Journal Entry #8

Journal 8: Reflect on the studio work you have done this semester. Which experiences did you find the most successful, in terms of Dewey's criteria of a "good" experience, and why? Which experiences did you find least successful, again according to Dewey's criteria, and why? What have you learned about art and learning? What would you still like to learn? How does the art educator respond to the individual needs of the learner while ensuring the continuity of experience?

I found Kristy’s workshop extremely successful, in terms of Dewey’s criteria. She made sure that she was aware of what the students were learning and what our attitudes were. In particular, I didn’t know very much about painting, but she used her own experience to help me learn. She took into account my experience with art, as Dewey writes about taking the child’s life experience into account. It was a good lesson because although we all had fun painting, the lesson also had enough structure that we got our work done and learned something.

Vince’s lesson was moderately successful with regards to Dewey’s criteria. I didn’t feel that he used his insight to help organize us, rather that he let us figure things out on our own (how to use the wire and plastercine). This was an interesting teaching tactic, but it doesn’t comply with Dewey’s principles. He gave fantastic feedback, which shows that he knew what our attitudes and strengths were.

My lesson was moderately successful in terms of these criteria. I think that it applied to the criteria of education, leading the students in the right direction. However, I didn’t have a very good idea of what instruction the students needed. Since the students in this case were adults, they were very independent in their work. If I had been doing this project with children, I would have had to be more aware of the instructions that were needed. I thought it would be fun for the lesson to involve experimentation with the shadows and camera angles instead of the instructor telling everyone what to do. But Dewey has a good point that children need structure in their lesson, and I’m not sure I gave as much structure as I could have.