Creative Designs for Classroom Routines

National Art Education Association

Creative Designs for Classroom RoutinesAuthor(s): George SzekelySource: Art Education, Vol. 34, No. 6 (Nov., 1981), pp. 14-17Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192502 .

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7IM3fiLI Creative Designs -- for Classroom

Routines

"Instead of calling roll, we can start the

class off immediately in the creative vein by

asking the students to draw quick-sketch

self portraits, perhaps on a colored name tag one day or

on top of a newspaper photograph on

another."

George Szekely

Recently I was an observer in a high school art class. The stu-

dents came quietly into the room, took their supplies from the stacks set out for them, sat obediently while attendance was taken, and started to work, following the written instructions handed out to them. "Aren't they wonderful?" exclaimed the teacher. "They are working so well. You hardly have to say a word to them." I had to agree: they certainly were past masters of classroom routines. It is often said that students need to know what to expect and what is expected of them, that they need routines in order to be comfort- able. But the essence of art is the unexpected, the unpredictable. The goal of art is not comfort, not the mechanical following of a routine, but the awakening of high interest and core responses. Art classes, of course, should not be haphazard and helter-skelter. Outlandish schemes played out for their own sake are not the answer. The class must have structure, but a structure appropriate to that day's lesson. And, of course, the artist does need routines. They are an integral part of the work, and each artist develops his or her own. But the artist does not begin with routines, and they are not superim- posed on the work by an outside agency.

Schools also need routines. The business of the school cannot be accomplished without them. And the

art class is as much subject to the requirements of the school as the math class or the English class. How- ever, if these requirements are met, the school does not dictate how they are to be satisfied. The teacher is in control of the procedure, and perhaps nowhere is it more evident than in the teacher's attitude toward the routine business of the class, what the teacher's attitude is toward art, and the place it should have in life. If the art class is no different than other classes, surely the art teacher is say- ing to the students, "This is just another subject. There are assignments. You do the assignments, just as you learn spelling or the dates of important historical events. Then you leave the subject behind when you leave the school." Certainly this is not-or should not be-the purpose of an art class. The art teacher is the representative to the students, of art and what it is about. How can the students be expected to be creative if the art teacher is not? Perhaps the greatest challenge of all to us as art teachers is to act as examples to students by inventively incorporating the creative into the mundane. In this way, by making the classroom our canvas, we make a clear statement of our commitment to art as a way of life.

Let us outline a routine art class: The teacher has carefully planned the day's class period, allotting a speci- fied time for each activity. The class file into the room and take their assigned seats. The teacher calls the class to order and takes attendance. The teacher then points out the still-



life objects already set up for today's lesson, passes out the materials to be used, describes the exercises or problem set by the lesson, and states the results expected. The materials have been chosen by the teacher from the supplies available in the school store- room and have been unpacked and brought to the classroom by school service personnel. When the class period is nearly over, the teacher abruptly says that time is up. Work is put away, and materials are cleaned up; quickness and efficiency in these activities win commendation. The teacher gives the planned homework assignment; the class members file out; and the teacher settles in to grade their work. The spontaneity

and inventiveness of even the most creative teachers can become prison- ers of such a routine. They also often find that after taking attendance, handing out materials, giving instructions, and allowing time for cleanup, half the allotted class time is gone. The solution would seem to be to make the necessary routines serve our purposes as art teachers. Let's examine some creative designs for classroom routines.

Preparation No artwork begins with the brushing of paint on canvas or ends with the storing of the "finished" work. The beginning and the end of the class, which are most often subject to routine, are perhaps the most important part of the period. Both the preparation for the work itself and the con- templation of what one has accomplished can be the most crucial deci-

sion-making points in the life of an artwork. How we begin the period sets the tone for the rest of the hour, and we usually begin by taking attendance. Instead of calling roll, we can start the class off immediately in the creative vein by asking the students to draw quick-sketch self-portraits, perhaps on a colored name tag one day or on top of a newspaper photograph on another. "Signing in" with different materials on different textures, making a design of one's signa- ture or initials, or adding fingerprints in colored inks can also be ways of stating one's presence. By putting a new twist on the attendance-taking process for each class session, the teacher demonstrates his or her creative resources, and the students begin the class with an informal, ungraded, even playful exercise that loosens them up for the more sub- stantial work ahead.

Very often students are presented with materials, subject, and instructions and are expected to "perform" on short notice. They are given no time to plan what they want to do, to dream, to experiment, and to play. Not much time is required for this kind of activity, but it is essential if the students are to have a creative experience and not just to attempt a mechanical reproduction of what has been set before them. Just gathering one's own props for a still life, select- ing one's own materials, and arrang- ing one's own paint containers may seem insignificant, but in reality they are the physical means of putting together far more complex visions and ideas. Thus, every act of artistic preparation is significant. An artwork begins with the collection and selec- tion of materials, for which the teacher usually takes the responsibil- ity. Yet, the simple act of unwrap- ping, unrolling, separating, untan- gling, and unpacking supplies is a highly sensual and sculptural process, complete with the smell of newly unwrapped paper and the sound of tape being pulled away as new paints come out of a carton. As the student perceives the possible materials, ideas for new work actively begin to flow. As he or she chooses among the materials available, the ideas and previsualizations become refined, and plans for the project are worked over and selected. Very specific and important decisions about the work

are made during this process. Once the materials are in the class-

room, the well-intentioned teacher, in the interests of convenience, safety, and time, chooses the paints, colors, quantities, and containers and hands the whole "package" to the student. Making a routine of even such seem- ingly simple steps deprives students of preparing the materials themselves and exploring different containers, the consistency of paints, the mixing of different colors, the qualities of different applicators, and the different means of applying paints to a surface. It is during such experimentation that the artist masters his or her materials and learns to play and won- der and dream in planning new work.

The materials that we use influence our work immeasurably: whether chalks are new or used and broken; whether the paper we use is torn off a pad and presented to us or we unwind it from a roll ourselves; whether we have one sheet to work with or a whole stack. Each of these conditions communicates possibilities to the user and influences the limita- tions on and the freedom of the work that follows. The way materials are stored or displayed also suggests how they might be used in artwork, and even distributing materials from a bag rather than a tray or cart may lead students to do quite different things with ordinary materials.

The project itself may also be pre- cisely preplanned by the teacher. For example, the objects in a still life are usually chosen and arranged by the teacher, along with the lighting and the background. As a result, the stu-

Art Education November 1981 15



dent has nothing to do but copy according to the teacher's instructions. If, instead, the student selects the objects or even brings some from home that might be used along with objects brought by others, if the student tries different arrangements, against different textures and colors and in different light, she or he is already beginning to plan and pre- visualize the work that may come from the subject.

The Lesson Classroom routines are filled with teachers lecturing to students, and by the time the students come to the art class, they may be numbed by the absorption of so much one-way com-

munication. The art teacher has an opportunity to engage their attention with an entirely different approach. First, communication in the art class should emphasize the visual rather than the verbal; and second, art should be a means of two-way communication and a sharing of thoughts and ideas. Too often, under the pressure of time and student numbers, we art teachers also resort to lecturing, or, experienced but tired, we pull tried-and-true recipes-in the same order each semester-out of our files and present them to more-or-less faceless classes. We begin to see crowds, classes, numbers rather than young faces, individuals, or artists; and the experimental behavior that is natural to us as artists becomes sub- servient to routine.

We need to be in touch with the individuals in our classes-listening to them, guiding them, discovering their individuality, and encouraging them in their own ways of thinking. Art teaching means helping individuals connect their life experiences,

their observations, and their ideas to a medium of expression. Our best lessons have the spontaneity of being taught for the first time. Such lessons are our own inventions, and they contain an element of risk-we are unsure of their success and try all the harder to communicate our own enthusiasm for the project to the members of the class. After all, if we are artists, we know, first, that art involves risks, and second, that art cannot be mass-produced from a recipe.

The End of the Period Part of the creative process is having the time to look at one's work. Yet very often monitors quickly snatch

elementary school art from the child's hands when the "work period" is over. The child is not given a chance to look at it from different angles, to become its audience rather than its maker, to evaluate it and learn from it. We must recognize that the experience continues even after the brush is put down. As the child examines and handles the work and thinks about what is to be done with it, how it should be wrapped or rolled or folded or framed, new decisions and new ideas (perhaps for the next work) come about. What is to be done with the artwork should be left up to the child; only she or he can decide whether it is finished, whether it should be displayed or stored, whether it should be available for reevaluation or packed away, to be contemplated only in memory.

Cleanup is necessary, of course, but its educational potential is seldom used. Because cleanup is not subject to "grades," it is during this time that a child may feel most free and safe in exploring and in learning more

about the materials and the concepts of art. Washing the brush and the containers of paint left over from his or her painting may allow the child a freer experimentation in the mixing of colors than in the class work or may afford a quick lesson in what happens when colors become more and more diluted. A surface on which a roller has been tested for making a print may have its own beauty and interest and may even be used as a part of the print itself. A piece of paper from which a form was cut not only re-outlines that form but is related to the original shape as a neg- ative, helping the child to understand it and suggesting new possibilities as a starting point for the next piece. Or

after the child has been using chalks, his or her hands are covered by resi- due of the colors used in the work. These chalk marks may simply be washed off as "dirt," or they may be rubbed on a new surface or simply observed on the skin in different kinds of light. The marks that may have moved off the paper and onto the surrounding surface can give an accidental outline of the process, the shape, and the size of the work that has been done. allowing the child to look at it from another viewpoint. When approached with ingenuity, cleanup signifies the continuous nature of art, the constant search for and identification of new ideas, new materials, and new processes.

Homework Assignments A homework assignment can be a set of verbal instructions, complete with deadline and a predetermined format, or it can be the creative outgrowth of a problem that a student has discov- ered and wants to do further work on. Ideally it should be an extension




of the work accomplished in class so that the student learns that art is continuous, not just a subject to be con- fined to a particular hour of the schoolday. At the same time, homework should be planned to take advantage of the greater freedom possible outside the classroom and the school hours. It may take the form of a collection of thoughts or objects, written or visual observations, plans and sketches for future work, additional time spent on the completion of a project begun in class, a special trip to a museum or to search for unusual materials, or a photographic project. All of these can be planned to fit in with projects that are being explored in class. Ideally homework assignments should be worked out with each student indi- vidually, to take account of special interests or needs and to encourage the continuous working, planning, and thinking of the student along the lines of his or her own creative con- cerns. Such homework may often be self-assignment by the student, with the teacher's approval.

Teachers' Reactions to Students' Work Our responses to students' work- grades, gestures, comments, even our body language-can become as routine as any other classroom activities. Our praise, like our perception of the work, can become merely mechanical, and students who spend much time with us learn to read our reactions very accurately. School art programs sometimes become so large that. in essence, the teacher is run- ning a factory. The main concern becomes the logistical pressure of moving children, paperwork, and finished artwork into and out of and around our classrooms quickly and efficiently. This routine has to be slowed down so that there is time for us to enjoy and respond to individuals and their work. When we see, and have seen, so many student works, it is difficult to keep our responses orig inal and truly expressive. We may have to make a conscious effort to wake up our senses so as to see freshly and to be truly responsive.

Written Communication One of the routines observed every- where in the schools is the distribu- tion of written communications-

lists of supplies, assignments, exami- nations: the list is endless. Most of these are processed on a ditto or mimeograph machine. The art class can express its difference by creating communications that are as much visual as verbal. In trying to teach our students to think and communicate visually, we have many opportu- nities to demonstrate how this can be done. Our every written communication as art teachers-whether it is typed, xeroxed, or printed on the chalkboard-should include a visual element: it should be a beautiful or visually interesting message as well as an accurate one.

A test on color should include color rather than just being a set of

been set up-they knew what to expect and would have resented any change. The art'class must be set up along the lines suggested at the beginning of the semester, so that the students' expectation becomes not knowing what to expect!

George Szekely is area head and associate professor of art education at the University of Kentucky in Lex- ington.

References Stephen Dobbs, "Destiny and

Dedication: An Interview with Nathan Oliveira," Art Education,

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questions on a ditto sheet. The necessary signs in the classroom can become collages-after all, the inclu- sion of printed letters in artworks is not unusual. Almost any message can be illustrated through diagrams, charts, and the inventive use of materials and, as a result, can become a design as well as a communication of information.

The teacher of the class I described at the beginning of this article asked me for suggestions about teaching her class, about what changes I would make, if any. "As the lesson deals with space," I said, "why not change the routine of entering the classroom space'? Why not set up partitions that change the spaces in the room or construct interesting barriers to be negotiated or even crawled through in order to enter the classroom'? "The class would think I was crazy!" she answered. "They would laugh me into the hallway." Of course, she was right. It was halfway through the semester, and the students were well accustomed to the routines that had

March 1981, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 20- 24.

Ellin Grossman, M. Boykin, and L. Ritter, "Hi, Ms. Art Teacher," Art Teacher, Spring 1980, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 6-9.

Philip Jackson and E. Belford, "Educational Objectives and the Joys of Teaching," Foundations for Curriculum Devtelopment and Evalu- ation in Art Education, Champaign, Ill.: Stipes Publishing Co., 1981, pp. 308-327.

Irving Kaufman, "Continuity and Change," Art Education, February 1980, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 9-14.

Henri Matisse, (recorded by Regine Pernaud), "The Nature of Creative Activity," Education and Art, UNESCO, 1953.

D. N. Perkins, "The Encounter with Art," Art Education, March 1981. Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 16-17.

George Szekely, "Preparing to Photograph and Becoming a Photog- rapher." Readings in Art Education, Massachusetts: Ginn Publishing Co., 1980.




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Creative Designs for Classroom Routines