2 - 2 - Week One Lecture

8/11/2019 2 - 2 - Week One Lecture

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I want to start up this week'spresentation by giving you some contextabout our teaching philosophy at MoMA:specifically how I approach art andinquiry throughour on-site programs for teachers.A big part of how we support teachersis by modeling our methods for themin front of works of art.This video will give you a sense of whatthis looks like and also give you someinsightinto how we see our methods in the context of alarger dialogue about education.In the coming weeks you will also learn aboutthe online resources that we havedeveloped to support teachers in theprocess of incorporatingart and inquiry into their classroom.You guys tell us a similarity as well.So like there's a person, like a green personand then there's like a white animal over there.So there's that similarity of a personand an animal in the painting. Yup.

Absolutely. So the last pair share:What was a similarity?Yeah. Another similarity, they both have,they all have colors.Yes. They both have this very strong use of color.Yeah, you wanted to say a similarity as well?Can I do a difference?Say that again? Can I do differences?Yeah, you want to start with the difference?Yeah. One has a church, one doesn't.One has a church, one doesn't. Yes. That's good.I know why maybe she's upside down:because those two houses are upside down.Yeah, so that's really interesting, right?

That's a really great observation, right?Some things are right side up and some things are upside down.So maybe the figure is in response to that?Yeah, yeah. What's another difference? What's something that's happening herethat wasn't happening in the other one? Yeah.That um, the difference is that in this, every spot is a different colorand in the other one they are all like the same color.Yeah, that's interesting right?The other one had kinda what would look like one generallike color over the landor color over the sky.And here there's a lot of different kinds of colors going on.Yeah, that's definitely.

One of the other important goals through the modelingwith these particular objects, theseMoMA objects is to also articulateto teachers and make it clear to themhow the kinds of questioning strategieson the kinds of activities we scaffoldaroundengagements with works of art couldhappen around any objects.They could happen around


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a piece of history or it could happenarounda piece of literature or some sort of textor a piece of music.So althoughwe're specifically engaging the objectsthat we have hereand also delving into their history andthe context of these objectswe're always thinking aboutsimultaneouslymodeling how whatever it is that we'redoing can be translated tosomething in the classroom. This is oftena way to start a conversation withstudents.And even though we didn't do any writing,can youimagine any connections between this andliteracy?What you just did, the talking aboutthe artwork. So whatyou just talkedabout: comparing and contrasting; that's

something we do often.It's useful to have them compare different things,but still use that sameskill ofnoticing lists of things that you seethat are the sameand different. Yeah. Also totake it to the next level is being ableto compare lots of things toeach other, not just two things, butbeing able to comparea group of things. Groups of things as well.Yeah, and I love to like

when I'm in the classroom I notice like when I say,Have you done comparecontrast?theyre all like, oh yes, yes Ive done that.You know, this is a very common thing.I try and use vocabulary students are used to.Now youve seen and heard a little bit about our approach,I want to talk about why we teach inthis way, specifically highlighting someof the critical skills that can bedeveloped in this processone clarification I want to make at theonset is that throughout this courseI'll be using the term "works of art" but

a work of art could mean student artwork,a piece of writing, music, or any other kind asignificant object or artifact you wantto teach with.All of what we will explore in thiscourse can be applied to any object orcontent in your classroom.Here at MoMA,we stress the use of inquiry based teaching as ameans that learning about


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are in a way that help students engagewith art in a meaningful waybut also as a way for them to developcritical thinking skillsthat are crucial to all aspects of theirintellectual work and development,in school but also in their everydaylives, present and future.Observational skills:practice at observing, describing, andinterpreting visual information.The seemingly simple act of studentsspending extended time observing a workof artdescribing in detail what they seepresents significant challenges regardingboth the development of perceptionand language. Instead of simply acquiringinformation,students are encouraged to focus, lookclosely and present athorough description of what they see.When we spend extended time to lookand describe we enable students to

build upon and fine-tune theirobservation skills.This process requires no expertise orprior knowledgewhich makes it accessible to any student.Analytical skills: experiencing in contemplatinginformation and facts andopinionsin order to make informedinterpretations.Over time and through exposure toincreasingly challenging images,students can begin to make more and

subtler observations,and organize and express them moreefficiently and with greater depth. Theybegin to build upon observationsforming questionsand working toward developing their ownhypotheses or interpretations about thework based on evidence they gathered throughclose looking.This type of skill is essential for allstudents, both in school and in life.Communication skills:practice at articulating one's ideas and

opinions, andlearning to listen and respond to thoseof others.In addition to all the skills thatinquiry cultivates and develops,teaching with art and inquiry in theclassroom also builds community.Through this process, students areencouraged to share their thoughts andideas with each other which


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not only helps them gain a betterunderstanding of the content beingdiscussed, butit also helps them again to gain anunderstanding of themselves in relationshipto each other.We believe dialogue and exchange are powerful and memorable ways toexperience works of art. Groupconversationsabout objects around a central theme arecore components of our practice.Students are encouraged to share theirthoughts in a welcoming atmosphere thatsupports and challenges themto make connections between objects,ideas,and their own experiences. Through thisprocess they will end up learning fromyou, the teacher,but they'll also learn from each other. Thistype of teaching definitely fosters andcultivatesa community of shared experience andlearning. It goes without saying that

on top of all the skills,there's also a huge amount of contentknowledge that students can gainthrough this approach, both about artiststheir process, but also about the contextof the works of art themselves and theirplace in a larger historical narrative.For those of us that teach in the U.S., theCommon Core standards have become alarge focus in terms of curriculumdesign and instruction.And although there are no Common Corestandards currently in place for the

arts,many of us working in the field haveidentified the ways that our teachingmethodsalign with the Common Core. Common Corestandards were designed to reflect theknowledge and skills that young peopleneed for successin college and career readiness. I seeinquiry basedteaching methods parallel to theproficiencies outlining the Common CoreState Standards

as they relate to literacy, speaking andlistening,critical thinking, analyzinginformational text,and citing evidence to support arguments.I would also just close by saying that Isee this practice as one that supportsboth teachers and students.All too often, teachers and students areburdened by system that does not support


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their needs,and although I think it's important torecognize all the ways in which we teachalign with initiatives such as the CommonCore Standard, I think the focusshould be on the needs of our studentsand how we can cultivate environmentthat sparks and supportsdeep and meaningful engagement increativity. I hope this week'presentations and readings helped to giveyou an overview,and then next week, we'll begin to dissectthe process through viewing examplesmethods and practice.

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2 - 2 - Week One Lecture