Evaluation.

Having the opportunity to do a placement in a primary school, I feel my ambition to be a teacher has become stronger whilst also making me see the difficulties, which will come with it. I feel with more experience I can overcome some of the difficulties. By difficulties, I mean becoming shy and allowing the children to take over and distract each other, if I am confident within myself and able to control, I feel I will be able to make it. My method of teaching the workshops changed throughout, in the beginning I thought they were able to handle tasks that I could, not realising they are children and think differently. This meant I had to adjust workshops to their ability, which I did find interesting to do.

The greatest challenges have been working with the children. Not knowing how to act with them and speak was a difficulty with me. I felt quite shy with them and personally did not know what to say. However, as the weeks went by I felt because I got to know the class I interacted with them more. Although in my group we all came from different backgrounds and did not know each other, I felt it was easier to communicate because they were of similar ages.  Some of children would get off topic and talk about their own lives, which was tricky to discuss because it was not important to me, what was important, was their education. Through this process, it has helped me learn of ways to keep myself focused on what I want to do and how to overcome this. I feel with more experience, I will become more confident with my speaking and working with different age groups will give me an insight of how to act with them.

As I am from a textiles background, I tried to incorporate my own practice into the workshops for the children. As textiles is about texture, I tried to bring that element in by using materials that had texture that they could feel and see. They were excited to collage and create textured pieces with this because it was different from their everyday curriculum subjects. Showing them samples of my own work fascinated them and hopefully pushes them into doing an art and textiles based subject. Giving them the knowledge of where I come from in the textiles world, helped them understand me better and allowed them to practice what I do through using suitable materials. I could push this line further by doing workshops in different organisations but aimed at children from a certain age. This would give me a variety of feedback and show me what I can improve and what that community wants. Creating workshops was exciting and a different way of thinking and so I would love to be able to do it again for a different organisation.

Unit X has been a great opportunity; it has allowed me to open my eyes on teaching in the art and textiles world. It allowed me to gain a new set of skills, which will be transferrable for my future careers. It has changed my perspective of working as a team, and has made me become more confident and to speak up about my own ideas. Although it was a team collaboration, it was made me see that are working for yourself and so you have to do things which will benefit yourself and the others around you. From this experience, I want to be able to do more experience in schools, maybe working with children that are older ages or even high school. I feel the more experience I get the more skills I will learn which will be beneficial for me and allow me to be the best. I want to continue with a PGCE course and get a CBR check so I will be able to work in any educational system. This unit has opened my mind of what I really want to and has allowed me to settle down and focus on it. I am thankful to be a part of this unit and I will be taking my new skills on board for the future.

Learning




Plan of our interactive board

 

Many skills developed throughout this process, my confidence built and my ability to work as a team grew stronger. My communication and people skills improved massively. By the end of this process, I felt I had become self-assured and it helped me figure out what I wanted for the future. This experience made me realise many things, which relate to my own practice. Some skills I already had because of developing them through university and from working in retail, which allowed me to put them into practice in the school. Although I felt I was shy in the beginning of this process, I felt I opened up and took control when I needed to. As a group we made sure, we were all on task and had a good co-operation system.  I felt this was vital, getting along with colleagues is necessary in any area and it allows you get along and do things efficiently. If communication is poor, it can affect your work and your self-confident. Our group planned a group on Facebook so that we could all communicate with each other and if we had any problems we could tell each other through that. I felt it worked very well and encouraged us all to stay on task.

The workshops developed through the unit, the first workshop made me realise what materials I could use and could not and how the kids reacted to it. Teaching children from the age of seven is very different from what I expected but it was a revelation and so later, I developed my workshops catered to them and their needs. The way their minds work was different to how I thought and so things had to be simplified. The use of materials had to be simple and easy to use. The workshops that we were taught in the beginning of the project helped massively and gave me a variety of ideas, not just for the workshops for myself as well. It made me more confident to use weird materials and this is something I could look into further for my own practice.

I enjoyed participating in the primary school; I felt I had gained a new set of skills that I would have not imagined to gain from there. Communication, organisation and planning skills were important and understanding of the children was another. I came out here to teach the children a new set of skills and I feel through the process I did. The satisfaction you feel when teaching these children these workshops was amazing and it was a self-achievement for both of us. As a group and teaching these workshops, I felt everyone gave their input of what they wanted and in the end; we are making a 3-D interactive piece, which is something new to me because I have never worked with wood or in that area. It made me see how others work and what they do in their practice. We all brought our own practices into one, I coming from textiles brought texture into the workshops and the final outcomes, some from art history brought the history side of space into it and the wood workers brought their ideas of how the final outcome should be created.

Shadowing.

·         Morning activity was introduced about apostrophes. This was vital as it sets the children off by re-jogging their memories.

English comprehensive

·         Splits different groups up to different comprehensions. (depends on their learning ability)

·         Gives guidance on what to do and where to find answers.

·         Teacher sat with a group of children and gets everyone involved by making them read a paragraph and asking questions. The children were eager to answer.

·         Making sure everyone is taking it in and helps them understand and allows the teacher to help them if they’re stuck.

·         Teacher speaks confidently and in English that is understandable for the children.

·         Brings other topics in which relate to work, she creates a conversation which makes everyone feel comfortable.

·         For myself, I felt tempted to do the help them and do the work for them, but I realised they have to learn for themselves.

Numeracy

·         Some children not confident in maths and so teacher gives them more help and practice and then puts them back onto the worksheet.

Science

·         This was a group activity

·         Discussion – distracted each other and got off topic sometimes

·         I interacted to help them think

I learnt that some children’s learning ability is different from others so you have to give them time and patience. You have to plan your time effectively to fit everything in; you cannot let distractions get in the way as you are on a time limit. When thinking about the time the children at the school, it seemed long however watching the teacher go through the day I felt like there was a shortage of time, which is why everything has to be planned.

Planning Workshops

The first workshop session was nerve racking, the minute I set foot into the classroom, I could feel the pressure on myself. We spilt the children into six groups and had 15 mins with each group.I introduced my group to my workshop. I was nervous and stuttered a bit because I felt under pressure and did not know how to interact with them. However, the children made me feel comfortable by asking questions and then soon I became relaxed with them. By the end of the session, my confidence was growing with each different group. I noticed commenting on the child’s work made them more confident and comfortable with me. They would ask me questions if they should do this and that. I noticed how some of the children would copy each other, I think they felt it should look in a certain way but I did encourage them to personalise it in their own way because there is no right or wrong in art. 

examples of the shells

By the end of the school day, there was tissue paper and other material on the floor. I hadn’t realised that using these materials would make such a mess. I should have realised I was working with children and they don’t realise when they make mess. This was something to consider for when I create a workshop. However, it was a good experience, as I enjoyed myself and so did the children. Some of the children mentioned if they could take their pieces home, I liked this, it showed they felt they achieved something.

The next workshops were based around the idea of space. We wanted the children to be a part of the final outcome that we were going to create. We wanted them to feel like they gave their input and it wasn’t just our idea.  It was something for them so we had to make sure they liked it. We invented a game to create aliens. From previous workshops we noticed some children copied each other, so to get a variety of different aliens we decided to play a card game which initiated how many eyes, legs, faces etc the alien had. This would stop them from coping and allow them to bring in their own ideas out. I felt like this workshop was a success and the kids enjoyed themselves. They produced amazing quality work, which would look brilliant on the interactive board

From my workshops, I realised how the mind of a child is very different from my mind, everything has to be broken so it is easy for them to understand. When preparing my first workshop, I was thinking about using materials like needles and stitch, then realising that they are only children aged 7-8, things like that may be difficult and safety issues as well. I realised things have to be simplified to the simplest form. As they are children, you want to encourage them to interact so making the activity fun but educational was vital, I wanted them to learn something from it but also have fun. I had to realise they were not the same age as me so they think differently.

I adapted my own practice to my new organisation by trying to think in similar ways of the children and by breaking down aspects by using suitable materials, thinking about the timing and how they will utilise the time. The children were quite quick on their activities so we always needed a backup plan or we would try to make the activity longer.

Continuing with the workshops, as a group we decided some of us wanted to shadow and do workshops while the other half would work out costing’s for the interactive piece and buy the equipment. I thought about what I had come out to get from this in beginning and decided that I should shadow, as I wanted to see what happens in the classroom and how the curriculum subjects are taught. It made sense that I should choose this because this may be my future ambition. As a group we decided that we wanted to follow on from the space and focus on planets. We wanted to bring in the idea of working in a group because we were doing that, we wanted them to experience that too. Them working as a group worked really well, although some took over charge and the quieter ones were left behind. However as we were assisting we made sure everyone got involved. There was much to take on when shadowing, the teacher taught 3 subjects English, maths and science. I felt like my perspective of teaching changed from this and made me more aware of aspects that were similar to my own practice.When looking at it from a kids perspective it may seem easy and fun but it has made me realise how much has to be done and the ways it has to be done. Organisation and planning is key in this organisation and it has made me realise I need to be more aware of organising. In my own practice, organisation is vital and meeting deadlines, this is similar to the primary school, which is why I could relate to the teacher, however I feel there is more pressure in the school.

Whitworth brief.

The Whitworth is a gallery that I visit quite often; the collections and exhibitions have been amazing and useful. Being a textiles student at Manchester metropolitan university, I find visiting this gallery very useful; they have exhibited artist’s work, which have inspired previous projects. I have always been interested in the idea of artists using unusual materials in their work. By this I mean materials that are not seen as the norm or traditional. I feel like this an area that isn’t focused upon in the gallery. Artist Michael Brennand-woods work has aspects of this concept in his work, and his work was exhibit a few years ago. I feel bringing this as a workshop or exhibiting artists that have been involved with such materials may encourage people to get involved with art more as well as visiting the gallery. I feel this could help university students with art or textiles projects and encourage them to think outside the box. People assume art is about drawing but the community may not realise art can be anything and I feel like this idea should be displayed in Whitworth. I have noticed the gallery presents William Turners work, his work is beautiful and intricately drawn, however I feel like contemporary artist should have an opportunity to show their work to the community and students. Bringing the idea of using unconventional materials will educate the younger generation on the wide resources that art has and how it has developed over the years.

As I have been told they are developing the building, I felt like this was a good plan for the gallery it allows more art and textiles work to be displayed and bigger areas for workshops. However I felt they maybe could have been more inventive on the structure of the building, being an art building they could been creative with the shape of the building or size. If they had been more creative on the structure, this could have persuaded students and the community to visit more often. The community are after crazy ideas; this is what draws people into something. Currently I am doing some work experience at a primary school, we are designing something for their playground, which is interactive for the kids. The space that Whitworth has, maybe they could have created something, which university students and younger generation could interact with.

I would consider the work of artists and talks to be important for higher education students. The reason being is, I myself have visited the gallery and found these artists inspirational and they have allowed me to set off my own ideas of art. It allows you to see artwork from different areas such as fine art, textiles etc. I remember viewing the wallpaper collection a few years ago; this collection helped me with a college project.

Encouraging students to get involved in physical workshops such as textiles related. I.e. Embroidery workshops, this will also get the outer community involved. It is also a chance for people that haven’t experienced this, to try it and maybe continue it. The Whitworth can be a place to start new artists off. From my own experience, I feel interacted more in physical activities; it’s a chance to try new things and also a chance to meet other people interested in the same area. It is a way of bringing the community together, not just artists but everyone else in the community. I feel that is what is important getting everyone involved regardless of them being from an art or textiles background. The gallery would have to make everyone aware of this, by maybe posters/flyers etc. I feel like this is an area that is lacked, I don’t feel I am notified about all the events that are happening at the gallery and would like to be informed more. This way the news can be spread word of mouth as well.

Throughout my years of being a student I have gained many skills that will be useful if I was to become a consultant. One being my communication skills, I feel this skill is important. Being vocally confident shows the admiration for the subject and brings across a good reputation for the gallery. Being knowledgeable in art areas is a skill, which I have gained over the years; I have come across and met a variety of artist from art to textiles backgrounds. Knowing this allows me to spread my knowledge to others.

The commercial outlets within the gallery are very useful; it is a way of bringing in the consumers and a way for them to take home their experiences. From my own experiences, the books in the shop have allowed me to see other artists work besides the ones in the gallery. It has benefited my studies and a way for me to spread my knowledge to others. The gallery is used by me mostly in relation to my studies, although I do take a look at other artists work that are none related as they are interesting and allows me to build up my artist knowledge.

Organisations & getting involved.

The first visit at the school was to try to get us familiar with the environment. We started to discuss what they wanted and what we wanted from them. For myself I wanted the experience of what it would be like in a primary school and I wanted to start familiarising the children with the idea of art and textiles and what it is like for myself. I wanted more opportunities opened for them. The teacher of a year 3 class was discussing what they would like from us, which was something interactive for their playground as it seemed dull and they wanted something to brighten it up. We were told that we were going to work with year 3 children, although I wanted to work with the older years, I felt comfortable as she reassured us that the children were a bright bunch and loved art. As a group and with the teacher we reviewed that it would be better to stick with the same children each week as it would give us a chance to get to know them properly and it was a way for myself to see how they would develop over the weeks. It was also a chance to see how I developed, I felt if we kept on changing groups I would not be stable and wouldn’t find it comfortable to work in because I do not know how each set of children would react. From this I can see whether I would like to continue working with this age group, if not it gives me a chance to explore the older groups.

We decided that it would be better to work as a group, which i thought was a good idea. It was a way of working as a team but you were still able to give your own input. We had ideas of maybe one person leading and the rest assisting so that we could have a chance of taking the lead and to see how it felt. I felt i had a strong group as we co operated efficiently without any problems. We all agreed with the plans from the school.

We planned for the following week we would each create a workshop telling the kids about we specialised in. I decided to create a workshop on textiles and textures. From a shell sample that I had stitched, I wanted them to imitate it using the materials I had provided which would be coloured sticks, assorted paper and beads. Thinking about the timing that we had, I decided to draw the shell and for them to decorate it. I did not want them to waste time producing a perfect shell. I wanted them to think about shells in a different context, to think about what they feel, the colour and shape. I was anxious about introducing the task because I was scared they might not enjoy or understand it. I feared that some children may get off topic and distract others and how I would cope. All these questions were withering in my mind. It was because I have never been in such an environment before.

Initially as a group we discussed our theme for the playground would be tropical rainforest because the outdoors is related to nature and the colours in the forest were bright and hopefully would liven up the playground. However discussing more in depth, we changed our minds and came up with the idea of space. From this theme, we could create more workshops for upcoming weeks that would be useful for the interactive piece we would be producing.

Thinking about an interactive piece on this wall

From the beginning of the course till now I feel I have the relevant skills and gained more, which will be useful for this organisation and my practice. The workshops have helped massively and have improved my confidence and given me more ideas. I felt when I came into unit x, I thought I had ideas but the workshops have been amazing and allowed myself to think more creatively and imaginatively. From this, I hope I can share my skills to this school and allow the children to open their minds and think outside the box. Also I hope I can gain more knowledge of what happens in the school and what it is like to teach. 

Workshops continued...

The first activity we were given as a group was to create a story or expand on a given image using the materials provided. The materials were paints, pencils, pastels and more drawing materials. I felt quite wary at this task at first because I felt like my group was quite, and so I became shy as well. Slowly we started to give input and started to create a story from the picture. We made decisions as a group and we separately worked on our paper and then brought it together on the bigger paper. I liked this, I felt like everyone gave their own input but it was still a group piece. This is something I could take into my new environment, I feel like it may not work efficiently because the children may become rowdy and others may take control over others but I will see if this happens. It is also a good way to see how everyone works and how people think differently. I like how different ideas are given; it gives you a chance to see how they work and gives them a chance to see how I think.

The second activity was more hands on, which I enjoyed quite a lot. From our drawn image, in pairs we had to create something 3-D. From the workshops from the 1st week, I felt more confident making something 3-D as I had a bit of knowledge. It made me think out of the box and I started using materials like straws, modelling clay, and paper. Working in pairs, I felt much more confident and I felt I had more control of what we were doing. My partner and I both gave input and equally agreed on what we wanted. I enjoyed using the modelling clay because the textures that could be created and could be changed into any form. However, it was messy and left a smell on my hand that was not pleasant. I do not feel like this material would be suitable for the using in the primary school, they children may swallow or damage clothes.