Reads: What the Art Teacher Reads

 

Hi! I've contributed to a biannual e-magazine for teachers. Sometimes, I adapted teaching ideas from the issues that were published. It goes way back to 2012 and it's nice to see how the content has developed over the years.

Reads: The Allegory of the Cave

Happy 2021! 

When I first heard of Plato's Cave, I thought it was a memorable story relating to life. If you do some research, there are some slight variations of the story online. But here's my understanding:

Plato the Greek Philosopher wanted Socrates to compare the effects of education and the lack of it. So, he told him to imagine some people imprisoned in a cave. Without natural lighting in it, the interior was damp and dark. They have always live there, oblivious to the outside world. 

All the people could see were the shadows cast by a fire behind them. The shadows were things that belonged to the people. The inhabitants were fascinated by the reflections of the objects (animals, plants, people). They assumed that the shadows were real and that if they pay attention to them, they would be successful in life. For the cave dwellers, the shadows were their reality. The people discussed about the shadows and had taken pride in their sophistication and wisdom. 

One day, someone managed to leave the cave, into the open space. The natural light would first be overwhelming. Everything would be overly illuminated and gradually his eyes adjusted and he encountered the real forms of all objects which he had formally falsely known of as shadows. He saw actual flora and fauna, colours of the sky, texture of the tree bark. He observed the stars and took in the vastness of the universe. 

With his new discovery, the man returned to the cave to attempt to share his new knowledge with his companions. Along the way, he needed to once again navigate the darkness while his eyes adjust. The man would try to convince the rest that what he had experienced was better than life in the cave. Instead, his intention was not taken well.

The symbolism in the allegory alerts us to the nature of perception. What we see or think we know might not always be the truth. 

That said, if we behave like the man who went out of the cave and bluntly tell our students or even parents that they are wrong, we get nowhere, cause offense and may put people in difficult situation. 

The solution is education according to Plato using the inquiry method pioneered by Socrates known as Socratic Method. Because it's a gentle process, often investigating the answers together by thinking and interacting. The students may be oozing with confidence saying that they had already know the answer to which you have to remain patiently kind. Bring them back on track if they go off topic. It takes time to chat about the same topic drawing out students' thoughts. 

This method is built on the confidence that with nurturing, students can develop critical thinking and detect flaws in their reasonings. As a teacher, we can gently draw their attention to tricky issues because nobody can learn if we make them feel bad about themselves. 

Cool sites to explore

Hi Teachers

These are some cool links that I've came across. A pity there were a lot more but most of the links doesn't work anymore. Will continue to add on to the list:

https://thisissand.com/ 

https://bomomo.com/

https://drawastickman.com/

Artventures: Art Teachers as Bloggers Part 2 Q&A

Hi Teachers!

The school holidays have officially started and I hope you'll have a well-deserved break.

I retrieved the Zoom chat history under documents in my laptop and I'm answering some questions here which I didn't have a chance to during the live Q&A during e-AEC.

How do you know what to post?

Your intentions matter because that is what sustain your blog. Otherwise, it's very easy to start with a bang and ends with a whimper. My early blogs are here and here. I had two blogs for multiple reasons. First, I was teaching English, Math and Art to different classes so I wanted a platform to consolidate my observations and learning. Another reason is to communicate with the parents/ caregivers. If the parents knew what the children were learning in the classroom, they would be in a better position to help their own kids without texting me every other evening. Here's an email from a caregiver after our meeting:

To answer the question, I know what to post because I know my intentions and my audience. 

How often do you post? How much content is in each post? 

Once a week. No fixed rule. It's your blog! I mainly talk about one idea per blog post but it could be a post that needed some time to write. For example, if I were sharing about a lesson unit then it would be after a period of time when I've ended my lesson and then consolidate my thoughts and photos to prepare a post. For units that are too lengthy, I would separate them into different parts such as Part 1/ Part 2 in the blog title.

What are the platforms to get started?

Wordpress

Wix

Blogspot

Tumblr

Medium

I'm sure that there're other platforms that I have yet to try. It really depends on your user experience. There's no need to master coding to be able to blog. Choose the one that suits your style. For blogspot, there are some changes to the interface recently so you just need to adapt to the changes once in a while when using the hosting domain.

How do you make time for the blog?

I really want to say that I have more 'me' time compared to teachers who are parents. But we are all in different stages of our lives so it's actually pointless to compare. I have teacher friends who are parents so I know the amount of work in parenting. That said, I also put a lot of value on how I spent my time. 

Since we all have the same amount of time to spend, it's important to have awareness of what keeps you going. Writing for me helps me to clear my headspace and is a therapeutic exercise. In fact, after writing, I feel more productive. I don't proclaim that I'm a writer or possess extraordinary writing skills, I'm still happy to able to express my opinions and do reflection. If you beg to differ, then look for another avenue that would sustain your interest. 

Other habits that I have are to limit binge-watching movies, TV programmes or scrolling through social media feeds. Even if I do post on social media, I would just post and exit. Rest assured that I do have friends, since I do keep in touch with my friends, why would I still need to keep up with the social media posting? So, I don't. Another habit is I don't hang out with my friends every evening. Personally, I think this is a very time-consuming activity and it's very draining for me. However, this activity can also energise you depending on your personality. Time is really limited during the weekdays so I need to prioritise by going for Pilates classes and having adequate sleep and nutrition to function well and keep myself healthy.

Will your colleagues think that you are trying to "sell" and market yourself? Will it create a competitive spirit within your unit if someone doesn't like it?

I don't think this has happened to me because my intentions are to help others understand my work. In fact, I think this is a good sharing platform for people who prefer to be self-directed or too afraid to ask for help. Having a platform like this means you're vulnerable to a certain extent and you've to be prepared to accept more criticisms. As long as there is clarity, you'll have peace within. 

That's all! 

Artventures: Art Teachers as Bloggers

Hi! It's the first time that I'm participating in the Arts Education Conference this year. My title for the conference is Art Teachers as Bloggers as it's something I've tried and tested for some years now. Each participant was appointed a mentor to give us feedback. I also have my critical friends to practise our online Zoom sessions.

The session that we were in was known as Pop-Up 10. They were interactive live-streamed sessions conducted via Zoom. Individual arts educators will “pop-up” in each virtual room to share and discuss key ideas, research studies or strategies on how to creatively engage learners in learning.

In my next post, I'll attempt to address some questions which I didn't have time to during the live session. Please check back! 

Art Class: Comics Drawing

 

Hi Teachers! Here's a lesson for the last 2 weeks of school. It's simple to carry out and some children who might be absent during class due to the year end prize giving rehearsals can catch up easily through the video. The children can also choose between a 3-panel or 4-panel comic templates. 

Art Class: Colouring with Lines

 

The children are learning to colour with lines. We reviewed the different types of lines and watched a video on how to apply them in colouring. I like using A3-sized papers with the younger children as it allows them to draw sizable objects. My art tutor used to say coloured pencils are the hardest medium to master for young kids. It's quite unimaginable since it is such a common practice for children to own coloured pencils. I hardly use them in art class because first, the children would take too much effort to cover the entire drawing paper and many would complain that their wrists are tired. 

Another reason is the different brands of coloured pencils yield different amount of colour pigments. There are some types where no matter the amount of strength you exert to colour, the colours would always appear very faint. The visual impact is futile. Furthermore, they would appear almost invisible on digital images. Coloured markers were provided for the children to prevent the mentioned disparities. I want the children to feel proud of their achievements and more confident with each project.