Post-it Note Appreciation

If I could only use one resource within my teaching, it would be post-it notes. In short, I love them. Below I expand how I use them and why I could not be without them.

For Planning

My use of this versatile resources starts in the planning stages. I will use them to organise my thoughts for a session by writing on each something that needs to be covered; learning objectives, connect activity, recap*. Once I have writing down everything, I think I need to cover I will place these on a large sheet of paper in the correct order.

*Side note, at this stage the post-it notes are as vague as just the titles of activities, once I have consolidated a running order I will return and add detail.

At this point I will start to consider the session length and how long each point will take to cover. Then I can either fill in the gaps of time with added activities or see what can be omitted from the session if it is running long. It is the movability of the post-it notes that I love, it allows you to not get the planning right straight away, gives time to reflect on the flow of the session and clearly shows each activity as a block of time.

I have used this method when planning a two-day training programme, totalling 14-hours of delivery. By using this method, I found that I could much easier – in comparison to working straight onto a session plan for example (or anything digital for that matter) to visualise the time and work with it. I could move activities from day one and two without hassle and follow the flow of the training.

Using the post-it notes in conjunction with a large sheet of paper allowed me to expand on these ideas and assign them to parts of the session plan. When planning I follow the CSPAR Session plan: Connect, Share, Present, Apply, Review. CSPAR has clear links to the Kolb’s Experimental Leaning Cycle (1984), giving learners a change to experiences something new, reflect on that, conceptualise it and apply it to the world around them.

From the paper-based planning I am then able to create the expected session plans with little confusion.

For Group Work

I am a big advocate of using group work within session, as I believe that peer-learning is so important. However, I am yet to meet a group of learners who is thrilled to be set group work – particularly when it means splitting them up into new group formations. This technique lends itself well to random allocation (Hartley and Dawson, 2010), so it is not ideal if you are wanting to take advantage of MKO’s (Vygotsky, 1978). 

However, I have found that splitting learners up with the use of Post-it notes makes the task less odious on me as the teacher. Possibly due to the random aspect of it and learners not feeling singled out (?).  

I will use the same post-it notes in several ways in the same session to sort learners out into groups, they are as followed;

1. By post-it note colour (this can be limiting if you do not have an array to pick from)

1. By adding numbers to the post-it notes

1. By adding letters to the post-it notes

I usually stop here due to small cohort sizes meaning that by this point most learners have worked with each other and due to length of session and wanting tasks set to be meaningful, not rushing through. However, you can expand this further by adding different symbols or words.

By using this technique and implementing group work I am able to embed wider skills into the session including developing their communication skills (Hartley and Dawson, 2010).

For Peer Feedback

Within my Exploring Drawing and Illustration course I allow for time at the end of activities for learners to clear feedback on each other’s work, on post-it notes. They are encouraged to write two points; something positive and something to work on, allowing for reflection and development to take place (Sackstein, 2017). Due to the nature of the course being short and unaccredited the focus is primarily on the positive. With the aim being to encourage learners and build confidence.

Learners have some control over what they receive feedback on, by leaving their sketchbooks open on a certain page.  They are also allowed to leave their feedback anonymously, creating a feeling of a safe peer assessment setting (Rotsaert, Panadero and Schellens, 2017).

From my perspective the most important thing with this type of activity is that it is carried out with respect and that it encourages conversation and sharing of ideas.

Regarding the subject matter, it is also a very effective way of showing the learners that each of them has their own style of drawing and illustration and that, that is OK. 

References

Hartley, P. and Dawson, M. (2010) Success in groupwork. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Pocket study skills).

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Rotsaert, T., Panadero, E. and Schellens, T. (2017) Anonymity as an instructional scaffold in peer assessment: its effects on peer feedback quality and evolution in students’ perceptions about peer assessment skills. European Journal of Psychology of Education. January 2018, Volume 33, Issue 1.

Sackstein, S. (2017) Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts. ASCD.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Who is the audience of road signs?

This is something that I have been considering lately, in reference to audience and audiencing of the road sign (Rose, 2013). The natural audience for road sign is, unsurprisingly, people using the roads. This audience intentionally engage with the road signs daily. The road signs engage us with their use of our shared public language (Wittgenstein, 2007) falling into the category of conversational texts, instructing the audience on how to use the roads (Eco, 1979). Going forward I will also need to consider the audience of my copies too.

As I go through this process, I am trying to draw on comparisons between the two contexts for the road signs; real life and the art world. In their current locations the signs are specifically fitting and, in a context, allowing it to resonate. gives the audience immediate access to the work (Stiles and Selz, 2012, p.712). This will change once repositioned. Artists strive for immediacy to be ‘in the moment’ and road signs exist in that state naturally (Hayward, 2004).

Since starting The Road Sign Collection one of two things has happened; there has been a sudden rise in the need for road signs in my local area, or, I have awakened my attention to their existence. As I cannot now walk down a street without feeling absolutely bombarded by them. It is quite distracting. However, I do not feel fluent in this new language, so I investigated this system of signs to find out more about the basic rules.

Road Sign Shapes

Circular road signs -> give orders

Triangular road signs -> warn.

Rectangular road signs -> signs inform

(RAC, 2018)

Road Sign Colours

Black and white -> regulations (i.e., speed limits)

Yellow -> warning
Green -> guide signs

Blue -> guide signs

Orange -> construction occurring

Brown -> parks and recreation

(Top Diver, 2017)

Some signs are very to the point and I appreciate then for that! However, I find myself with odds with others, for example I learnt that this sign means ‘no stopping’ – who knew?! (This is of course a rhetorical question, I’m sure many of you did know).

Some signs irk me more than others, particularly the sign below. The mix if text and image annoy me. If you only look at the image you do not get the full message and likewise, if you only read the text, the sign also falls short. It appears that my own confusion is mirrored by most intended uses, with research showing that only 21% of people surveyed could correctly identify the meaning of the sign (Allen, 2019). 

The audience of the road sign is something that I want to address within my art practice. Firstly, I want to change who the audience of the road sign is, by repositioning them into an art context. My intention being that by positioning them away from the road they will be looked at by either; the same audience in a new way, a new audience in a way that differs to their original intention.

The next step in this process is to step away from the original features of the found road signs. By rendering the signs in tape, rather than creating copies in mental, the signs become cheap, disposable and physically weak. This uncrafted aesthetic communicates to the audience something about my art practice and positions me, as one of them, rather than as an authority figure (Eco, 1989). The font used on the original road signs will slowly be replaced with my own, ACComplete4, to further that feeling.

References

Allen, J. (2019) Survey reveals the road signs most motorists don't understand. [online] Available at: https://www.driving.co.uk/news/survey-reveals-road-signs-motorists-dont-understand/. [accessed 21/11/19].

Eco, U. (1979) Role of the Reader Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts (Advances in Semiotics). Indiana University Press; Midland Book Ed edition.

Eco, U. (1989) The Open Work. Harvard University Press.

Hayward, K. (2004) City Limits: Crime, Consumer Culture and the Urban Experience. Routledge-Cavendish.

RAC. (2018) The Highway Code - Common UK road signs and what they mean. [online] Available at: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/learning-to-drive/the-highway-code-uk-road-signs-and-meanings/. [accessed 21/11/19].

Rose, G. (2013) Visual Methodologies. Sage Publications Ltd; 3 editions. 

Stiles, K. and Selz, P. (2012) Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists. University of California Press.

Top Driver. (2017) Black, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Brown: Know What Each Type of Road Sign Means. [online] Avalable at: https://www.topdriver.com/education-blog/know-type-road-sign-means/. [accessed 21/11/19].

Wittgenstein, L. (2007) Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief. ed. Cyril Barrett. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Planning Teaching: What should come first?

One of my main teaching struggles comes from knowing what to teach first. This is not a problem that is exclusive to my art teaching, but my teaching in general. In this blog I will focus on my Exploring Drawing and Illustration course.

You have learners, you have times and dates and you have content which needs to be covered. However, when teaching unaccredited courses, you are left without a module guide or instruction from an awarding body. There are no assessments, with learning outcomes to be met either, meaning that you are left with an abundance of material and nothing to guide the structure.

The first tool I use to help guide how the course will proceed is by starting with the need to carry out initial assessments to gage each learners starting point, week one is the best time for this to take place. Working within adult community learning the starting points between learners can be vast. I use two types of initial assessment; one based on theory and the other on practical skill (Education and Training Foundation, 2019).

Within the first, I ask the group to complete a match and pair game around the theme of types of line drawing techniques. They must match the name of the line drawing technique to an image example and a written description – while the learners participate in the task, I take note of each learners’ contributions to assess their knowledge, I will also as one-to-one questions relating to the task. I find this to be a useful activity as it works in a more than one way; firstly, as the initial assessment, but also as an ice breaker activity, encouraging learners to converse in the first ten minutes of the session in a way which is not intrusive (Hartley and Dawson, 2010).

If a learner becomes stuck during the match and pair, I will get them to share the part of the puzzle that they have with the group and prompt them to ask their peers if anyone can suggest what it might correspond to. This allows me to make use of any more knowledgeable others within the group (Vygotsky, 1978), allowing all learners to complete the task. This is a benefit by having a group of learners of mixed ability work together (Seethamraju and Borman, 2009).

Depending on the size of the cohort I may split the group up and have the same activity being completed in smaller groups – with the use of random allocation, as at this point, I do not know the learners enough to use any other grouping method (Hartley and Dawson, 2010). Ideally sized between 3-6 learners (Wheelan, 2009). This ensures that all learners can actively participate in the task.

The second initial assessment is based upon the line drawing techniques outlined previously. However, it looks as assessing their practical skill set. The importance of the theory task coming first is that the assessment introduces the techniques to all the learners, which is particularly important for those learners that have not come across the techniques before. Once the first assessment is completed it provides them with a crib sheet on what the line drawing techniques are and what they look like.

Going forward after the first session my aim to create a manageable chunk of leaning, drawing on mastery learning (Bloom, 1971). While in longer courses these chunks would materialise as different units which might take place over an academic year, I look at these as each week of the course. The Exploring Drawing and Illustration course can run as either five weeks or ten weeks.

The subject matter of Drawing and Illustration is broken down into small chunks which then need to be timetabled into a logical series. This requires me to step back and consider what skills need to be covered first. This is what led me to cover the basics on line drawing in week one; on both lengths of course, as these techniques are referred to in every subsequent session. If I did not cover these first and simply referred to continuous line drawing without covering it this could leave learners without any prior knowledge confused and at a disadvantage. As there are no previous qualification requirements to enrol on the course it cannot be assumed that they have covered these in a previous course. As a way of managing a group of learners who can vary in ability individual learning plans are utilised.

At the start of each session learning objectives are set out, which tell the learners what it is they will be able to do at the end of the session, for example learners are told in the first session that they will be able to:

The learning objectives are also set to Booms revised taxonomy (Anderson, Krathwohl and Bloom, 2001) to encourage higher-order thinking skills, starting with lower level cognitive skills (Bilon, 2019).

Session two for both course lengths covered using view finders, this is covered early in the course as it is a method that learners may want to continue to return to throughout the subsequent weeks. Using a view finder can help the learner to better frame objects/the picture and to block out any distractions (Guptill, 2014). Week three sees the introduction of the grid drawing technique, again as this may be needed going forward. Other skills introduced early in the course include pencil measuring – week four.

While it would be useful to learners to be introduced to all the skills in the first week, I am conscious not to overload them with material and to instead introduce them in meaningful patterns of information with the intention that this is mean they are more likely to retain the information (Miller, 1956). After these skill sets have been covered, the running order for the rest of the sessions becomes less important, as the skills are less basic.

The rest of the course differs depending on the length of the course. Within the five-week course the final week, week five (week ten of the ten-week course), is dedicated to creating a final piece based on the new skills they have learnt. While in the ten-week course for the remaining weeks other topics are covered such as; drawing with anything but a pen and creating repeat patterns.

References

Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl and Bloom, B.S. (2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

Bilon, E. (2019) Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives: The Abcds of Writing Learning Objectives: A Basic Guide. Kindle Edition.

Bloom, B.S. (1971) Mastery Learning. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Education and Training Foundation. (2019) Excellence Gateway – Toolkit: Initial Assessment. [online] Available at:  https://toolkits.excellencegateway.org.uk/functional-skills-starter-kit/section-3-developing-effective-practice/assessment-functional-skills/initial-assessment. [accessed 14/11/19].

Guptill, A.L. (2014) Rendering in Pen and Ink: The Classic Book on Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers. Watson-Guptill; 60th Anniversary ed. Edition.

Hartley, P. and Dawson, M. (2010) Success in groupwork. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. (Pocket study skills).

Miller, G.A. (1956) The magical number of seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63, 81-97.

Seethamraju, R. and Borman, M. (2009) Influence of group formation choices on academic performance. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 34(1).

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wheelan, S. A. (2009) Group size, group development, and group productivity. Small Group Research 40(2).

Artist Research

When I start a project, I rarely start with artist research, as my inspirations often come from real life things. However, I do still see the value in seeing what has come before me as no concept stands alone (Davey In Macleod and Holdridge, 2009) and my work will be existing in the same realm as these works. Comparisons could be made as my work will not exist within a vacuum (Melee and Cramerotti, 2013). In both of out works we are nodding to the gestures and conventions of the road signs (Judovitz, 1998).

Shrigley (2007) in Tate (2019)

I came across ‘Stop It’ (2007) by David Shrigley and was instantly warmed to it as I could see the process to create the work was similar to my own, there is a strong DIY aesthetic which is also identifiable within my own practice and draws on our shared public language (Wittgenstein in Kripke, 1984) and social contracts (Rousseau, 1998). In reading ‘stop’ we have a shared understanding of what it is we are expected to do – to come to a complete stop.

However, Shrigley has used artistic licence to add the ‘it’ adds some humour to the work, but keeps the work open to infinite interpretation (Brusseau, 2005), as the audience we still do not know what ‘it’ is. This further allows personal meaning to seep into our interpretations of the work, drawing on our private denotation (Doherty, 2015). When was the last time they heard these words and how will that effect their understanding of the art? Was it from an annoyed parent, or waring sibling?

The use of a hand rendered text is another similarity between our practices – though not in my new The Road Sign Collection. This is something used throughout his practice. In this piece practically it allows the text to become unauthoritive, almost personal. The handcrafted aesthetic renders the text almost abstract and open to further interpretation (Emin, 2007). This is something that I want to start to develop in my collection, by starting to make subtle swaps as I go forward. The first stage of this process will be to start to replace the found font from the signs and replace it with my font ACComplete4. I will be interested in seeing how this change effects the reading of the work.

While I have previously created signs with the font, this will be the first time that I am working so directly with the real-life counter parts.

Reference

Brusseau. J. (2005) Decadence of the French Nietzsche. Lexington Books; 2nd edition.

Davey, N. In Macleod, K and Holdridge, L. (2009) Thinking Through Art: Reflections on Art as Research. Routledge.

Doherty, C. (2015) Public Art (Now): Out of Time, Out of Place. London: ART/BOOKS.

Emin, T. (2007) Tracey Emin: borrowed light. British Council.

Judovitz, D. (1998) Unpacking Duchamp: Art in Transit. University of California Press.

Kripke, S. (1984) Wittgenstein Rules and Private Language. John Wiley & Sons; New Ed edition.

Melee, L. and Cramerotti, A. (2013) Art and Revolution. Aesthetic Journalism.

Rousseau, J. J. (1998) The Social Contract. Wordsworth Editions.

Tate. (2019) David Shrigley: Stop it. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/shrigley-stop-it-t12819. [accessed 08/11/19].

Teaching Drawing

Teaching drawing can be daunting, mostly due to our preconceived ideas of what drawing is. My course, ‘Exploring Drawing and Illustration’ has a strong emphasis on the ‘exploring’ part of the title.

Within the sessions learners explore drawing techniques. There is a focus on ensuring that learners understand the techniques, and the processes attached to them. Time is also taken to explore artists, analysing and applying their practices to the learners’ own work and exploring materials to create new, original works (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001). I believe that it is only through this tri-exploration, which has parallels to Aristotle’s’ ideas around; theoria (thinking), poiesis (making), and praxis (doing) (Smith, 1999, 2011) that learners’ can engage in one unified process which allows them to develop their creative outcomes (Gadamer 1979).

Praxis takes place with the engagement in set drawing activities. Each designed to encourage learners start to explore drawing in new ways. By building on these techniques and using formative assessments, including peer and self-assessment, learners can master skills and develop their drawing (Bloom, 1971).

Drawing Activities:

Quick fire line drawing; creating a drawing of a still life with different line drawing techniques within short time periods of 30seconds, 1minute, 2minutes, 5minutes and 10minutes.

Doodling; inspired by Chris Riddell’s ‘A Doodle A Day’ (Riddell, 2015), learners are asked to complete six doodles without a direct reference point; a house, a crowd of people, flowers, a dog, a cup cake and a fish on a bike.

Drawing without a pencil; using tape or sting to execute line drawings allows learners to become freer in their drawing – and can be particularly beneficial when working with continuous line, as the materiality lends itself to be continuous, unlike a pencil which is easily took off a page.

Grid drawing; allowing learners to concentrate on sections of imagery for 1:1 scale drawing and increased scale drawings.

Large scale group drawing; taking away the hones of being the sole artist of a piece of art.

The engagement in praxis allows the learners to develop a critical awareness of their own art practice, allowing for doing and reflection to take place at the same time. Letting learners to analyses their actions and make alterations in real-time. This results in progress being made. This has clear links to Kolb’s’ experiential learning cycle of; doing, reviewing, learning, planning (1984).

While there are benefits in each of Aristotle’s categories, there is definitely something to be said about just ‘doing’ as a means of research and reflection that I find particularly conductive of learning and that sit alongside pedagogical theories of learning, such as Dale’s Cone of Experience, which in similar terms suggests that doing real things is a far superior way of learning, than say just reading about the subject (Dale, 1969). Creative subjects lend themselves well to this type of learning as so much of the session is taken up with the practical activities which embed this naturally.

To conclude, while teaching drawing can be daunting by drawing on educational pedagogies and finding the value in different types of knowledge the structure to teach the skill begins to fall into place.

References

Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl and Bloom, B.S. (2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

Bloom, B.S. (1971) Mastery Leaning. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Dale, E. (1969) Audiovisual Methods in Teaching. 1969, NY: Dryden Press.

Gadamer, H-G. (1979). Truth and Method. London: Sheed and Ward.

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall.

Riddell, C. (2015) A Doodle a Day. Macmillan Children's Books; Main Market edition.

Smith, M. K. (1999, 2011) What is praxis? Encyclopaedia of Informal Education. [accessed 27/11/19].