Art class: Finding Balance

We were into our third week of a new school term and after meeting all 5 classes of 7 years old, I have finally met my youngest "revolt" in art class. It was during the end of art lesson and the children had to line up to return to their form class. A girl pull a long face and approached me, looking slightly distressed. She mumbled a one-word syllabus under her breath which sounds like "Ar...ar...". Finally, she exclaimed, sounding frustrated "Why don't we have Art lesson yet?" I couldn't contain my laughter and told her we had just finished one. In her exact words, she replied: "That's not Art. That's a game".

The child's comment is a great reminder for me to explore breath and depth in lesson planning as contemporary artists do work with materials, methods, conepts and subjects that challenge traditional boundaries.

In these lessons, the children worked in groups to make an artwork that show "balance" with an emphasis for teamwork and collaborative skills. They used some PE equipment, binder clips, cardboards, styroform peanuts and toothpicks, and plastic packagings. 

Housekeeping: Caring for Art Supplies

Coloured ends of markers and pens

Mirror corners with air-dry clay

I usually do an introduction of myself to a new cohort of students by sharing about myself in different contexts through photographs. What I am particularly fond of is to sneak in some artroom management rules as I talk. I showed the children how other children from another country lived differently. We discussed about school facilities and lifestyle inconvienence which are evident from the photos. Then we do a comparsion between their lives and the children in the photos. The point of the discussion is really for the children not to take things for granted. An explicit teaching of a hidden curriculum meant that the children are expected to cherish art supplies and prevent the stationeries' premature death. This year, I have the table corners painted to match the colours of the labelled art supplies. This labelling would prevent accidental theft and will require children to be more responsible when it comes to returning supplies to its rightful storage place.

No Rewards Art Class

It's the new year and I'm seeing 5 classes of 7, 8 and 9 years old each. Last year, I was trialing a No Rewards art class and I felt that it was very difficult for me with some classes. I did stick with what I had intended and I would do the same this year. There are a few reasons for this:

When I just started out teaching, I was a form teacher teaching the first grade. Naturally, I wanted to carry out the point system in my classroom as an incentive for having their work done, team work, good behaviour, doing the CORRECT correction etc. I gave out cow cash coupons, group points, auctions and fairy dust cards (You can view it here) Logistically, it was managable because I only had 30 pupils. Despite my efforts, I found my pupils self-centered and fiercely competitive. They were angels in my class but a terror in others. 

Fast forward to present day, I no longer have the luxury of time to develop rapports with pupils as though I teach only 30 of them. Given that we meet more than 400 pupils each week and the infrequency of our interactions, knowing every pupil in a conventional way is not realistic. As an art, music or PE teacher, I think our subject matter is inherently interesting. Therefore, I insist in a no rewards classroom because coming to class is a reward by itself. That said, most of the leverage will come from the teacher and the most important area is our lessons that must somehow be noteworthy. Bribing pupils to behave in return for rewards sends the wrong message and interferes with the intrinisc value of joyful learning.

As an art teacher, I have the privilage of interacting with other teachers and by entering their classrooms, I have observed that teachers who hardly focus on external rewards have pupils who have better self-regulation skills. I do not assume that this one strategy is enough to create ready learners but for this post, I would just like to focus on this.