Hello everyone!
I recently graduated from Mizzou in May with my undergrad degree in art education; this is my second graduate course! I live in Chesterfield, Missouri and I currently substitute teach in the Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt school district in the St. Louis area.
Because I don't have a classroom of my own (yet), I am working to find an art teacher to collaborate with this semester in one of the schools I sub in. I don't have my focus classroom yet, but I hope to know very soon! If possible, I will target high school students at the "intro to art" level. I believe that VTS will encourage students who are less vocal in class to speak their opinions comfortably. Perhaps the students who lack confidence in their knowledge and ability in art will benefit the most from the "permission to wonder." These students will be relieved from the pressure of having the "correct" answer. The permission to wonder offered by VTS levels the playing field so that no one student holds an advantage over another. I am also hoping that this process will ignite an interest in art for students who are currently uninterested. I think VTS will encourage students to dive deeper into finding the conceptual meaning of artworks...a skill that many art students lack prior to college.
I will update my post once I finalize my focus class, and edit my thoughts about who will benefit the most, if needed.
I look forward to this VTS journey will you all!
I think it will be interesting to see how high school students connect their personal experiences/knowledge to their sense of wonder. I feel like those highly emotional narratives will be very engaging to students and help them find a personal connection to remember the piece by.
ReplyDeleteI think your idea of targeting "intro to art" students is wise. Implementing VTS with them would be beneficial towards their overall growth in approaching the visual arts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that VTS helps to relieve the pressure of voicing your thoughts. I think using VTS with a foundations art class is an excellent idea. I'll be anxious to hear how these students react to VTS and how it changes the way they view and talk about art.
ReplyDeleteI am excited to see how much more engaged those not interested art students become when you begin using VTS. Permission to wonder will be interesting at an age when conforming to their peers is so important to many of them. I wonder how much they will effect each other and if they will be able to feel they can speak freely amongst their peers.
ReplyDeleteIf you are successful in getting a high school group as your focus class, you may find reticence at first. By the time kids get to HS, they've had the "one right answer" expectation drilled into them. Many may hold back and allow those they have identified in their class as the "smart" ones to answer first. This is where neutrality and hammering away at the third question will help. It will also be very important for you to include a statement in your VTS introduction that you are looking for their observations and interpretations, not a right answer. Good luck! I'm excited to see how this goes!
ReplyDeleteIt might be a challenge at first, but when the students get the idea that there is no "right" and "wrong", hopefully they will hop on board. I had some 8th grade students last year tell me VTS was one of their favorite things we did all year.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you also pointed out that some students lack an interest in art that could be due to them not personally connecting to concepts and meanings that can be found in it and VTS should help make connections and art more relate-able to their own experience. Best of Luck! I look forward to hearing about your experiences.
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