ART: Week 7 & 8 - Peer Reactions & Reflections

First I had to chunk up my reaction to Livey...This first question and her post were a lot to digest.

"-Where /when do you notice “discomfort” when you are teaching? Please illustrate with a teaching example.

I notice discomfort when I have to grade things.  I have noticed that I am struggling, looking at, and writing new ideas about assessment.  I noticed that at the end of Gude's Playing article, she says that she is skeptical that we would be able to assess things and keep the central intent of developing creativity.  I kinda agree, but I am not totally convenced.  I think it is important for us to use the terms, assessment and evaluation separately.  Evaluation being grading and assessment as formative information.  I think that there are some things that we should not evaluate, but can assess in a gentle, and caring fashion.  I have a had time putting that final grade in the grade book.  I have trouble knowing the student on a creative and friendly level, then having to give them a grade in the computer which the student may or may not internalize as a quantity that I have placed on their relationship with their artwork.  I have no doubt that I can articulate to the students that their grade is not the most important part of their experience, but rather, a form of evidence that the rest of academia uses and that (at least for the current reality) we are forced to use.  Yes forced.  This is the discomfort that most art teachers feel I am sure.  However, because I have discussed assessment with many art teachers over the last three years, many of them use the grade as a way to FORCE the artists to create.  They say that we have to teach them to be accountable for their actions, and that grades have a lasting effect and therefor they are a more reliable way to force the students into working hard.  I disagree, wholeheartedly..."

Hmm, I also don't really like grading things. I often would put it off until grades were almost due. I was sure to give auditory feedback and we would have critiques, but I highly disliked taking time away during class to assign a grade. I often wondered how students felt about this, because no one ever asked or questioned the way I graded. Wonder if that is more reflective of the value they put on art class, or if they felt like they had a good idea of what grade they would get. I was sure to check in with those kids who didn't turn stuff in, and I did my fair share of nagging, that's for sure. What I really didn't like was the way students would flip over their project, check out the grade (but not read any feedback left) and then chuck it in the garbage. Boo! Hiss! Not why we make art and spend HOURS doing it!!

   Once I decided to examine my practice and do a little action research on what motivates and how to teach creativity, I decided to de-emphasize the grade and grading portion. It became more about the delivery of content (an apprenticeship or combo inquiry based model) and how students were interacting which increased motivation (more intrinsic than extrinsic (= grades) ) and made it unnecessary to have to "make" students "do art." Grades shouldn't be a punishment or a threat. They should be a record of effort and application and meeting goals established not just by the teacher, but also by the student. 

   Philosophically, I did think that attendance and participating in our artists' community to collaborate and soak in the goodness as well as my artistic genius and golden nuggets of advice (just kidding!) - but seriously, to let me see their genius develop, was important so I gave 5 points everyday for being here (in the studio) on time and being willing to work and contribute to the artistic atmosphere. Not much, but a way to say, "hey! You are important to what we do here." I think if you have to "force students to work hard" you aren't meeting their needs as a learner and need to take some time to investigate what they really are and what could be going on differently. (not to throw stones at glass houses though, cause that is a hard thing to figure out sometimes. and every class and content is different with lots of different factors.)

 and part two:
-What do you think accounts for the discomfort?

The discomfort is due to the fact that the students and I work more as colleagues.  It almost feels like our foreman or superviser or someone over me should be the ones putting in the grades.  Well, better yet.  No grades, just evidence of learning.. but I know that is a pipe dream (at least for the next few years:)  I can imagine an educational system where the students and the teachers are there to work, and work they do!  Work for and with each other. Where the studets leave the environment prepared for WHATS NEXT, without some number following them around.  What if we spent the same amount of time documenting the process and progress of each student as we did calculating progress reports, quarter grades, attendance deductions to grades, semester grades, 20% of total grade in relation to the final, and the obsessively 80/20 split between products and homework.

-What (if anything) inhibits your creative development. Think internally, the obvious things like schedules most of us are stuck with, but sometimes internally there are ideas and perceptions we can let go of which open us to new possibilities. 

What inhibits my creative development?  Space in my head.  I strive to find every spare moment to developing new ideas, rehashing old ones, or just existing in the head space that I like the most... the space where "cells of thought" combine into some living thinking then into a reality.  

Domestication inhibits my creative development.  As much as I want to be really good at housekeeping and laundry and such..  I just don't find them generative.  Yep, I am a wild thing.. if I were an animal, I would say that I was more like a squirrel than a cat.  My creativity might be doubled if I could excuse the time I spend making instead of doing housework.  But, I don't really allow myself that "making time" without so much guilt about what I am not doing around the house, that I just don't make.  

I should have a condo, with as few possessions as possible.  That would be so liberating!!!!!!

Amy RuoppMarch 9, 2014 at 7:12 AM

Hi Liv,

A condo with nothing but big blank walls. :) Sounds good to me! Sign me up. So let me ask you this, who cares if the laundry is piled up and you get to it once a month? Guilt is terribly over rated (unless your a serial killer or something... then its good) So I encourage you to let it go.
Do you treat yourself the same way you treat your students???? From what I know about you, you honor them, liberate them from the shackles of small ideas, make a safe space for creative exploration, celebrate every bit of them..... Do you also do this for yourself? ;) (Im serious)
You already know I agree with you on your assessment points. I do believe it inhibits in so many ways. I love the differentiation you make between assessment and evaluation.
As you may remember, the way we assess at my school is, on the report card they receive an effort score (1-10), that is the formal score, and the rest is a written commentary which arises from the relationship, discussion etc that occurs during the class. This is A LOT of work, but much more informative and valuable. A student producing beautiful work may be skating along in their safe zone and receive a 7 for effort while someone who doesn't produce a single product all term earns a 9 because they worked their tailed off, made 17 huge messes, but never gave up and learned from each mess..... There is no forcing... there is little fear of failing because failure is learning. Does that make sense?? I hope someday, there is the realization that learning is a joy and takes different forms for each human being, we are all different, so how is it we are measures the same way? sigh

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So many things to think about! And all packed into one mighty post! 
Okay, so a couple of thoughts / questions popped into my head as I read your post and the comments. 1) I'm curious to know how you felt about grades when you were in school (not that you have to tell me) and how that might be contributing to the way you feel about them as an artist teacher. 2) Housework is overrated and definitely inhibits the creative spirit inside us - or rather the societal expectations we have unconsciously subsumed about domesticity and our roles within it. Something I feel women feel in a much more spiteful way than men do and have a hard time resigning within themselves. I hear ya, sister. 3) (@Amy as well) Recently I was thrown a bone I've been chewing over...unless we have specifically taught a student something, why would we assess it? with the example being effort, craftsmanship (not an art person here), or creativity / originality. I'm going to share that with you all and would like to know your thoughts on it. I don't totally agree, but I also don't disagree. Leaning more towards the Hmmm.... Okay, and 4) what if you just let students assign their grades? Give them feedbacks, and scoring guides, and self-assessments, and critiques (and reserve the right to step in if it is going wildly off course) and see how they would grade themselves. That might be an interesting experiment. What if...