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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Blog 4

The Most Challenging Part of the Filbert Street Garden Project

The most challenging part of the Filbert Street Garden Project has also, not by accident, been one of the most meaningful. I am referring to the challenge we all accepted as we embarked on the mission associated with this course and its related projects: the call to engage community partners in a way that we are not merely completing projects we see as useful, but in listening to and engaging community members in a way that recognizes the fact that they know, better than we can, what it is that they need. Furthermore, along the same lines, realizing that we have a lot more to learn from them than they from us. In theory, I know we all agreed with this approach but, given the combination of factors involved, filling this void is a lot more difficult that it sounds. For example, it is hard to break habits (especially when breaking those habits means going against the grain of mainstream ways of engaging socially). Also, their are an array of logistical hurdles that come along with being a typical college student. One simple example, is the ability to transport oneself to events and to meeting locations. Despite these challenges, all of our groups (and the class more generally) eventually found ways to engage in the types of listening and deliberation needed to do the meaningful work we set out to do.

One of the ways that this problem has manifested itself is in the way that we have had to go back to the drawing board because for some reason or another we have designed something that has not taken into account whether the thing we designed is actually well suited to the needs of the Filbert Street Community Garden. For example, we have had ideas that have, on paper, been brilliant; but lack consideration of factors such as whether or not it's something that community gardens stakeholders have the financial (or human) resources to maintain. Another thing that some of our initial proposals lacked was an even more important factor, that is, whether or not what we proposed was something that community garden stakeholders might see as even remotely relevant to their needs. After some useful discussions about these types of issues, every proposal that was initially put forward was either adjusted to reflect these types of factors, or simply put on the back burner to make way for things that were more relevant to the community we have been working with.

Comparison: The Great Kids Farm and The Filbert Street Community Garden

In comparing the Filbert Street Community Garden (FSCG) to the Great Kids Farm (GKF) one of the things that stands out to me is the immeasurable role played by the passion and voluntaristic impulse of the people in and around these places. My previous blog post on the the Filbert Street Community Garden, FSCG, has ample of evidence of this from the work of people like Rodette Jones and those who work with her. The Great Kids Farm, GKF, is no less significant in how it reflects this spirit of voluntarism and generosity. The person who conducted our tour, Beth Mathie, was typical of the same type of voluntaristic spirit and deep commitment to the mission of community service. Ms. Mathie expressed a level of passion about her work that exceeded anything one would find in someone merely doing a job to make a living. Everytime she talked about her outreach to Baltimore city schools and the effort to help students from these schools experience life-changing ideas, she would exude (in her expressions and mannerisms) an authentic and inspiring sense that the work being done the GKF was truly meaningful. One piece of evidence that indicates how effective she and others have been in this regard is the fact that just as we arrived, there was team of about 30 to 40 UnderArmour employees preparing to engage in volunteer work for the GKF. In addition to volunteering, Their company has apparently also given a significant amount of money towards the construction of certain things that the GKF needs.

Both the Great Kids Farm (GKF) and the Filbert Street Community Garden (FSCG) serve crucial roles in the education of students from local schools. They are both involved in partnerships with local schools in order to engage children in science education through experiential learning opportunities. Both of these programs ( The GKF and the FSCG) have their greatest impact when it comes to at risk, underserved Baltimore City youth who rarely get exposure to opportunities to get outside of their less than rosy environments. The stories we heard about the response of these students to learning aspects of school related subject matter in the real living laboratories of a farm or community garden are dramatic demonstrations of why this sort of process should continue to expand.

When it comes to taking care of wildlife, both of these institutions have become a generous sanctuary for unwanted animals. For FSCG, this generally takes the form of chickens, ducks, geese, and beehives; while the GKF has strong penchant for adopting goats. They both take in stray animals whose owners no longer have the means to take care of. The FSCG has even had people just throw these animals over the fence without permission. In any event, these animals are well taken care of and all contribute to the environment in their own unique way. One can only imagine how delighted young children are by the sight of the playful animals. Even we, as college students, could not help but become entranced by the mysterious noises and strange social interactions of the animals. For example, at the Filbert street community center, we saw the unexpected social interaction between chickens, ducks and geese (and even a few colonies of honey bees).

While, at the Great Kids farm, we witness organic lawn mowers, A.K.A. the goats, munching on weeds and grass. (apparently, they rotate the locations of the fenced areas at the farm in order to make efficient use of the favorite pastime of the goats (i.e. eating).

All of the activities of the FSCG point towards helping young people and the community at large to see themselves as stewards of nature and healthy nutritional standards. According to Beth Mathie, one of the goals of the GKF is to “to allow children to connect deeply to the sources of their food, and commit to leading their communities towards a healthier, greener future.”

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Blog 2

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

...

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

...

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

(from “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” by John Keats)

What is the takeaway for you after reading?(1)

The story of the young Christopher Hernandez and the inspiring pivotal role he played as a member of the Kids of Survival (KOS) collective, serves as an example of the type of sublime passion that can be drawn from public art. Despite the restrictions imposed by hardship, followed by a life cut short way too soon, both Christopher and the poet John Keats continue to guide us, like stars, into the freedom land of creativity and imagination.

Describe the overarching emphasis of the article that you chose

In this light, Mr. Rollins inspires us to think deeply about what should motivate us to “Do good.” He reminds, with authenticity and insight, that we should not embark upon efforts to “help” others in a glib way. He emphasises the need to invest deeply, and creatively, in changing the world without the casual pretence that we are “going into the ghetto to help poor children of color” for a couple of weeks. The key, and overarching importance, behind what Mr. Rollins has to say is the need truly feel the reality of the injustice that needs to be remedied.

What do you think an artist needs to be able to work with and to "improve" society?

Without the willingness to “grieve” in this way for what children have to endure, we will simply lack the passion needed to maintain a commitment to the work required. This level of empathy is key because, as long as it is present, it acts like the gad-fly within the soul of the artist who is committed to making an impact on society.

Describe the different problems that the artists were trying to address in their work. What was the "medium" chosen by the artist, the approach, and the results of their practice?

One of the problems the Mr. Rollins was trying to address in his work with his students, especially earlier on, was helping them have the courage to see beyond the hardship of their immediate environment. This was coupled with another problem: prior to his entry onto the scene, the students had the sense that they were unwanted. They had become accustomed to virtual revolving door of teachers coming and going, without a consistent mentor to guide the cultivation of their talent. One of the things that Mr. Rollings did to address this was to stress the importance of taking your weakness and making it into your strength. This was the key to the strategies he used. For example, when a student had trouble with reading, Mr. Rollins, very insightfully, recognized that this student had a brilliant ability to remember what he hears (the student could memorize entire albums word for word). This inspired Mr. Rollins to make audio recordings of famous books so that the students could read them for relevant class projects. Along the same lines he came up with themes based on the the books they would be working on that, in fundamental ways, paralleled the experience of the students. One notable example was when they, building on the theme that resonated with them from one of the books they read, namely, the Scarlet Letter, they challenged themselves to to find artistic ways to “...transform a stigma of shame into a symbol of transcendent and triumphant pride...” Hester, a young lady that is unjustly stigmatized in the book, was (just like the KOS) an artist. When she was forced to wear the letter A on her clothing, as a punitive measure, to publicly shame her for being pregnant out of wedlock, she decided not to be defeated by this. Like the KOS, she decided to make her disadvantage into a, literal, badge of honor. She used her talent to make her “A” into a beautiful ornament that surpassed the embroidered forms worn by all others. In this case, as well as many others, the KOS were prompted to create art which echoed the same type of principle reflected relevant themes within the works they read.

What was one of the most surprising results of the artist's works and or engagements with their community?

The results of this approach by MR. Rollins was successful beyond all expectation. It not only inspired everyone involved, but put the KOS on the map. Their work became featured in major art galleries and would even help them fund more of their valuable work. This also led the young Christopher Hernandez to think up something that would later have a profound impact on the world. Just months before his death Mr. Hernandez suggested that the KOS take some of the broken bits of pieces of glass that littered the neighborhood streets (from broken bottle) and put them on a large dark blue canvass. This would the transformation of something that was viewed as an undesirable blight on the community, broken glass on the streets and sidewalk, to capture the imagination of an audience by being reborn as stars. Young Christopher Hernandez would not live to see this realized, but, in truth, he turned out to be prophetic. His vision, not by accident, is precisely the transformation of identity undergone by the KOS. It is this new sense of identity that gave the KOS and Mr. Rollins that the insight and passion to complete Christopher's artistic vision. In doing so, they (in turn) received a gift. Through their work, they saw that Christopher could not be more alive than he was at the moment that they put his vision into action.

What is public art exactly? How does one go about creating it and or presenting it back to an audience? What are some of the potential pitfalls of public art?

It is useful in this context to take a step back, momentarily, to reflect on the definition of “Public Art.” Public art is a medium of diverse possibility. It can be either temporary or permanent and is often commonly associated with things like public statues, architectural design, memorials, landscape design, community art, digital news media, as well as performances and festivals, just to name a few. It may also be a combinations of elements like the ones I have named here. Furthermore, public art is typically a “...response to the place and community in which it resides.” It may interpret many things in connection with its location, such as its history, people, notable social issues, environmental concerns, value systems, and even potential for collaboration. Regardless of the form it takes, it it contributes awareness of the deeper meaning underlying our relationship to our own environment, and thereby deepens our understanding of ourselves and our sense of identity. This definition of public art has much more meaning in the moving context of the work done by the KOS. Think about the way that this work impacted the sense of personal identity within each of these children...

What did you learn about social practice that you did not know before reading these articles?

In terms of social practice, One of the most important lessons learned by what Mr. Rollins reveals to us is that entrepreneurship can be an important tool in helping students see the full impact that their ideas can have. Making students feel as though they make a difference is something I have thought about, but the entrepreneurship component being embedded in the K-12 educational process is a new concept for me.

Chose a quote from the article and expand upon the quote from your perspective.

“In one of his great sermons [Martin Luther] King reminds us that the Norse root for the word ‘anger’ means ‘to grieve.’...I grieve for the fact that an impossible number of our kids have been used and written off as unreachable, useless, and a threat.”

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen

Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.

I have selected two quotes that efficiently link together to capture the beauty and truth of the relationship between Tim Rollins and KOS, and the relationship they, in turn, had with the larger purpose they, together, cultivated with respect to changing history. The first quote points to the ever important matter of what motivates Tim Rollins, or anyone else, embarking on such a meaningful journey. The second quote, which Mr. Rollins takes from Shakespeare, is a testament across the ages that describes “why” such such a meaningful journey matters. It tells us why both in terms of how public art allows us to give the “airy nothing” of our creativity and spiritual substance “a local habitation and a name…” but also allows us to do this in a way that reveals the treasure of immortality that mortals have access to. Especially when we approach life as artists. It is in this light that Christopher Hernandez, literally and figuratively, became a star, continuing to live long after his physical death.

Rollins, Tim. Tim Rollins and KOS, A History

December 2009. MIT Press.

Post #2(part B): Sculpture Project

My experience in working with with Andrew McFarland on this project was a fun adventure. Andrew is very comfortable around virtually all of the machines in the MakerSpace, whereas I am virtually no experience with most of them. Despite that disparity, we had a splendid time working together, because of the fluid and thoughtful communication process we quickly developed. We both began by discussing possible ideas for the project, which led to an interesting evolutionary development that became the final product.

Our original design was a very good place to start, but we both stayed in dialogue to meet all the design challenges that would eventually come to the surface. Our design, it turns out, was one of the more unique works in class. There was a danger that it might be too industrial and rigid, but some surprise elements, such as the obtuse angles of joint attachment, along with the very clever rounding of the edges and corners, gave the design a softer and more organic impact. This organic quality was taken even further by the addition of what I jokingly imagined might be human dreadlocks when we added the brown yarn. This design seemed to catch the attention of everyone else in class, who repeatedly praised its bold elegance.

One of the notable aspects of the design was the fact that it seems to flow. Part of this may be the factor of how the audience, when looking at it, is challenged to imagine what direction it’s going and why it is able to stay in balance. It almost seems to spiral upward into the sky.

The final product and the collaborative process between me and Andrew was a success because both of us were mature enough to listen to each other's suggestions without feeling threatened, which is not always a given in the world we presently live in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Andrew, who is very mechanically inclined, is also very good with aesthetics and artistic design. When it comes to collaboration, I have learned to step forward and take charge when that is necessary, but to also take a step back and be supportive of other people's initiative (intervening only when it is needed) when that is called for. On this occasion, I leaned towards the latter. I had fun doing this, because I could see that Andrew was genuinely interested in a creative process and a good product. If any of my ideas happened to clash with his, I would either quickly see why his idea might be better, or we would discuss it and come to a reasonable conclusion. There was a time when I was not capable of such healthy collaboration and am, therefore, grateful for all of the factors that contributed to this. How else would I (for example) have had the chance to discover the fact Andrew is as skilled, artistic and as good a listener as he is?

The MakerSpace

My general impression of the Chesapeake Arts Center MakerSpace was that it was a very good introduction to the world of making things. I liked the fact that it was a laid back, but very conceptual approach to the seriousness of the environment in which we would be working. If I had to make a suggestion, it would be to keep the same general approach! I think the detail was sufficient to give us what we needed to do what we were there to do. I can imagine that the introduction could have been made into a more uptight and rigid affair, but I am glad that that was not the approach. The goal is to have young people associate the maker space with a good experience, not one of fear or rigidity. I, personally, was made to feel comfortable about asking questions. I got the impression that Henry had infinite patience regarding questions about how to use tools. In fact, one of the big takeaways I had from the training was that you can never ask too many questions while trying to learn how to use the tools and resources in the makerspace.

Safety precautions:

Wear safety glasses--especially in the area where the heavy duty machines and vast amount of sawdust are located. We were encouraged to grab a pair as soon as we came into the larger space.

Gloves are also available when needed.

Don't wear loose clothing--If you're wearing a jacket or have long hair, take it off and tie your hair up. You don't want to get snagged or cut by any of the equipment.

Make sure the machine is off when changing blades--We had a chance to change drill bits which required some input and supervision from the instructor.

No phone use while using the machinery--It is inconsiderate to your own health and could pose a danger to others.

Never reach over a blade--while it's in use or not in use, you don't want any missing limbs. Pay attention to signs and written instructions on or around machines.

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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A Prosocial Design Process for the Filbert Street Community Garden

This past week my project group, which goes by the name TAAJ (named after its members,Tony, Adori, Alex, and Jia), introduced a proposal to enhance the Filbert Street Community Garden that was the product of a good deal of deliberation. We decided to design and build mini wooden stakes that would serve a variety of purposes around the community garden. These stakes would be crowned with small plexiglass containers into which labels will be inserted. These labels will be used to identify different types of fruits, vegetables, and plants. These stake-label combinations will also be used to mark different parts of the garden (for example, where the compost area begins and ends, the entrance to the private garden plots, the different enclosures for chickens, ducks, geese, etc...). There are quite a number of other uses that can be found for these stake-labels as the community garden expands and diversifies and/or introduces changes to the use of its space.

Social Entrepreneurship

One of the most exciting things about developing this project was that it was conceived in the spirit of social entrepreneurship. Our group began by generating a larger list of things that we thought would be prosocial. Prosocial is defined as “Relating to or denoting behaviour which is positive, helpful, and intended to promote social acceptance and friendship.” We thought about ideas that would help the community garden more effectively reach out to its neighbors and, in turn, help neighbors have more access to the community garden. One of our ideas, namely the aforementioned “label-stakes,” even strove to develop a tool that would help facilitate better organization and synergy among those already sharing the community garden space. This latter idea emerged as the top choice among the options our group was considering, not only because of its utility and potential to help gardeners and others working in the community garden, but it also won out in the context of the classwide discussion in which we got a chance to see what the other groups had to offer. In light of the tremendous overlap that we found among the three groups in class, we came to the realization that “stake-labels” were the only concept that met a need that was not in some way similar to what other groups were proposing. For example, one other group focused on creating the labels for the honey jars, so we chose to give way to them on that matter. We did share our ideas on that concept which the other group seemed to appreciate. This, to me, reflects, first of all, an application of entrepreneurship. Our group chose to collaborate with other classmates by sharing our ideas about the honey jar labels, while allowing them to take the lead on that issue. We did this knowing that we were sitting on another idea that none of the other groups were taking on. The other entrepreneurial aspect of these “stake-labels” is that they can be used to meet many needs in and around the garden. They, like thin efficient versions of yard signs, will help to guide, educate, and promote safety, when it comes to virtually every aspect of the Community Garden’s operations. As effective entrepreneurs, we must prepare to effectively communicate how universally useful this tool will be. To this end, our team (in the context of our mind mapping) has begun to use the artistic medium of art to illustrate how the stake-label is assembled and used. Furthermore, we plan in the near future to use similar artistic drawings to demonstrate possible uses in the appropriate context.

Putting the Social in Social Entrepreneurship

One of the most important things to remember is that the work we are doing in this course aims to have us extend ourselves to community partners in a meaningful way. It allows us the opportunity to be empowered by what we learn, while focussing our attention on being of service to those with whom we are engaging. In this context, it is easy to see why team TAAJ chose a project which, while not very glamorous, will help to put a helpful spotlight on all the wonderful work of the community garden, while making the space more organized and more accessible to anyone entering its gates, whether they are first timers or seasoned partakers in its beauty.

Blueprint for Entrepreneurship

The steps needed to turn this into an entrepreneurial opportunity include precisely what I have said above regarding the importance of helping people understand how valuable a tool the stake-labels will be. In addition we will need to develop a more detailed version of the diagram that shows how this item will be constructed and assembled. Doing this will make it possible for others to easily build this item well beyond the end of this class.

Discuss design process.

Our design process, as I have touched on above, has involved brainstorming within our group (and eventually with the rest of class) in order to clearly define the problem we intend to solve, namely, the need for the community garden to become better organized and transparent with regard to how the space itself is deployed. In addition to brainstorming, to the same end, we have also spent time in the garden and have had the privilege of lively discussions with Rodette Jones (the coordinator of the garden). This approach is precisely what The Introduction to the Design Process prescribes. By taking this pathway we have 1) defined the problem very early, 2) gathered information (e.g about the cost of materials we would need to build our stake-labels, the different functions and services that define the community gardens space, what needs are already being met, etc…), 3) we have generated a concepts based on all this information, 4) we have selected a concept that best suits all the given circumstance that we have to deal with, 5) we communicate our concept to those who need to hear it. This process began last class, continued during our Halloween day meeting with Rodette Jones, and is now manifesting itself in the form of our Blogs which will more intimately engage various parties about the importance of this proposal. Step 6), the detailed design and analysis, began when we drew initial diagrams and conceptualized questions regarding the feasibility of the project. Last week we took this further by analyzing the the cost of the materials needed to build these stake-labels. Next week, we will be ready for stage 7), prototype creation and testing. Beyond that we will begin the process of developing the most efficient approach to manufacturing this item and also, 8), fleshing out a clearer idea about the lifecycle maintenance of our product.

Citations:

1. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2017, retrieved from

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/prosocial.

2. Joseph E. Shigley, Introduction to the Design Process, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), Definition of Design, retrieved from https://blackboard.umbc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2667907-dt-content-rid-9805610_1/courses/ART322_7957_FA2017/EML2322L-Design%20Process.pdf

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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As a 42 year old returning student, I have gone through an interesting journey in the course of finding myself in Art 322 (otherwise known as Social Entrepreneurship in Place). The most recent path that led me here is a different class that, conveniently enough, was also taught by Professor Stephen Bradley. My initial motivation to register for this class is tied to my experience with last spring's groundbreaking course titled “Teaching Artist=Change Agent,” which was the first of its kind. Professor Bradley’s approach to facilitating that course, along with his track record of building collaboration and trust in the communities he worked with, gave me insight into how valuable this course would be. Professor Bradley has not only reiterated the importance of working with communities on art, but has also emphasized the need to help people in communities see how integral they themselves are to the process being set into motion. I believe that his focus on a holistic and inclusive approach to engagement is one of the pillars of my own philosophy so I, therefore, came quickly to the conclusion that Professor Bradley possessed a level a talent in this arena that I wish to be influenced by. As a lifelong learner, I have discovered that embracing knowledge of my own strengths and weaknesses, along with a passion to improve and grow along the way, is the proverbial fountain of youth. That view is both the underlying reason for being in this class, but it is also what motivates my own desire to become involved in education policy.

Professor Bradley and I share a certain quality, a form of intellectual wanderlust. This is an important concept for me because it is based on the type of organic curiosity and passion that seeks to explore meaningful creative challenges that impact the lives of future generations. Prior to my return to school, I spent about 16 years doing political work. This included working on congressional campaigns, lobbying, recruitment, fundraising, education and traingin, and other forms of outreach. In the years that I did this work, I always challenged myself to overcome obstacles and become more and more compassionate. I militantly refused to be motivated by money and material gain. This new, current, phase of my life came into being as a result of a deep internal sense I had that I must push myself to grow and do more. This has led me on a journey that, thankfully, is not disconnected from my former journey. I am pursuing a means to make an impact on education policy through research and advocacy. I am currently pursuing research that aims to contribute to the influence and spread of arts integration and the arts in general. It is my firm belief that upgrading public education in this manner will have a measurable ( and immeasurable ) effect on the health, happiness and political influence of all Americans, especially those who are most in need.

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Third Blog Post: Teaching Artist=Change Agent, A Course to Victory(1)

The Movie night event at Bell Grove Elementary School was a beautiful Microcosm of the entire Semester: It was full of surprises, we were faced with obstacles which we worked together to solve, and, in the end, we made a far more profound impact than anyone imagined. Lucky for me, I got arrived early enough to notice the unfolding events from the very beginning preparations, through to the very end. Every single person seemed focused. This was the culmination of all our hard work. This presentation would serve as the representative of all of the work we have done in this class: each of the groups experiences, all of the respective meetings they had in preparation for creating their lesson plans, as well as the lessons themselves ( and their aftermath). In other words, no pressure whatsoever!

Overcoming Obstacles

Every single group experienced some degree of difficulty when it came to executing the final “movie night” presentations. This ranged from something as simple as not having the table space to display their work, to a breakdown in the division of labor, to panic attacks prior to presenting. The important thing in all this is the way that the experiences people shared together throughout the semester laid the foundation for naturally collaboration to solve these problems. In each of these cases, the solution flowed from the desire we all had to see one another succeed. I believe that came, not only from the process of working together as a class but, at least as much, from the thought and effort we put into working with with our elementary school students. This was not merely the culmination of knowledge acquired, but also the cumulative effect of new skills and attitudes. It pays to focus on the big picture and care about others.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByXC_q43I9uuRHNMX1FyMi1kbTA

Leadership wears different cloaks

Team Victory is a good case in point. Despite the challenges, our group, AKA Team Victory, (which included me, Ross Vincent, Carroll Rachefsky, and Rebecca Kruscal) came to realize that the only way to succeed in our goals was listen more closely to one another and to become more supportive of one another. This meant that leadership was not a zero sum game. In other words, leadership, for some, will involve directing or facilitating a the process with the input of others, whereas, for some, leadership is knowing how to listen and encourage others. Every member of Team Victory was deeply impacted by the implications of this, and expressed the principle of leadership on one form or another. For Ross, it expressed itself in the form of a very confident mindset which enabled him to give balanced feedback, and creative input into the direction that our project should go (without feeling like he had to be right at every turn). Ross also, demonstrated a willingness to be responsive and flexible with his own schedule when he knew his help was needed by any other member of the group. Carroll's leadership expressed itself in a willingness to use his creativity in areas that the rest of our group could not do as competently. For example, videography and editing (among other things). Of all our members, Rebecca embraced the most responsibility. The delightful things about this is the fact that, prior to this class, I had known her for about 3 or 4 year, but discovered more about her in the short half semester I had to collaborate with her on this project than I had in all the earlier years. She went from seeing herself as “not responsible” to being the most effective leader on our team.

Knowledge of Arts-Integration

This class was structured in a way that lent itself to spending the first half of the semester directly experiencing and interacting with teaching artists in their own natural habitat. This reminds me of the time I watched an animal documentary that showed how cheetahs teach their young. Just as the mother cheetah teaches her offspring to hunt by, first, allowing them to audit her hunting practice, then, transitioning them into direct experience by catching a small, still living, animal for them to play with (aka hunt), so too have we experienced that type of scaffold-ed approach along our journey to teach our own arts integrated lessons.

Clarifying my Research

This Teaching Artist=Change Agent class also accelerated the progress I made on my research proposal because it demystified all of the things I had been learning over the last couple of years on the subject of arts integration. All the demonstrations, workshops and classes taught by teaching artists served to give me a real life sense of how to think of arts integration. This meant that I could think (and write) more concretely about arts integration. It also gave me a better feel for how, and where, to find resources for my research.

My Future Plans

Prior to taking this class, had no clear idea what it meant to be a teaching artist. Given the diverse strengths, personalities and approaches of the various teaching artists I met in the context of Art 392, I feel encouraged to pursue the possibility of becoming a teaching artist one day. While I am not certain yet, I will consider pursuing it in a year (once I graduate). In the meantime, after sharing the video we made for “movie night” with one of my other professors, he has asked me if we would be willing to give a version of that presentation to his week long summer up-cycling class.

Conclusion

Professors Pat Cruz and Stephen Bradley deserve our thanks for not only working so hard to make this class a reality, but for modeling perseverance, entrepreneurial courage, creativity and patience. I know that having two people teach a class takes a lot of work. While it gives the potential for groundbreaking collaboration, it also requires a much higher level of humility, communication skills, and focus. The respectful collaboration between two teachers positively impacts students far more than students generally understand. I, for one, have learned a great deal from this. In summary, not only did I accomplish what I set out to do, but I gained far more than I had hoped for.

https://medium.com/@ssbradley/art-392-teaching-artist-change-agent-a796a23221bb

(1) Team Victory

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Team Victory is driven by the the desire to inspire third grade students with following big ideas: Being open minded, responding to a shortage of material limitations by going outside to norm to be creative about how resources are defined and utilized. The enduring understanding we wish to leave our students includes, creating an instrument out of recycled materials, being able to identify the qualities that make something a musical instrument. The “essential questions” that we will employ to guide our work will include “What does it mean to listen?”, “why is listening important?”, “What is collaboration?”, and “why is collaboration important?

My own Big Idea related to civic responsibility and the principle of being a good listener, but, after discussion with group members and my professors, I realized this idea belonged elsewhere. Eventually, my civic responsibility concept took the concrete form of Team Victory’s current big idea, because our group developed the idea that open mindedness and creativity on environmental and resource issues are among the most important challenges humanity has to face. My concept for “enduring understanding” is developing the concept of cooperation and recognizing that learning is fun. But in the course of group deliberation, I realized it was too general and lacked concreteness. Last week our group got feedback from Professors Bradley and Cruz, which gave us the scaffolding to see how to make our enduring understanding much more focused and practical. As for my “essential questions,” our group seems to be on the same page on this one. We look forward getting feedback from the host teacher on this. Since we have not yet been assigned to a teacher, Team Victory has yet to observe the class we will be teaching.

The Video presentations on the Growth Mindset and Changing educational paradigms were very relevant to what we are learning in this course. The notion of a failing grade being renamed as a “not yet” grade is not merely clever, but has profound implications. One of the challenges of assessment is avoiding the pitfall of making assumptions, even when it is tempting to do so. Carol Dweck's TedTalk makes clear that many students are being conditioned to focus on the relatively superficial perception of success or failure rather than what they can gain from deeper reflection and change. The fact that students who associate difficult problems as fun perform far better than students who are conditioned to have a fear of failure is very telling. Carol Dweck emphasizes that how we teach, and how we give students feedback makes a big difference. This inspires me to think more deeply about how I might check for understanding and give feedback to students we work with. This dovetails with Ken Robinsons discussion of how the “assembly line” approach to education conditions our students to be more concerned about churning out a grade than they are about fostering their creative impulses. Ken Robinson illustrates, through data, that the longer students go to school the more “anaesthetized” they become. They become emotionally disengaged from learning because, divergent thinking and creativity are not incentivized. On the contrary, students are conditioned to “standardize” how they think. Both these videos underscore the the profound importance of arts integrated learning. I believe that the the non-linear approach that drives arts integration lends itself to drawing out the unique voice of each student and inspiring them to use a knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses to solve unique problems, collaborate with others, and utilize the reflection process to grow. One of the best examples of this can be found in a recent class conducted by Laura Zam which I will touch on below.

Laura Zams presentation was a perfect example of the above referenced power of the arts integration. Laura Zams class began with a demonstration of how her acting skills could be used to engage students in the very beginning. She emphasized the importance of the “start with the art” principle. She not only showed us how it was done, but she described why it was an important way to draw students into the lesson. This served as the launching pad for, step by step, unfolding of the lesson. She emphasized that learning should proceed from the standpoint of taking what the student knows and leveraging that to help them understand what they do not know. For example, she introduced us to characterizing certain emotions through our facial expressions and used that, a bit later, to challenge us to apply this lesson in a different less familiar context. This became a part of what she called a unified “through line” that allowed the lesson to flow in a clear and comprehensible way from beginning to end. This influenced me to have a clearer grasp of why the outline we had developed up to that point needed to be organized differently. In this context, she also said that we should limit our content in order to create enough space to help students acquire genuine skills within the given artform. This helped out group begin to limit our array of to one single artform without too many of the “optional” artistic modalities we were creating. After thinking about Laura Zams approach, our team has developed a sequence of activities that will introduce students to instruments built from recycled materials, followed by asking the students to use the resulting insight to create their own musical instrument using materials in the classroom itself.

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Fun 101

I am currently taking a class titled The Teaching Artist=Change Agent at UMBC. This might very well be the most fun class I have ever taken. It was first brought to my attention by my advisor because it fits into my Interdisciplinary Studies degree plan. My degree is, after all, titled “Arts Integration and Experiential Learning.” I knew this class would be appropriate, but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how inspiring ( and simply ) fun this class would turn out to be. I enjoyed it so much that I invited a few of my friends to join the class (two of them registered for it).

Being an artist is a big part of my identity. I have been in choirs and choral groups most of my life. I currently take voice lessons and have an interest in taking more theatre classes. I also have a passion for engaging people and advocating for the arts. I am currently working with the Walters Group (a non-profit that is focussed on experiential learning). Much of my passion for advocacy comes from having spent more than 16 years working in political campaigns.

After the first three classes my perspective regarding arts integration has changed significantly. The interactions with the guest artists, my professors, and classmates has helped me see that, although arts integration takes hard work, the real art is in shedding all the assumptions I have accumulated about what teaching is supposed to look like. The examples set by the guest artists clearly demonstrates that the most effective learning is synonymous with fun. This realization has encouraged me to put being a teaching artist on the radar of possibility for me.

My “big idea” is the hope that I will be involved in experience based research that will open the door to the spread of Arts Integrated learning in K-12 and beyond. According to Eric Booth, the founding editor of the Teaching Artist Journal, "A teaching artist is a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills and sensibilities of an educator, who engages people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts." My “big Idea” includes a desire to advocate for a new paradigm in education which will empower teaching artists and spread the influence of their approach to teaching.

As I continue to learn about teaching artistry, one of the questions that has emerged in my mind is following: How resilient has the market for teaching artsists been over time? Are there ever periods when there are lulls in the demand for qualified teaching artists (for example, for budgetary reasons)? I am also curious about how I might help this class succeed in the next two semesters that I will be here at UMBC. In other words, might I become a spokesperson for this course next year and make announcements in different classes to inform them of the life changing potential of such a class? I would be happy to do so.

One of the benefits of having the various guests teaching artists is that it gives us a chance to see how different personalities take different approaches to this craft. This was evident in a comparison of the last two guest presenters. Kevin Martin had a presentation that was well organized and built upon itself in an orderly way. Jamaal Collier also had a principle of organization, but like a very talented jazz musician, Mr Collier enjoyed the art of altering his presentation in response to the needs and responses of the audience. He even warned us of this. He, like Mr. Martin, was well aware of the fact that he was in a room full of potential teaching artists and wanted to give us an inside look into how he thinks his own process. While this “ improvisation” versus fixed sequence approach, does define a formal difference between our presenters, they still had a great deal in common. They both used storytelling (including self deprecating humor) to give us a look into how they became teaching artists. Each of them also included musical performance. Mr. Collier began his presentation with performance while Mr. Martin ended with it (Mr. Martin's story was itself a dramatic/artist introduction).

In my opinion, the most challenging part of what the teaching artists presented was the balancing act (which they both handled with excellent precision) of lowering the bar enough for students so that they might feel as though they accomplished something, while at the same time keeping the work challenging enough for the students to experience actual growth. I know how difficult this can be since I have worked at this in different settings, but our teaching artists gave me a new perspective on how this is done.

If I were a teaching artist, at this point, my approach would have to be different relative to what I saw from our guest presenters. Unlike Mr. Martin and Collier, I am not a full time professional artist, so I would not be as polished in my musical talent. I think I would, therefore, lean on my personal experiences and strengths to make up for this deficiency. I could certainly begin with an artistic demonstration, but I would work to draw out of the students some reflection on and their social and personal relationship to the society they live in. These would likely include getting students to reflect on civic responsibility, the power of empathy, listening and cooperation.

#ArtsIntegration #UMBC #ProfessorStephenBradley #ProfessorPatCruz #teachingartist=changeagent #JamaalCollier #KevinMartin #ArtsAdvocacy

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artsintegrationadvocate-blog · 8 years ago

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Fun 101

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