JOURNAL #11
#InformalClassrooms
JOURNAL#11
4/23/22
This week I want to reflect on some of the unconventional or informal classroom and learning settings we've participated in this semester. The three so far have been the Brainy museum tours, CSU's Family day and as an art volunteer at Wellington Middle-High School. In each of these scenarios, I participated in different learning environments- all very fast paced and different than a conventional classroom setting. These learning environments are different because the relationships with the students tend to be short; unlike developing a longer relationship with students over several years, these are one day events with specific goals.
During the museum tours, I utilized a lot of VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) and three modes of dialog: interpretive, open, reflective. By asking questions and getting the students to talk and come to their own learning conclusions; helping them to trust their own evaluations of the art and projects. The larger goal on behalf of the museum was to introduce the museum and their works to elementary age students and their families, to develop a student's confidence to analyse art, and for the students to have fun and promote the museum.
For Family Day at CSU, the goal of this event is to bring the community to CSU and allow school-aged children and their families to connect with fun science and art themed activities in an "science for everyone" event (This included the Gregory Allicar Museum.) Through the Gregory Allicar Museum, the art education students created and hosted different art projects events.
For the Wellington Middle High School volunteer work, our goal was to show the students the new facilities and to get them excited about their new school. This was to familiarize them with the building and to help them feel comfortable with the transition from the old school to the new. The art project that we did was to build on their school pride. The students made colorful monoprints over school symbols of the eagle (their school mascot) or the name of the school to boost pride and let them feel like these classrooms were already their home.
These experiences were so different for me in so many ways than my previous teaching experiences. In the past, when I have participated in these fast paced learning environments (working for the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington) I was mostly focused on participants completing or participating in the project I was hosting. During these three events however, I felt more aware of what the larger goals were for these short encounters; namely bringing awareness to the Gregory Allicar museum and it's collection and familiarizing students with the new Wellington Middle High School. I will make a note that the pace of Family Day was so fast, that there was little time to talk much at all!
At Brainy, our students were 4th grade only and our groups were controlled- each teacher had approximately 4-5 students and we as educators had carefully mapped, constructed content and studied our tour paths. Whereas during Family Day, it is open to the public. Family Day consisted of large groups attending, all at different age levels and participating all at once. I can see how these lessons and short time periods could feel fleeting, but what the students and participants take away is so much larger. What are the benefits to these informal learning experiences? These moments outside of a classroom can teach students about their world, who they may encounter, different ways to view our world. It can give them a sense of community, shared experience and belonging. Alternative questions to this are, "What can students not learn in a classroom setting?" or "How do students benefit from learning outside of the classroom?" "Are there things that can't be learned inside a classroom, or are better learned outside the classroom?"
What do these unconventional learning spaces show us? Something that I am reminded of when I ask these questions are the different styles of learners. I've read in Differentiated Instruction in Art, by Heather L. R. Fountain, that there are multiple intelligences and types of learners that benefit from a hands on approach or others that think and learn visually. As there are different learners, these outdoor spaces may benefit different types of students that find a traditional classroom challenging. I am reminded of the Forest schools (schools that are predominantly conducted outside, rain or shine, all year.) These different styles, goals, questions and approaches (including non-traditional classroom settings) are beneficial to keep in mind as we move through the process of becoming educators and we construct our lessons and classroom settings.
I wanted to make a piece about unconventional and outdoor learning spaces and ways of learning. As I took photos of my daughter and my cousin's child playing in my side garden, I thought, "Look how much fun they are having and how much information they are absorbing just on their own playing in dirt!" They played side by side (they are still under two years old and doing parallel play.). They pulled up flowers, found bugs, put the dirt in their mouths (which they immediately regretted and luckily never got sick.). They moved the dirt around using different tools with the sun on their skin. All these experiences in an unconventional learning setting. I could make an argument that this was possibly the most effective way to learn these lessons. In this black and white photo, I hand-tinted it in color to give it a ideal and vintage quality. I drew the little white "thoughts" of the kids to express their own introspective learning.
These two kiddos are little and so many of the lessons they learn are in huge leaps, as they are seeing and experiencing so much for the first time. I don't think that this is exclusive to their age, however. How many times do I learn something new in my own garden, as I plant seeds and find new critters. I have a ton of books about gardening, and have taken biology, but something very different is learned by actually doing and learning as we go. As educators we owe these spaces consideration and inclusion as we create our lessons and our classrooms.
