenomenon came about. Some of them have the misconception of a taller person would automatically have longer shadows. It's interesting to hear their justifications by comparing and contrasting the images. After looking at some shadow artists' artworks, the children made their own shadows on the projector screen. As the sun is not too deadly at this time of the year, the children took turns by working in pairs to capture their hand shadow at the corridor or the courtyard. 

Art Club: Puffy Paint & Tote Bags

In the beginning of year, the Primary 3 art club children participated in an activity organised by the National Heritage Board. There are different tasks assigned to each of the five professions and children are to complete any three tasks belonging to the profession to earn a badge. One of the tasks require the children to design a tote bag on paper but we managed to have the real thing so the children tried painting using puffy paint and fabric markers. The downside of using puffy paint is..though the packaging instructions state that hair dryer will increase the volume of the paint, it will take a loooong time. I was glad that I had a heat gun at home as it decreases labour time significantly and my colleague, Humaira had to use the heat gun on all the students' work. The results are stunning if the children are patient when applying the puffy paint!

Art class: Discussion on Contemporary Issues

Last week, all teachers gathered in small groups for an (invisible) roundtable discussion. We deliberated on Social Cohesion as the main theme.

The meaning of contemporary issue is public discourse. Discourse is a fancy word for discussion. For example, if you are debating with your family whether to have dinner at ION Orchard or Tampines Mall, that's a discourse. However, when discussions focus on national issues which in turn will affect a larger population, they are part of a discourse.

If everybody were always agreeable and cooperative, there might not be a need for public discourse. In reality, people come in all shapes and sizes. Add in racial, ethnic and spiritual backgrounds which would inevitably influence one's beliefs and opinions. What if everyone does as they wish with no regards to the consequences? It would be in absolute chaos and not how you would think a nation should be run. So, to ensure that we are still a functioning society, there need to be law, order and social expectations and these can derive through public discourse.

Discussions such as these are very common in the art realm. That's why we have contemporary art. In 2013, the play "Cook a Pot of Curry" was inspired by a story of a Singapore Indian family, who had to cook curry less frequently after their new neighbours from China complained about the smell was reported in the press. In 2017, the play "Normal" talks about the educational system where its playwright, Faith Ng, was once a Normal stream student. My favourite is "Grandmother Tongue", watch the trailer here. 

The point about Social Cohesion could stem from this article and this book. Many teachers gave their inputs based on personal experiences and what they have seen on social media. I think children are capable of understanding contemporary issues and the arts are suitable vehicles to facilitate these discussions. You can see some of my attempts to incorporate contemporary issues in my lessons here and here. That said, global goals are closely related to contemporary issues. These are 17 goals towards a better world that world leaders have agreed upon in 2015.

A challenge that could arise to discuss contemporary issues is the degree of conviction of teachers. There is also a possibility of rejection of such issues from the learners when it is non-examinable. Thus, I see the logic of developing lifelong learners. 

Housekeeping: Coloured Markers

Discovered another way of managing and distributing markers to the different groups. The toilet roll tubes were hot-glued onto the cardboard trays. It would be great if I could spray paint the tubes to match the colour of the markers.  

Reads: What the art teacher reads

Welcome to a new tab of 'Reads'! This column will serve to record at least a learning point from the books that I've read. These books could be related to the arts or education or anything in between.

Taken from: Winning With Honour by Lim Siong Guan & Joanne Lim, pg. 358

My friend, T, recommended this book. The father and daughter team co-wrote a book that's really easy on the eyes. The layout of the book is such that the left side of a spread is always a summary of the content on its right. The summary consists of mainly bullet points, graphics and bolder fonts. 

The above image of a cycle caught my eyes because my school is big on growth mindset and this graphic is like an extension of the growth mindset for adults. Young children are naturally curious and learning is innate. I think a teacher's role is to channel these curiosities into meaningful ventures. Sometimes, I observed a curious child staring intently at something that caught her/ his interest and the reactions from the accompanied adults. The desire of knowing is so intense that I wonder if adults can sustain that comparable amount of that curiosity. 

That said, learning for adults usually comes with knowing the purpose. I think it's either a push or pull factor. Since people have learnt to be pragmatic, most people have learnt to weigh inputs and outputs. What good would it do to do something that only a few see the benefit in? A transactional mindset. You do something, you expect results. If the results exceed the inputs then it's a bonus. If that bonus results from chance, an accident, then perhaps more effort is invested to see if that bonus can be replicated. If so, it becomes a formula. 

Someone told us that as teachers, we can never be paid enough for what we do. That is true. In the above diagram, I think the most unfortunately domain to reside in is 'unconscious incompetence'. My own interpretation of that is you don't know what you do not know (yet). I guess the point about learning is gradually uncovering what you do not really know yet and not repeating formulas.

In a way, learning is to a large extent associated with self-awareness. Nobody can force you to learn something if you are not keen in mastering a skill. How you learn a skill is also important. For example, it could be self-taught or from someone that you are keen to hear from. Next, to enable learning is to disable ego. To dissipate judgement, fear and ego meant that learning can be achieved in a peaceful manner.  

Art Class: International Dot Day

It's Dot Day this week! An American teacher started Dot Day on 15 September 2009, he read the story "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds to his classes to encourage creativity, courage and collaboration. It sits well into our first art lesson for the second semester. Our class discussion led children to just make a mark no matter how intimidating a task appears to be as every expert was once a beginner. I also made a time-lapse video to show children the painting process. 

Art Class: Clay Food II

In my most active class, I had my pupils play a game with the concept similar to weaving patterns. While some pupils held on to the ropes across each other, others had to go over and under the ropes alternately. By including the time element, they treat this as a game and this activity would facilitate my explanation of paper weaving. Some children had the experience of doing paper weaving in kindergarten and they were given the option of cutting wavy lines. I used the time to talk about 'contrast' in their colour choice. 

I discovered that beginning my lesson with a game followed by the lesson outcome usually aids my explanation. It could be due to the movement and fun that the children had experienced which helps them to focus better.

Art Club: Mark Making

Primary Two children did mark making with unconventional materials. They explored different ways to make marks and learnt from observing their friends. I gave them specific instructions not to let paint touch their hands because I know a few will. So if I do allow them to touch the paint, they will probably use their whole arms! Prior to individual work, the children painted on canvas and we had a class discussion by comparing the paintings.

Art Club: @ Makers Faire

Art Club pupils participated in a Strawbees Challenge at the Makers Faire last week. There were students' prototypes displayed at the perimeters of the booth with some incorporating electronics and recycled materials. I like how the children took initiative to interact with the facilitators whom they are seeing for the first time. This authentic experience of holding a conversation with people beats punching letters on smartphones. They would also need to describe more about their artwork to the judging panel. I'm also very thankful for their parents for making the time and effort to support their children's interest.