PROCESS

OVER

PRODUCT

IN ART EDUCATION

A STUDENT CENTERED APPROACH TO

MAKING ART

By Christine Miller

Williams High School, Plano ISD

February 2015

MAKING ART RELEVANT

TO OUR 21ST

C. STUDENTS

Putting emphasis

on the end product

instead of the

process of making

art can frustrate

student and

teacher alike.

Emphasizing the

process helps light

the way for artistic

exploration.

MY OWN

“ART TEACHER SOUP”

SO MANY ART IDEAS

AND THEORIES!

Many people are talking about ways to heighten student engagement in art making. My graduate studies and years of classroom experience & experimentation have led to a lesson plan that blends many great ideas and methodologies together.

My pedagogy has grown as I have synthesized the resources, ideas, methodologies and strategies I have studied. The lesson plan format I am currently using is intended to create more flow in the art making process for both teacher and student.

A NEW APPROACH IN

MY TEACHING - FLOW

I don’t offer up this

plan as “the” way to

teach art, but as one

approach a teacher

can use to create

more student

engagement in K-12,

community or

museum art

education programs.

THERE ARE MANY

PATHS…

This lesson plan approach

incorporates the language

and/or ideas of the

following:

• Question Formulation

Technique

• Studio Habits of Mind

• Big Ideas/Enduring Ideas

• Artful Thinking

• University of Illinois in

Chicago Spiral Workshop

• Olivia Gude (the BIG

voice in my ear!)

PRIMARY RESOURCES

QUESTION FORMULATION

TECHNIQUE

Many of our

students don’t

utilize

questioning in

their learning.

This book and

website teach

students how to

ask their own

questions.

SEE QFT IN ACTION

Watch this video to see how QFT is used in the art classroom.

You can also view a PPT that includes the students’ reflections from the

lesson highlighted in the video.

STUDIO THINKING 2

Instead of talking to my “students” about what goes on in the “art classroom”, we try to replace our language with “artists” working in a shared “studio space”. We practice Studio Thinking, using language real artists use when they make art.

STUDIO THINKING

OUTLINES HABITS REAL

ARTISTS USE

Big Ideas (or Enduring

Ideas) are things

common to all people

like: love, fear, dreams

or home. When

students center their

art making in a Big

Idea, they begin to tell

their own story and

connect their art to

their unique life

experiences. See Dr.

Christina Bain’s PPT

presentation about Big

Ideas.

BIG IDEAS

Artful Thinking is a

process of looking,

thinking and

questioning. When

added to the art

making process,

students enter

more deeply into

the art they see

which leads to

connecting more

deeply to their own

art making.

ARTFUL THINKING

The University of Illinois in

Chicago’s Spiral Art

Education workshops

encourage flow in student art

making. Edited by Olivia

Gude, this site features

examples of investigation,

questioning, thinking and

meaning making in student art

making. This resource brings

together the components

outlined in this presentation

and is one inspiration for

creating flow in my own

teaching practices and my

students’ learning

experiences.

UIC SPIRAL ART

EDUCATION

BRINGING IDEAS

TOGETHER

Objectives for the art making process in my lesson plan:

• Create more student engagement

• Build in more play and investigation

• Use Big Ideas, Enduring Ideas

• Incorporate language from Studio Habits of Mind

• Use questioning strategies

• Emphasize process over product

• Build in reflection throughout art making process, not just at the end

INTRODUCTION

Start the project

with a fun,

exploratory

investigation/disc

overy activity. Let

your students

play with

materials and

techniques.

Studio Habits: Stretch & Explore, Develop Craft

The teacher or

student selects

a Big Idea to

create individual

meaning for the

student’s art

making.

IDEATION

Studio Habits: Understand Art World, Express

RESEARCH

Research can be inserted in any part of the process –students can research artists, ideas, techniques and processes at appropriate times during their creation process.

Studio Habits: Understand Art World, Envision, Develop Craft,

Stretch & Explore, Reflect

QUESTIONING

Engage in a quick

questioning

process (QFT or

Artful Thinking)

for the

student/artist to

create the driving

questions for

their art project.

Studio Habits: Understand Art World, Reflect, Envision

Record Big Ideas,

questions,

potential answers

to questions,

observations about

materials and

process, and

design ideas in

their sketchbook to

document their

thinking.

VISUAL THINKING

Studio Habits: Envision, Observe, Reflecting

Organize a plan in their sketchbook (real world 21st c. skills): size of work, materials needed, processes artist proposes to use, source of inspiration, then submit the proposal to the facilitator (teacher) to support implementation of their plan.

PROPOSAL

Studio Habits: Reflect, Develop Craft

Time to create!

The student/artist

should be itching

to start their work

with all of the

exploration,

questioning and

thinking they have

done! It’s time for

some serious,

focused play!

IMPLEMENTATION

Studio Habits: Develop Craft, Engage & Persist, Observe, Envision, Express,

Stretch & Explore, Reflect

REFLECTION/ASSESS

MENT

Reflections and assessments

should be an ongoing process by

both instructor and student.

Formative assessments can be

group critiques, informal

conversations with instructor, or

notations or questions that arise

during the creative process and

are noted in their journal. There

should be a shift to assessing

the process instead of the

product, which relies heavily on

effort and persistence

throughout the project.

Studio Habits: Observe, Reflect, Persist, Understand Art World, Express

Student and teacher

should reflect on the

process and the product

through a variety of

questions that the

student answers. An

Artist Statement can be

written as a culminating

activity. Formal

assessments can be

made first by the

student and discussed

with the instructor to

agree on a final grade.

COMPLETION

Studio Habits: Express, Observe, Reflect

TIME FOR FOCUSED

PLAY

Teaching and learning are creative acts and yield the best results when we are in a “flow state”. Try out these ideas in your art studio and “play” with them! Find things that resonate with you and your students and weave them into your teaching. Let your teaching practice bubble up from your own life experiences to create your own artful teaching style!

RESOURCES

• Artful Thinking - http://www.pzartfulthinking.org/index.php

• Bain, Christina. (2008). What’s the Big Idea? Retrieved from: http://ntieva.unt.edu/download/teaching/Curr_unit/What%27stheBigIdea.pdf

• Miller, Christine. (October 15, 2013). Christine Miller – Question Formulation Technique. Retrieved from: https://vimeo.com/76950785

• Miller, Christine. (April 09, 2014). Essential Question Strategies & Question Formulation Technique. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/tagartteacher/qft-presentation-w-o-embedded-video-33325098

• Miller, Christine - photographs and/or artwork in this presentation

• The Right Question Institute - http://rightquestion.org/education/

• Spiral Workshop – Art Education Program, School of Art and Design, University of Illinois in Chicago. https://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/sites/SpiralWorkshop/SW_index.html

• Studio Thinking (8 Studio Habits of Mind). Retrieved from: http://www.artiseducation.org/research-tools/tool/studio-thinking-8-studio-habits-mind