Reflections on the research

Lesson plans are crucial for effective teaching. Within Creative Connections they were also a key part of the research. The plans provided a frame for feedback and continuous evaluation of the project (e.g. comparison of expected and actual results). Teachers working with each national team created their own approach to creating and implementing lesson plans. The resulting diversity of themes and structures shares some unifying features, which may be understood to characterise the European theme underlying the project.

The Creative Connections project is scaffolded by a pedagogical and research focus which uses pluralistic and interdisciplinary approaches to art and civic education to study the phenomenon that is Europe. Ideas are exemplified in concepts, themes and topics within which pupils and teachers worked to produce artwork and then share it online. An essential feature of the project was the focus on the authenticity of pupils’ and teachers’ responses and the variability of expressive means employed in the classrooms in each partner country. The project’s aims defined not only subject-specific skills but more importantly understanding how artistic mediums and processes can be core to making meaning when students explore their own local and European identities through art. Making meaning through art extends, then, to understanding what it means to belong to Europe.

Since the end of the 1970s, as a curricular strategy in the research and theory of art education and visual perception, growing attention has been paid to the critical reading of images. Interpretive work with diverse sets of images is considered a requirement for the development of analytical skills and critical perception (Allison, 1972), and is successfully used to reflect the important historical, cultural and sociological concepts (e.g. in the ‘Images and Identity Project’, 2010). Similarly, decoding of visual communication, description and interpretation are recommended by many art specialists (Taylor 1986; Fulková, Straker, Jaros 2004; Fulková et al. 2012, 2013). In their lessons, teachers worked with pupils of all ages to learn to reflect upon and critically respond to contemporary artworks.

Participating teachers created lesson plans for their students and classrooms. The same teachers subsequently evaluated the work using journals and/or discussions with researchers; teachers reflected on the resulting artefacts together in the context of the entire research process. In this respect the research involves the use of what Hazuková (2005) calls Functional Language – the specialised terminology used by the teacher, and subsequently by the pupils, to help facilitate deeper understanding of the studied field. School-based research in art must consider teacher disposition, pupils’ ages and diversities, lesson planning and implementation, mediums and methods of arts education. The work in all participating schools (total 24) resulted in artefacts, which included pupils’ artworks, comments, and reflections as well as teachers’ reflections and comments as they assessed the micro and macro levels of the project.

The research can be considered to address three areas: Context, Process and Object (Borgdorf, 2012). Context covers multiple areas. In Creative Connections, it includes the following:

1) the world of art as presented in the project’s online gallery of contemporary European art;

2) exhibitions visited by pupils and artists and artworks that inspired pupils;

3) the broader environment of pupils’ lives, including their cultural and historical lives and the socio-economic and political influences on their daily living.

While process most directly involves the artistic creation of the object, it begins before artworks are made, with the teacher´s lesson planning including consideration of the educational aims of the lesson and the unit of lessons. Process includes the following:

1) the teacher’s presentation of the lesson to pupils;

2) student involvement through making and discussing;

3) final reflections and evaluations by both pupils and teachers.

Objects are artefacts, including pupil artworks and written reflections on process and object. Objects resulting from the process also include video-recordings of pedagogical situations and recordings and transcriptions of dialogues.

Lesson plans from partner countries are individualized, characterized by the teachers’ selected focus. Some plans, in context, process, and object, reflect the political climate in Europe; others explore a critical approach to EU; others focus on a range of ideas including collaborative approaches to making art, resulting in co-constructed art objects and the realization of shared identities. Artistic exploration of personal identity, prior to exploring European identity, underlies most of the teachers’ approaches.

This section of the catalogue provides a snapshot of the project’s work conducted in schools. While the project was carried out in both primary and secondary and rural and urban schools in each country, the context, process and objects particular to only one school per country are presented here. For a full description of lesson plans and the work in schools, including case studies, please visit the website.

Ireland

Context 

- Don National School is a rural primary school. Pupils aged 9 to 12 years old explored individual and collective identities over seven lessons.

-Mater Dei is an urban primary school. Pupils aged 10-11 years explored national and European identity over ten lessons.

Process 

Art processes included mapping place and reflecting on life in the community. Mapping and reflecting influenced classroom discussions and creative processes. Pupils discussed national identity in class and on the project blog.

The teacher attempted also to explore individual identities and Irish national identity in the context of migration and its influence on the notion of home. The teacher’s questions about cultural traditions, e.g., St. Patrick’s Day, guided discussions about cultural stereotypes and the search for/creation of identities.

Discussions and conversations focused on belonging to a family, getting along with neighbours, belonging to a church, a sports club, and other communities in Ireland and explored similarities and differences in life in the city and village as well as in individual cities. Difference and similarity were explored with pupils considering what makes Ireland different from other European countries and what it means to be European.

Object

Using Alice Maher’s work for inspiration, pupils created childscapes--landscapes inside the mind—using lines, shapes, textures and visual patterns. Resulting works helped pupils realise the value of their cultural heritage, relationships between national and European identities and language cultures. Engaging with works like Entropa created by David Černý, helped pupils consider issues of national stereotypes.

Pupils’ visual images reflected various content layers addressed above, including symbols relating to particular country, culture, place and tradition, history and living society. Artefacts emphasized differences and similarities of respective societies. Pupils photographed or reproduced through the frottage technique personal objects brought from home. Verbal artefacts included contributions on the blog as well as recordings of classroom discussions.

Finland

Context 

-Koskela is an urban elementary school whose 7 and 8 year old first graders explored individual and national identities over ten lessons.

-European artworks were used to explore personal identity through exploring ‘my place.’ To this end, pupils mapped places, searching for similarities and differences in places people live and aiming to understand relationships among personal, national and European identities.

Process 

After the teacher introduced the Creative Connections project, pupils worked in small groups to learn about countries involved in the project. They learned about languages, national symbols, typical foods, and animals and their living spaces. Art processes explored ‘my own space’ in the context of national Finnish identity and art of professional Finnish artists. Pupils’ artworks and related Drama Education assignments inspired discussions on identity. The teacher asked questions such as ‘Who is in the image?’ and ‘What is happening in the picture?’ to help students analyze artworks.

Object 

Objects created included thought maps of Europe; the tree of friendship, which highlighted different languages of partner countries; ‘my woolen cap’ (self-portraits complete with fiber hats); photographs; snow sculptures; and sound-scapes. Pupils analyzed the Finnish-made artworks in the project database and then created ‘scenes’ of self and place. They used found and created objects for their scenes and then dramatized the artwork. Dramatizations expanded personal interpretations of original artworks. They photographed their scenes and selected the best shot for the Connected Gallery. Finally the class moved outside to build snow sculptures. Working from small clay models representing individual partner countries, they transferred their creations into the plentiful natural material, snow. Pupils then discussed sound in relation to visual image (i.e., hissing of river, knocking of a woodpecker, wind, shouting of a hawk, the sound of the sea, waves, falling rain).

Readers can see the collaborative nature of the work from Finland on the project blog. Pupil collaborations led to learning about self, nation, partner countries, and contemporary art. The reflections by the teacher and pupils reveal that pupils’ confidence in creating and reflecting on artworks increased. In addition to the Creative Connections blog, pupils used I-pads.

Spain

Context 

- Barcelona’s urban school Dovella participated in the project. The school’s sixth graders (last year of the first level of elementary school), aged 11 to 12 years participated in a series of lessons that spanned two phases.

-Earlier lessons aimed to clarify the idea of European identity and learning, ie, how young people understand Europe.

-Later lessons focused on critical perception of European art selected from the project’s database.

-The question underlying both phases of the work was ‘What do we know about Europe?’ All parts—context, process, objects—were changeable, dynamic, and continuously negotiated with the pupils.

Process and Object 

Early lessons introduced the full Creative Connections project, including contemporary art found in the project database. The teacher initiated brainstorming, first from geographical point of view through maps and pupils’ descriptions of European countries they have visited. To explore Europe and its identities, pupils studied relationships and connections among people and nations. They connected the idea of Europe with contemporary art, which they examined critically. They commented on European citizenship in their personal artworks. Art, along with personal artistic practice, became the source for further discussion on the main theme.

Discussions focused on stereotypical images of partner countries. To counteract stereotypes pupils sought new information from the internet, newspapers and other media before creating their own image of Europe. Examining contemporary visual art in the database, pupils expressed their critical understanding of the artworks before further studying individual artists. Small group discussions and interviews ensued and the artworks became inspiration for each group’s own creative project. Students used photography, video projection, photomontage, sculpture, and drawing.

Student, teacher, and researcher reflections indicated that the biggest gain of this project was understanding the potential of art to explore social issues.

United Kingdom

Context 

-Pupils aged 13-14 participated in a twelve-hour unit entitled, ‘My European Identity.’

-The team focused on the project theme of art and citizenship through planned educational aims and reflections on action.

-Interrelated lessons supported pupils in thinking about their understanding of personal, national, and European identity.

-The lessons intended to: 1) motivate pupils to understand ‘identity’; 2) motivate pupils to realize the extent of EU and identify their personal ties and connections to it; 3) motivate pupils to realize what they feel as a result of these ties and similarly to realize the relations of their emotional reactions to the "reality" of their experience with the European identity; 4) promote pupils’ engagement in the creative processes--transferring ideas into artistic expression with written reflections and comments.

Process 

Initially, the teacher facilitated discussions to help pupils clarify their understandings of ‘identity’ and ‘individual identity’. Using self-created mind maps, pupils discussed the EU in terms of size, history, functions and intentions. Through making collages and mind maps students expressed their thoughts and feelings about Europe. In the teacher’s attempt to deepen discussions on identity, students selected one theme linking their mind maps to their collages and used their creative works to develop thinking on Europe and on identity.

The class then worked with professional artworks, analyzing them by considering things like the artist’s intentions in response to the teacher’s question, “What do you think were the artist’s intentions?” Pupils returned to their own art to consider their intentions in making art. Using work of Gillian Wearing (presented in PowerPoint), which can be interpreted in many ways, the teacher highlighted diversity in interpretation, emphasizing the importance of accepting diversity of personal interpretation. After further art making, the class returned to its discussion of what it means to be a European and worked in pairs to address the topic. They also learned to navigate the website in order to respond to the works of students from partner countries.

Object 

Artefacts created included mind maps, sketches, collages and written texts, which were uploaded to the project website.

Portugal

Context 

-Vila Praia de Âncora School is a rural school located approximately ten kilometres from any highly populated area. It is one of a chain of schools that focus on inclusion and educational success of pupils who struggle with psychological or social issues.

-Participating pupils were in the sixth grade, aged 11-13 years. °The school teaches for ‘respect for otherness’ and ‘pupil solidarity’.

-Its profile is based on diversification of educational policies, openness to innovation, and collaboration with other institutions.

-The teacher focused on the relationship between art and society, exploring ways contemporary art can be created in traditional mediums and in a modernist paradigm. They demonstrated that when contemporary works are made in the context of progressive and post-modern art education, creative processes are based in the diverse activities of the discipline of visual art education.

-The structured approach to teaching students with special needs followed three steps: 1) preparing training materials and curriculum strategies; 2) implementing the strategies and collecting pupil outcomes and other relevant data; 3) evaluating the educational process. Adhering to the steps ensured consistency in the classroom.

Process 

Portugal’s primary educational aim in the Creative Connections project was to work with students to understand identity, culture, heritage, artistic value and contemporary art. Teachers supported pupils in developing critical perspectives toward national and European identity and toward contemporary art. They emphasized linguistic and literary skills necessary for describing, analysing, interpreting and evaluating works of art. Through making art, pupils gained practical knowledge regarding specific art mediums and their uses for clear artistic expression. Pupils explored colour and other elements of ‘visual grammar’ and through personal art making reflected awareness of their individual identities. Practical exercises in looking at art helped pupils understand that art can be read and interpreted in multiple ways.

Early in the project’s art and civic education, pupils discussed and wrote about what comprises Europe. They used colour in combination with shape and perspective to explore identities. Pupils visited a gallery where they discussed paintings and interacted with the author of exhibited works. Subsequent to the gallery visit, pupils presented and defended their understandings of artistic expression while maintaining a focus on identity.

Professional artworks in the Creative Connections database played an important role in the teaching and learning processes. Works by Berenika Ovčáčková, Markku Laakso, Sonia Pulido and Michael de Brito introduced students to themes of everyday life as portrayed in art. Through practicing critical thinking and looking skills, pupils came to understand social functions of art.

Object 

Pupils explored the elements of visual language and personally symbolic content to show their understanding of personal, national, and European identities. They incorporated notes, scraps of paper, writings, and sketching and painting to create their artworks. Beside these, they also produced notes capturing their insights.

Reflecting on the project, pupils noted that they tried to present characteristics of their lives in their art: where they live, members of their family, their ideas about themselves and others. At the same time they felt the need to compare people from different places, cultures and countries. Comparing nations’ identities, they addressed similarities and differences among people. Through the processes pupils understood more about Europe through learning to think critically about society in general.

Czech Republic

Context 

-The school Palachova, in the city of Usti nad Labem, sits on the border of ‘good’ and ‘problematic’ areas of this city whose past is both troubled and troubling. The 13 year-old student participants were sensitive to the endemic problems that plague their city.

-The project at Palachova was developed in the context of a town troubled by 20th century historical events and by a ‘rootless present.’

-The teacher emphasized local social problems, such as the marginalization of certain groups including people stigmatized by their ethnicity and by their social problems including addiction and mental illness, in her lesson plans.

-Background: The city of Ústí nad Labem (in German: Aussig) is situated near Germany in one of the poorest regions of Czech Republic. During World War II Usti nad Labem was the center of the German National Socialist Party activity. After the war, it became it became a city of Soviet and Romanian emigrants, particularly Roma. Many people, with no relationship to the place, its culture, its language, were forced to move to Ústí and work for the local industry. After 1989, the city's heavy industry met serious economic troubles, causing further social problems. Ústí is infamous for its segregation policy tendencies – the town is divided into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ areas. ‘Ghettos’ are separated from the city centre by industrial areas or by railway tracks. Socially pathological phenomena flourish in the ghettos. Children are often the first generation born in Usti. While they do not feel as rooted out as their parents do, it doesn’t take long for them to understand the complexities of life in their town.

Process 

The teacher used a classroom discussion format to connect images from the project database with ideas about what is ‘normal;’ through discussions pupils defined and began to understand ‘otherness.’ Pupils talked about people they observe daily who live in poverty, are addicted, have mental illnesses, engage in less-than-healthy practices. They discussed these individuals’ places in society and the causes of their marginalization or ‘otherness.’

Art made by Kateřina Šedá as well as sculptures and art objects made from trash focused discussions, which led subsequently to student art making. Pupils showed keen interest in addressing the topic of their city’s social issues through art and included a large dose of humour in their works. The teacher was surprised how easily pupils perceived, discussed and gave artistic form to the ‘strange people’ around them. Expected negative and judgemental viewpoints were almost absent. Most students did not struggle with creating artworks and situating them around the city. Through the process, they learned what is meant by the term ‘installation’. Some figures were moved several times to find the most suitable site for their artistic existence.

During reflections, pupils talked with the teacher about socially engaged art and marginalized people. They improved their technical and theoretical skills in spatial art and design. They discussed the relationship between meaning and material, object and location.

Pupils continued their artistic focus on their town by creating colouring books based in their observations of local spaces and places. Pupils focused on places that they pass every day without noticing them. These included views from bedroom windows or blocks of flats. Pupils photographed the discovered places in such a way that the soul of the place would be revealed. Then together with the teacher, pupils magnified and simplified selected shapes using a foil process to create a colouring book. The places were given new dimensions and became the main motif of ‘a book.’

With the use of colour, drab buildings came to life, and pupils transformed and changed their perceptions of common local sites/sights.

Object 

Using a variety of found materials and objects, children created figures of their city’s ‘others,’ and found places for them on the streets of the city, so that the work of art and the site corresponded. Students photographed their art installations. Artefacts thus included figures made from garbage and their installation at particular sites. The photographs documented the original art, preserved the memory, and captured the essence of people and places. Photographs also were the basis of the colouring books, showing how one work of art unfolds into becoming another. Objects also included comments on the blog such as this one: "Hi, we have created a colouring book for our younger friends. Among the drawings you will find places, areas that we see each day, the common places that we learn to love. First, we decided to take a picture of the places and then we used a special drawing technique through the foil”.

 

REFERENCES

Borgdorff, H. (2012) The Conflict of the Faculties: Perspectives on Artistic Research in Academia. Leiden: Leiden University Press.

Fulková, M.; Straker, A.; Jaros, M. (2004). The Empirical Spectator and Gallery Education. The International Journal of Art and Design Education, 23 (1), 4-16.

Fulková, M., Hajdušková, L., Sehnalíková, V., Kitzbergerová, L. (2013). Muzejní a galerijní edukace 2. Učení z umění. Vzdělávací programy Uměleckoprůmyslového musea v Praze a Galerie Rudolfinum 2012 a 2013. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Pedagogická fakulta a Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze.

Fulková, M., Hajdušková, L., Sehnalíková, V. (2012). Muzejní a galerijní edukace. Vlastní cestou k umění. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Pedagogická fakulta a Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze.

Hazuková, H.; Slavík, J., et al. (2005). Problémy utváření funkčního slovníku učitele ve výtvarné výchově. [Problems of Creating an Art Education Teachers´s Functional Vocabulary]. In Multidisciplinární komunikace - problém a princip všeobecného vzdělávání. Praha: Univerzita Karlova - Pedagogická fakulta, 304-326.

Taylor, R. (1986). Educating for art: critical response and development. London: Longman. Retrieved from www.image-identity.eu