An Evaluative Study of
small worlds 2008 A Primary Focus Artist in Residence Project
This report was produced by the Primary Arts Network Ipswich Cheryl Charlton, Lee FullARTon and Susanne Kelly Graphic Design Luke Free Printer Peninsula Special thanks to Miranda Free for editorial assistance ISBN 978 0 646 51920 3
Mission Statement Primary Arts Network Ipswich believes that engagement in meaningful creative and cultural experiences builds a healthy, cooperative, strong and sustainable society. Through creating partnerships between learning, teaching, research and community sectors, Primary Arts Network Ipswich seeks to enable access to an arts rich education for all young people. Primary Focus, a biennial, collaborative program between the Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich City Council and the Primary Arts Network Ipswich is one way the network achieves this goal.
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About PANI Primary Arts Network Ipswich (PANI) was established in the Moreton Region, Queensland in 2002 by one teacher coordinator to meet the growing needs of teachers to understand and use the new Arts syllabus and to learn how to plan and teach visual art skills and techniques in their classrooms.
From its beginning the reputation of PANI has grown throughout the Education and Arts Communities as a network that provides high quality programs in community arts, professional development and artists in residencies. Consequently PANI has become recognised as a leader and consultative body in Arts Education throughout the state.
PANI formed goals to address issues raised in the National Review of Visual Education’s (2005) Discussion Paper by providing:
Strong links have been formed with the Early Childhood Task Force IAG (Ipswich City Council) and the Arts Implementation Committee (Moreton Region), Curriculum Branch - The Arts (Education Queensland) and universities (Griffith University, University of Southern Queensland and Queensland University of Technology). The bringing together of these like minds has provided opportunities for partnerships to grow and future projects to develop.
• •
• • •
• •
Opportunities for teachers to network in a supportive and professional environment. Professional development workshops and in-service opportunities that facilitates worthwhile arts experiences and improve all students’ outcomes in The Arts. Leadership for the implementation of the current Arts curriculum and the sharing of best practice models. Identification of valuable resources and services to support arts teaching in schools. Opportunities for schools to access Artist in Residence projects through the collaborative partnership with Ipswich Art Gallery Ipswich City Council - Primary Focus Support research in Arts Education Support to schools through funding submissions e.g. Light House Project and Cultural Community Hub Artist in Residence Pilot Program.
From the first workshop of 15 participants PANI has delivered over 35 workshops and in-service programs that have been attended by over 1200 teachers. This data demonstrates a growing number of teachers across a wide representation of schools are attending PANI professional development workshops.
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In 2005/2006 the PANI changed its “Art” to “Arts” to address further professional development needs in all five strands of the Arts. With the support of Moreton region PANI expanded into a regional committee of six to address its priority - Sustaining The Arts in Moreton Region. Key personnel who demonstrated best practice and had individually influenced the culture of their schools around the Arts were selected to represent the different strands. The network has extended its realm of influence from two-hour workshops in visual arts after school to student free day whole school in-service to district clusters of schools in Dance, Drama, Music, Media as well as Visual Arts education. In 2006/2007 PANI established the collaborative artist in residence program Primary Focus with Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich City Council, the success of which has led to an ongoing community partnership that seeks to develop projects bringing the Arts and Education communities together for mutual benefit.
In 2007 PANI’s contribution to the Arts and Education sectors was recognised through winning Ministers Showcase Award for Excellence in Leadership. In addition to network’s ongoing professional development program, an increasing number of artist in residence projects have been facilitated by PANI including the second Primary Focus project, small worlds, and a Dancer in Residence project which took place in two of the Ipswich region’s State Schools, both in 2008. In 2009 the team successfully obtained a Lighthouse Grant that funded two visual artists (one indigenous artist, and one non-indigenous artist) and one indigenous storyteller to work with seven schools in the Ipswich region in the design and construction of “The Numbellie Seat” in Queens Park in partnership with Ipswich City Council (Parks and Recreation). The focus was
to enchance cultural understanding and tolerance amongst indigenous students, non-indigenous students, their teachers, teacher aids, parents and the wider community. PANI has most recently been granted funding to coordinate the Creative Community Hub Artist in Residency Pilot Program in three State Schools in the Morton Region with a visual artist, collaborating media artists and a performance artist. PANI’s vision for the future is to establish a Centre for Excelence in the Arts, a vibrant creative space that links learning, teaching, research, artist and community sectors. PANI believes that engagement in meaningful creative and cultural experiences builds a healthy, cooperative, strong, creative and sustainable society. PANI’s focus is to provide an Arts Rich Education to all young people.
The PANI team: Cheryl Charlton, Lee FullARTon and Susanne Kelly
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Introduction The following report presents the findings of an evaluation of the Primary Focus 2008 Artist in Residence project ‘small worlds’. Primary Focus is a program that arose out of a shared interest by the Primary Arts Network Ipswich (PANI) and the Ipswich Art Gallery (IAG) in providing quality artist in residence experiences for primary schools in the Ipswich region. The successful initial project, 3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools, conducted in 2006 provided a model for PANI and IAG working in partnership to manage and implement further Primary Focus projects. small worlds is the second project of the Primary Focus Program funded by Ipswich City Council. These projects are conducted on the premised on the belief that providing authentic experiences of art and arts instruction for primary students and their teachers will: • enhance learning and social outcomes • promote community connections • enhance professional development opportunities for teachers and artists • provide employment for artists PANI’s school based programs incorporate assessment and evaluation dimensions so that contributions to children’s learning and teacher’s professional development can be gauged. This summary report documents the research context and findings related to the topics of interest identified by the research participants.
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Primary Focus Program Program History
3+6 photo
In 2006 the Primary Arts Network Ipswich (PANI) and Ipswich Art Gallery (IAG) formed their partnership to implement the first Primary Focus project, ‘3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools’. The partnership arose through recognition by both organisations that their goals for art, education and community benefit were similar, and that outcomes could be enhanced and strengthened through collaboration. The success of this initial Primary Focus project provided convincing evidence that the partnership should continue and implement further artist in residence projects. 3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools 3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools was an exciting and innovative artist in residence project that developed arts learning outcomes for students. The dynamic partnership between PANI and IAG, Ipswich City Council provided unique and powerful learning opportunities for students.
Aims of Primary Focus include • •
• • • •
engaging local primary school students in meaningful, student centred, learning activities in the visual arts engaging professional artists (and/ or professionals in other fields where appropriate) to work with local educators and primary school students promoting the value of arts education to primary schools and to the wider community exhibiting artwork and the documentation of art learning processes by primary school students developing a best practice model of collaboration in arts education developing meaningful partnerships between IAG staff and educators across the Ipswich region
In Term 4, 2006 students from six schools worked with three artists to explore the visual arts through the use of recycled materials and found objects. Classes from each school investigated various units of work that informed the concepts behind the art making with recycled materials. In Term 1, 2007 artworks created in the 3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools were featured in a formal exhibition of the highest standard in the Children’s Gallery IAG. In conjunction with the exhibition the project was extended to outreach all schools in the region through artist-run workshops. small worlds The second Primary Focus project took place in the second half of Term 2, 2008 with students from two schools working with one artist on projects integrated with each classes unit of work. The projects were linked through the small worlds theme that responded to both classes planned curriculum. The artist brought aspects of his practice to the project as an informing element in the production of works for exhibition in IAG’s Children’s Gallery during Terms 3 and 4, 2008. 5
Small Worlds Project The small worlds artist in residence project involved five phases: selection, planning, implementation, exhibition and evaluation. 1. Initial Selection Phase
Schools were selected through an Expression of Interest process and the artist was selected through PANI and IAG networks. Agreements amongst participating schools, teachers, artist and Primary Focus personnel were enacted.
2. Planning Phase
Initial Planning meetings were held prior to the residency with participating teachers, the artist and Primary Focus personnel to establish the project processes. The artist met with teachers individually at each school to create programs that integrated with each class’s curriculum. Researchers met with all project participants to formulate research topics and outline the dimensions of the research study.
3. Implementation Phase
Throughout the six weeks of the project the artist spent one full day each week with the participating class at each school. During that time the classes visited the gallery and Primary Focus personnel supported teachers and the artist with resources and visits to the schools. Immediately following the period of the residency, an artist-led professional development workshop for teachers coordinated by PANI was held in the gallery.
4. Exhibition Phase
Following completion of the residency period, the gallery collected artworks and associated documentation. In preparation for the exhibition, artworks were professionally mounted and framed and documentation was used to write interpretive statements and develop digital displays of the residency. Gallery co-ordinated educational workshops were made available to schools, and the exhibition opening was held.
5. Evaluation Phase
PANI collected information from schools and the Galleries to provide rich sources of data for analysis. Researchers interviewed participants during the implementation and exhibition phases and analysed the collected data..
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Project Background Research Context While anecdotal evidence confirmed that the initial Primary Focus project 3+6: 3 Artists 6 Primary Schools was well received by schools and the community, with the culminating exhibition attracting large visitor numbers to the gallery, the only systematically collected ‘hard’ evidence came from gallery visitor counts. To better understand the impact of such projects in schools assistance was sought from Griffith University researchers to implement the evaluation phase for the second Primary Focus artist in residence project, small worlds. Primary Focus 2008 involved one practising artist working with Year 4 classes one day a week in two local schools for six weeks. The artist regularly exhibits his paintings and sculptures and through his studies in education had an understanding of curriculum requirements from the teachers’ perspectives. The two schools were selected through an Expression of Interest process undertaken in the year prior to the project. School A, a small school situated in Ipswich City, first opened in 1867. It provides co-educational education from Prep to Year 7 with approximately 190 students enrolled in 2008. The school is comprised of three pods junior (Prep to 3), intermediate (Years 4/5) and senior (Years 6/7) with a special education unit that works to enhance opportunities for students to be integrated into mainstream classrooms. In 2007 20% of students were identified as having disabilities that required significant educational
adjustment to allow them to engage in class programs. School B is a newly built co-educational primary school catering for Prep to Year 7 students. It first opened in January 2007 with approximately 750 students enrolling in 2008. The school services a new community in the southwest of Ipswich City and is the focal point of the new and rapidly developing community. The majority of children enrolled are P-3 students reflecting the high proportion of younger families in the immediate community. Students in Years 4/5 and 6/7 are grouped in multi-age classes. Students enrolled in the school come from a large diversity of cultural backgrounds and include those whose first language is Vietnamese, Spanish, Lao, Samoan or Hindi. About 2% of students are Indigenous Australians.
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Artists in Schools Current Policies and Research Australians want better and stronger education in the arts (Davis 2008). While many primary teachers would agree that the arts are important for educating the whole child, lack of training, skills and confidence result in variable experiences of the arts for school students. The National Review of Visual Education ‘First We See’ identified some worrying trends in Australian schools whereby curriculum timetabling for visual education in the primary has diminished considerably despite the increasing dominance of visual forms of communication - on average less than 40 minutes per week and in some states one quarter of schools have no visual education (Davis 2008). It found that because primary schools rarely have art specialists, the teaching of visual art fell to generalist teachers, many of whom felt ill-prepared for the task. National and international programs designed to provide teachers with professional learning opportunities in the arts are increasingly based on partnerships between artists and educators. Artist in residence projects in schools are an example of a partnership model where the dual outcomes of authentic arts experiences for children and professional development for teachers may be achieved.
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Education in the arts often suffers from the tendency to consider the arts as frivolous, modes of entertainment or ‘nice’ cultural experiences for when resources and time allow rather than activities that can develop cognitive abilities in children (Efland 2002). By using artist-teacher partnerships the possibilities for increasing understanding of and efficacy in using the arts to expand the repertoire of techniques available to teachers and promote active, creative teaching & learning are enhanced (Oreck 2004). The responsible organising body or arts institution often dictates how teacher-artist partnerships are negotiated. The research literature provides many models including apprenticeships (Griffiths and Woolf 2008), mentoring programs (such as provided by Arts Impact an organization based in Washington USA), summer schools with ongoing workshops, individual learning or action research projects (Upitis et al 1999) and arts integration programs such as Learning Through The ArtsTM, a Canadian initiative where the whole school is supported with professional development for three years. Recognising the benefits of engaging future generations in the arts, Australia’s Federal Government announced an initiative to bring artists into schools in the 2008-09 budget. The Australia Council for the Arts has moved quickly to facilitate this nation wide program supporting artist-teacher partnerships and PANI was one of two groups selected to implement pilot programs in Queensland.
Davis, D. (2008) First We See: The National Review of Visual Education. Australian Government, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations . Efland, A. (2002) Art and cognition, integrating the visual arts in the curriculum. New York, Teachers College Press. Griffiths, M. & Woolf, F. (2009) The Nottingham Apprenticeship Model: schools in partnership with artists and creative practitioners. British Educational Research Journal, 35 (4), 557-574. Oreck, B. (2004) The Artistic and Professional Development of Teachers: A Study of Teachers’ Attitudes toward and Use of the Arts in Teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 55, 55-69. Upitis, R., Smithrim, K. & Soren, B.J. (1999) When Teachers Become Musicians and Artists: teacher transformation and professional development. Music Education Research, 1 (1), 23-36.
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Research Questions The following questions were identified by research participants to guide the evaluation process: 1. How does the project support curriculum intent and children’s learning in and through the arts? 2. How does the project contribute to children’s social development and well being? 3. How does the project contribute to teacher professional development? 4. How does the project contribute to the value and relevance of schools and the gallery to their communities? 5. How do artist in residence projects contribute to employment for artists?
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Research Instruments and Data Collection Data was collected from the planning through to evaluation phases of the small worlds project. Responding to the project’s guiding premace that providing authentic experiences of art and arts instruction for primary students and their teachers will enhance learning and social outcomes, promote community connections and enhance professional development opportunities, the following instruments were used to gather data: • Documentation of participant planning and moderation meetings that tracked expectations, aspirations, growth in field knowledge and understanding particularly of teachers • Documentation of student work in progress and at culminating exhibition • Pre-post surveys of student knowledge and perceptions of personal impact • Evaluative post-project questionnaires of teacher, artist and student perceptions of the project • Interviews conducted at key stages in the project with teachers, principals, the artist and representatives of PANI and IAG • A gallery audience survey conducted throughout the small worlds exhibition • Performance-based assessment measuring student learning resulting from small worlds project
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Research findings 1. How did the project support curriculum intent and children’s learning in and through the arts? For all concerned the most compelling evidence of student achievement in visual art was demonstrated by the quality and success of the culminating small worlds exhibition at Ipswich Art Gallery. All students contributed sculptural, drawn or painted artworks that together represented an impressive body of work responding both to the curricula themes studied by each class and the integrating small worlds theme. In evaluating the project’s support for curriculum intent and children’s learning, documentation of planning, moderation and assessment using the Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Framework was examined. Additional evidence was collected through analysis of interview transcripts, qualitative data that provided a rich source of participants’ perceptions of the project’s impacts, and by analysing surveys and questionnaires completed by all participants (including the students). Teachers produced curriculum unit planning and assessment documents following collaborative
planning sessions with the artist and PANI. An important feature of the project was the requirement to align the residency with the existing unit of work planned for the class over the period of the residency. An analysis of documents related to the project provided evidence that this was the case, and that participants responded at their level of understanding of the field (visual art) and the use of the arts in instruction. The project provided opportunity to explore the possibilities for integrating curriculum across key learning areas, and exposed teachers to ways to incorporate other learning while engaging in creative activities (see box). Student evaluations of the project provide evidence that they had learned from the project. This is indicated both by assessing changes to the students’ field knowledge (use of art terms) and their perceptions of what they learned from the artist (see Graphs 1 and 2).
Teacher A Measurement, language of numeracy, language of literacy – it was coming through and talking about steps and processes: ‘first of all we had’, you know that procedural structure in their speech came through, giving their explanations. [the artist] brought music into his art lesson…I just thought that was such a really great way to connect with the unit Teacher B …all of the time, for instance, [with] the plaster of paris, … he’d be talking about the science in making this plaster…he was always doing things like, ‘if I need two cups of plaster and one cup of water,’ and bringing in mathematics, bringing in literacy whenever he could along the way Artist …one of the main things that I wanted to do with this, both groups, was to be able to provide some sort of cross-curricular benefit with art activities such as … using sculpture because you could do things with a mathematical background.
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Use Art Terms
30 27.3
25 20 % 15 10 5 0
5.3 Before AiR Project
After AiR Project
Graph 1: Students were asked to describe art works that they had seen or had made before engaging in the Artist in Residence project and after its completion. Just over 5% used language appropriate to the task prior to the project rising to over 27% post residency.
Le arne d from Artist
Post AiR Post Exhibition
5 .1
Curriculum Theme
0 1 7 .9
Imagine/Express/Risk
6 .1 5 .1
About Art
2 1 .2 1 2 .8
What Artists do
2 1 .2 8 9 .7
Techniques/Materials
7 2 .7
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percentage
Graph 2: Student perceptions about what they learned in the short term, that is, immediately following the Artist in Residence (AiR) project and in the medium term, that is, approximately two months later after the gallery exhibition opening.
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2. How did the project contribute to children’s social development and wellbeing? Students were exposed to new ways of working (in the visual arts) that required differing degrees of collaborative and cooperative interaction. In Context A, most art works produced for the gallery exhibition were group works: three collaborative cane and tissue paper sculptures and two ‘mega’ ink drawings that required individual contributions to a substantial artwork. In Context B, 26 students contributed individual plaster sculptures and a selection of drawn artworks for the gallery exhibition. Social development was promoted through the need to work cooperatively with shared resources when creating the artworks. Evidence for enhanced student wellbeing comes from changes to observed student behaviour and student perceptions recorded in the evaluation questionnaires. Comments from participants indicate that the most noticeable impact of the project was the way it engaged previously disengaged students, and promoted a sense of purpose for those that struggle in the school system (see box). Critical behaviours that impacted significantly on the class in Context A became much less of an issue, and hence the environment for learning was enhanced for all students in that context. Teacher A: Two of the three critical behaviour students were actively engaged throughout the project with improved sustainable behaviour beyond the project for one of these students. The third student had spasmodic episodes of active engagement throughout the project however has made a positive shift from being non compliant to an acceptable level of compliance beyond the duration of the project.
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Teacher A …there were some lovely things, like the comments to one another when they started to apply the tissue: “Let’s work as a team, here I’ll help you, that’s good, wow that’s starting to look great, it’s about to look good now.” Teacher B …every child came around away from that activity feeling empowered… they actually came away feeling like artists Artist It was quite inspiring to see just how much of a change it made in some of these children that were really quite aggressive and initially uninterested, disinterested in doing any art work at all. Not just the fact that they got to do something in a different way, learn something in a different way about what their unit was about, but actually feeling, starting to really feel good about themselves and their self-esteem. Principal The thing that struck me was when they were engaged in this project I didn’t see those children. Those children were engaged. They were creative. They were happy. They could see the value of their own contribution, which was totally the opposite of what they normally are like.
Behavioural issues were not as significant in the second school, however, the following teacher comments indicate there were significant impacts for disenfranchised learners Teacher B: The main child I was concerned for/about engaged well and was inspired, I think, to consider becoming an artist in the future.
…the student that gained most from this experience is the one that has achieved an A grade - he has low literacy levels and had low aspirations prior to residency. Now he wants to go to art school.
Student perceptions and feelings arising from their experiences of the residency were generally positive (See Graphs 3 and 4). Over 80 % felt happy with the work they produced during the residency, felt good about being an artist and would recommend the
project to other students (indicating a high level of satisfaction with the project). Students were asked before and after their work was installed in the gallery how they felt about it being displayed. It appears that students experience some level of ‘presentation anxiety’ that is ameliorated following a positive reception of their work as indicated by the change in student perception around this factor in Graph 3. A more detailed breakdown of feelings experienced by students once their artworks were installed in the gallery exhibition is displayed in Graph 4. Students reported positive responses (happy/excited or proud/good) at higher levels than for other responses: while no responses were negative, about 18% felt nervous or confused, and another 12% either were unable to express their feelings or didn’t see their work in the gallery.
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Perception
Student Perceptions/Feelings
Recommend AIR for other children Happy w ith Ow n Art from AIR Ow n Art in Gallery (After) Ow n Art in Gallery (Before) Feel about being an artist 0
20
40
60
80
Percent giving positive response Graph 3: Student perceptions about various aspects of AiR project
Feelings about own art in gallery
Feelings expressed
Negative response Not sure/didn'tgo Nervous/confused Proud/good Happy/excited 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Percentage
Graph 4: Student feelings about seeing their own artwork displayed in the gallery
16
100
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3. How did the project contribute to teacher professional development? The mentorship provided by the artist and PANI personnel during this project enhanced student access to learning in art due to the specialist knowledge they contributed. The artist brought new technical knowledge and ways of working to both contexts and used alternative instructional approaches that engaged reluctant students in learning through visual art practices. PANI provided expertise in assessment and reporting through the development of assessment matrix/criteria and assisting with the moderation process. Teacher professional development in and through visual art practice occurred principally through the interaction of the artist and two teachers throughout the course of the residency. In their evaluations, teachers reported greater understanding of key concepts of the art curriculum and how to incorporate other learning using visual art. Teacher A reported a ‘shift of paradigm in my pedagogical practice’ as a result of the project stating that:
I plan on teaching curriculum through the Arts where ever possible … I will be encouraging students to be more self expressive through a more ‘fluid’ approach rather than making visual arts a ‘topic’ approach.
An enhanced understanding of visual art education was indicated by Teacher B comments such as: I think, from going through this process, that often art in primary school is based on coming away with a finished item, not developing skills, processes and knowledge. I’ve found it very worthwhile to engage in the process of doing this… I’ve had to learn quite a lot…I’ve had to learn things like let them go, step back, keep your mouth shut, keep your hands off.
Professional development was extended to other teachers through a PANI workshop held in the gallery after the residency was completed. Thirtytwo teachers attended the hands-on workshop where they learnt some of the techniques used by the artist throughout the project. Additional
Teacher A … what a wonderful opportunity that this has been for me… was so powerful for me that I now feel much more confident. [the project] was very much successful in that it also was able – enabled me to actually take what I had observed, what I had noted and to build on that in the classroom Teacher B I’ve found it very worthwhile to engage in the process of doing this… I’ve had to learn quite a lot I’m looking forward to next year developing that matrix [assessment rubric] … thinking about how we can implement art effectively in the classroom with purpose Principal …liaison with an expert was positive for her because it took it [art] away from colouring-in and that typical sort of view… it also gave her expertise in something that she could then do next time… utilise art as a catalyst for learning rather than as a result of learning Primary Focus I think both teachers have approached that professional development interaction with [the artist] in two very different ways and I think that they both view the way that they have interacted with that to be valuable
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opportunities for teacher professional development resulted from the provision of gallery-run workshops. These were made available at no cost to school groups with the aim of providing ‘the opportunity for other teachers and classes and schools to have some experience of the program’ (Public Programs Officer IAG). Twenty nine education workshops were held at the gallery during small worlds exhibition with 708 teachers and students attending. Teachers gained greater understanding of assessment and moderation processes for visual art, however, this was an area that teachers expressed concern about this indicates a need for more professional development. In interviews teachers were either reluctant or unsure of how to respond to questions about assessment and indicated a level of professional concern about this aspect of the project. During assessment and moderation meetings the level of support teachers required for developing and interpreting the assessment criteria highlighted deficits in their knowledge and understanding of visual arts terminology and assessable elements (respond, create, present, reflect). The teachers recognised these deficits making comments and suggestions that these areas be further supported. Teacher: Don’t assess without training (comment made during meeting to develop assessment criteria matrix). Suggestion from teacher evaluation: A requirement that the assessable elements of the Arts discipline in the unit of work be co planned with PANI, class teacher and the Head of Curriculum prior to the commencement of the project.
The value of assessment criteria and using these for effective arts learning was recognised: Teacher: I’m looking forward to next year to developing that matrix … and starting to think along the lines of you know, let’s make works of art not just a colouring or painting activity. Let’s start thinking about how we can implement art effectively in the classroom with purpose.
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4. How did the project contribute to the value and relevance of schools and the gallery to their communities? The project enabled partnerships amongst schools, professional networks and the gallery to be strengthened as each became more aware of the opportunities that collaborative ventures provide. Articles in local press and school newsletters informed local communities about the project, and the official opening of the exhibition created excitement within the two school communities with a ripple effect spreading out beyond them. Evidence of the project’s contribution to the value and relevance of schools and the gallery to their communities was gathered from the analysis of interview data (See Box) and the audience survey conducted throughout the exhibition. Over the period of the exhibition, 184 surveys were received and analysed providing both qualitative
and quantitative results. IAG reports total gallery visitor numbers for the period of the small worlds exhibition (16 Aug - 9 Nov 2008) were 13,535. Graph 5 indicates the high value audience members place on various aspects associated with the program: • the importance of exhibiting children’s artworks • access to an arts rich education • children working with artists and • the benefits of arts education for other learning The survey included spaces for written comments on each of these parameters and some related to community value and relevance are included in Table 1.
Teacher A …it was an opportunity [for students] to engage in the community with people that they had never – would have never possibly engaged with, to meet the Mayor in the showing. So it was the community engagement Teacher B We did have Delphin interested in some of it … they were hoping that we would be able to create arts of work for the local community Artist … it was a good experience just being involved in the Ipswich community just to know that the process involved in being an artist or being a gallery and how it relates to the society that we live in. Principal I’m always looking for those sorts of arrangements simply because I think it brings that community – communities working together actually enriches the experience that all of the people involved have Primary Focus [i]t’s an outstanding contribution to the community to have the children’s work in the gallery…[it] is highly successful … in outreaching corners of the community that may never [otherwise] engage or understand or see children’s work in that light.
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Exhibition Audience Views 80 Essential
70
Very Imp
Percentage
60 50
32.6
39.1
25.5
17.9
40 30 20
36.4
32.1
35.9
34.2
Access to Arts Rich Education
Children working with artists
Arts to other learning
10 0 Exhibiting childrens' artworks
Importance of...
Graph 5: Audience views regarding importance of teaching art and various aspects of program
Importance of exhibiting children’s art For the community to view & understand our youth through art and their experiences Student & school recognition, image and pride. Shows children and audience that art is for the whole community
Importance of access to arts rich education So they can grow & develop an understanding of the world they live in through art & interacting in their community
Importance of children working with artists It provides a broader experience & expertise otherwise limited to a small minority.
Creativity is vital for fostering an innovation culture.
Art develops knowledge, patience, understanding, tolerance, Artists have relationships and continued to harness spirit, joy within the their creative abilities community into their adult life unlike many other adults.
Artists have the passion to impart, not just teaching curriculum.
Benefits of Art Education to other learning Beneficial to the student artist, confidence in doing art. Beneficial to the wider community being brought together through art
Table 1: Exhibition audience comments about relevance to community
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5. How do artist-in-residence projects contribute to employment for artists? That artists in residence projects provide short-term employment for artists in schools is clearly one outcome. In this instance, artist employment was extended through spin off professional development workshops provided by PANI and the gallery. In addition to teachers being exposed to possibilities for learning in and through visual art, the project provided professional development for the artist as an educator in school settings. Interviews with the artist revealed enthusiasm for actively seeking similar employment in schools and with children.
Artist: the experience has been really positive to enable me to sort of learn about the things that I actually think will be beneficial in future activities such as this. So if I ever got a chance to talk to other artists who were going to do it, I would have some good, meaty information to pass on Artist: I’m certainly keen to find myself in this situation again because I think that what we saw and what the support staff, especially at School A saw, opened my eyes for this sort of activity. Artist: I really do think that it’s an ideal way to [engage students who have learning difficulties], it opened my eyes to just how hard it is for a lot of teachers to provide any sort of valuable education to some students.
Teacher A I think it was just a remarkable program in itself to have the experience of having an artist resident in the classroom…only perhaps someone from that artistic background can actually give…some of that very much fine detail and the experience that they can give, well that was perhaps the paramount of the whole program. Teacher B engaging with a working artist … he’s allowed the children the freedom to be who they are…. For the children, I think it’s been really good for them Artist I think that if more artists get the chance to do these sort of things then they can bring so much expertise to teachers and then the teachers will spread that around their schools. Primary Focus I think that there is a real need for an in-service or community for artists to learn a framework or understandings for working with schools we always engage an artist for our [gallery] programs to deliver them because we’re very, we feel it’s very, very important that kids meet living, working, practising professional artists
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The experience provided the artist with understanding of the possibilities of working with children and schools on visual art projects and has inspired him to seek further funding that will contribute to employment for artists: Artist: Based on what I’ve done, I’ll be putting a submission into, well, it’s the State Government’s public arts projects…I’m just thinking about using the wonderful abilities that are capable of being unlocked in children and finding a way that we can mentor children and have a result that’s permanently somewhere on display Artist: It’s going to take, for me, these sort of experiences to know what’s possible with certain children but to see what a group of nine year olds has produced, it is quite viable to do pretty complex activities that can stand up.
Well-publicised public outcomes (such as gallery exhibitions and public art projects) are likely to enhance employment opportunities for artists through exposure of their work and the value they gain through working with children in classrooms.
Artist: I think that if more artists get the chance to do these sorts of things then they can bring so much expertise to teachers and then the teachers will spread that around their schools.
The Primary Focus partnership contributes to employment for artists by providing the contacts between and connecting artists, teachers and institutions. Primary Focus:…for the Gallery it’s about the professional presentation of the work [and] also the setting up being part of those connections between the artist and the teachers because we work with artists all the time Primary Focus:…all of our holiday workshops are artist run Primary Focus:…we always engage an artist for our programs to deliver them because, we feel it’s very, very import that kids meet living, working, practising professional artists
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Summary of Findings Outcomes from the project together tell a story of the potential of art to transform in the lives of students and teachers. Student experiences were generally positive and at times profound with the most obvious beneficiaries of the project being those with the greatest disadvantages. Teacher professional development was influential in changing teacher pedagogical practice in and through the Arts. • Students demonstrated success in learning art skills and art industry processes through participating in the small worlds exhibition • Students were exposed to cross-curricular learning through the visual art projects particularly in literacy, numeracy and science learning • Increased student engagement and reduced incidence of behavioural problems resulted in enhanced opportunities for student learning and success that transferred to heightened self esteem • Increased teacher confidence combined with increased knowledge and skills transferred to improved understanding of teaching in and through art • Exhibiting student art in the gallery provided increased community access and understanding of the role of schools and cultural institutions in education and the arts • Working collaboratively with children expanded the artist’s future aspirations for funding and employment opportunities
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Case Study:
From disengaged learner...
A striking outcome of the study was the impact the small worlds project had on the experiences of disengaged learners and students with learning difficulties and/or challenging behaviours. The following case study traces the journey for one student through the eyes of his teacher, the artist, the principal, his own words and his achievements.
Through the eyes of the teacher
Prior to the project, the student Mac* had been diagnosed as having oppositional defiant disorder and was proving very difficult to manage. In conjunction with his parents the school had organised for the visiting behaviour management team to do a case study and had implement modified behaviour programs but with little success.His teacher stated that ‘he was actually case closed at the start of this term’. Photographic evidence was one method used by the teacher to track student progress. A series of photos taken over the course of the project provided visual evidence of the marked change in Mac’s behaviour and engagement in learning. The following description of Mac’s progress was related during an interview with his teacher that took place at the exhibition several months after the residency.
Teacher: [this was] my first day with [the artist] in the classroom at the point where he was showing how to take shapes and create an object, and this was a fish here. This is the student’s drawing of a fish (indicating framed diary page). The student sat there with his back to him. The student wasn’t going to have a bar of it, he was totally, “this is dumb this is” – in fact the word was “this is gay”, but he did actually follow the instructions and did engage in actually constructing the fish and if you look in his visual art diary, you’ll see three drawings, and that is what he achieved throughout the total program. He wrote, “I don’t like drawing, I like this picture, I drew this myself it’s an okay picture.” Knowing how he engaged – or disengaged at the beginning, [in] the next photo…he was actually drawing his second picture that he did in this visual arts diary, and it was using colour. He was looking up at me with his big puppy eyes saying do I have to do this, you know one of those facial expressions, it was just absolute: “I don’t want to do this I want to be out, this is not what I want to be engaged in.” Then day three, in four photographs I found Mac being engaged in an actual activity with the group, he was actually there with the group, not perhaps doing a lot, but actually being part of the group. Then the last photo I had of him was where he had another boy up here who was obviously coaching him in his own little independent way … Mac was getting involved and I took two photos there, one with the boy chatting and a second one with the boy almost in awe of what Mac was drawing and The student’s expression was showing reasonable confidence with what he was doing. To today when he made a comment to me, when we had settling down time, 10 minutes sustained silent reading and he was most put out that I had just said reading and not reading and drawing. He came to me and said, “Can’t we do drawing? “
He functions as any other child functions in the class now, he follows instructions… he actually enjoys sport, he would
never play sport at the start of the year. When we go out and do fitness…he didn’t want to be part of that, [but] he now is totally engaged in that and he actually stands on the sideline encouraging other children. He has just gone from someone who was so not wanting to be part of the class to total immersion, just fitting in so beautifully...and being able to take on strategies that I give him [and] willingly comply.
Through the eyes of the artist
The artist spoke in general about the impact he noticed for those students that were considered challenging or had learning difficulties. While these comments were not specifically about Mac, they reflected the experience the artist had with his class. Artist evaluation: This class had a large population of challenging students and this project highlighted how effective hands on creative activities engage unruly students. Art/creative activities proved to be highly effective at engaging students (especially challenging individuals) 26
to active class participant Interview 1: There were things that happened there that illustrated the benefits of this sort of activity … very obvious engagement and long-term engagement to a task by children that were really seen to be … unable to stick to anything… certain kids that were in that class who had real learning difficulties were just completely surprising them [school support staff] with how well they adjusted to doing tasks. Interview 2: It was quite inspiring to see just how much of a change it made in some of these children that were really quite aggressive and initially disinterested, disinterested in doing any art work at all. Not just the fact that they got to do something in a different way, learn something in a different way about what their unit was about, but actually feeling, starting to really feel good about themselves and their self-esteem.
Through the eyes of the principal
The principal spoke about the impact of having the artist in the school working with the class. Again the comments do not specifically refer to Mac, however, as he was identified by the teacher as one of the most difficult in the class, these comments are indicative of the impact for Mac. Principal: …it was a very difficult class. It’s probably my highest-flying class in terms of extreme behaviours and some very extreme children who are completely disengaged with learning. The thing that struck me was when they were engaged in this project I didn’t see those children. Principal: They were engaged in hands-on learning and there wasn’t one behaviour problem, even from the most high-flying student in the school.
Through the eyes of the student
Students filled in three questionnaires related to the project: one prior to an orienting visit to IAG to provide context for the artworks the students would be producing for the exhibition; one immediately after completion of the residency, and one following the exhibition opening two months later. Student comments were collated and tabulated with their Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) results for art in Semesters 1 and 2 (see Table 2). Semester 1 results show student achievement in art prior to the project and Semester 2 results are reporting of student achievement for the project. Criteria selected for Semester 2 reporting were for Knowledge & Understanding, Creating and Responding, and for an additional category Self & Others. Mac’s QCAR results indicate that there was a marked improvement in his achievement level. A growing level of engagement in class activities is indicated by his questionnaire responses through increased task completion and evidence of increasing self-reflection in his answers. S1 S2 K &U Cr R S &O E C/D C C D D
Pre Gallery
[Reluctant to fill in this form] 1. – 2. no 3. – 4. – 5. – 6. – 7. no 8. no 9. – 10. sensible
Post Residency
1. Draw pictures. N told me to use stencils. And N taught me hawe to draw a fish. I got to use ink on a piece of paper 2. he helped me 3. Drawing 4. not really 5. no 6. – 7. – 8. -
Post Exhibitiion
1. MG 2. Mystical Beast 3. Megar paintings scalpchis drowing 4. ok good becase I don’t like art and I never fort that wode hapin ever 5. my Mum 6. to drow beter then I yust to 7. The sculpchis 8. my drowing 9. good 10. We got to mach scolpchers we got to paint with inc.
Table 2: Mac’s results for art in Semesters 1 and 2, and questionnaire responses – actual spelling retained. [Key: K&U – knowledge and understanding, Cr – creating, R – responding, S&O – self and others.] *Name changed to protect Identity
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Key features of the Program Key features of the Primary Focus program are its sustainability, transportability, innovation and inclusivity. Sustainability •
• •
The Primary Focus partnership is committed to bi-annual artist in residence projects with funding support from IAG, Ipswich City Council 32 teachers attended artist-led PANI professional development workshop at the gallery 708 teachers and students attended IAG artist-led education workshops at the gallery
Transferability • • • •
Future projects will be extended to different schools in the Ipswich area. The partnership will employ various artists and their expertise in future projects. The project model has been used for artist in residencies in other strands of the arts The transference of knowledge, skills and practice from artist to teacher has built the capacity of teachers to share new expertise with colleagues and networks.
Innovation •
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Collaborative planning enables the
•
•
• •
marrying of the practices of artists with the teachers’ understandings and knowledge of the student outcomes in the arts. Primary Focus brings together different groups of professionals including artists, teachers, PANI and gallery project managers to engage with one another. Primary school students worked with an artist in residence who facilitated the creation of quality works at the standard required for a stand alone exhibition in a regional gallery. This approach immersed teachers and students in artists and gallery practices. It provided the opportunity for students artworks to be exhibited like those of professional artists within a gallery to be shared and valued in the community.
Inclusivity • • •
Students from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds participated in the program. Students with a diverse range of abilities participated in the program. Students from primary and special schools attended the exhibitions and artist workshops during the exhibition.
Acknowledgements This summary report is based on the paper Primary Focus, A Partnership Model for Artists in Schools by Miranda Free, Dr Glenda Nalder and Lee Fullarton Primary Arts Network Ipswich Coordinator: Lee Fullarton. PANI Regional Committee: Cheryl Charlton, Susanne Kelly Ipswich City Council Ipswich Art Gallery Ipswich City Council: Councillor Charlie Pisasale IAG Gallery Director: Michael Beckmann IAG Public Projects Manager: Ingrid Hedgcock Education Queensland Principals, Teachers and Students from selected State Schools of the Moreton Region Artist Nick Olsen is a visual artist who has regularly exhibited his paintings and sculptures since 1994. Nick has won several awards including the Brisbane Rotary Club Art Award in 2007. His work is held in private, corporate and public collections including Ipswich, Crows Nest and Redcliffe Regional Galleries, the CalArts Collection, Los Angeles School of Arts, BHP Brisbane, Theiss Corp and the J. Crew Collection, New York, USA. Nick lives and works in Brisbane, Australia.
Image acknowledgements All Images supplied by Primary Focus partner organisations, Primary Arts Network Ipswich and Ipswich Art Gallery
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