Topic Reflection: 3

As I read the section titled "Working From Observation" out of the Carrol text, I became intrigued.  I want my students so badly to be confident and proud of the work they create in the classroom and too many times I see art work throw away or hear them talk about how horribly they draw.  I encourage practice, practice and practice and I imagine my student are tired of hearing me say "How do you get better at basketball or playing an instrument?  You have to practice.  How do you get better at drawing?  You have to practice."  Sometimes I just don't think they understand. 

Within the "Working From Observation" section, I really focused on the "Adolescent Crisis".  I've heard of this many times and wanted to learn more so I took Kathy's advice and looked in the research section and found an article titled "An analysis of drawing programs for early adolescents", written by L. J. Moody.  I went to JStore, located it and began reading. 

Moody chose 6 programs to look at in her article.  I didn't recognize many of them however the titles all seem to make some since.  He labels each program as a perceptual, psychosocial or cognitive type of development.  Moody states that the perceptual programs develop the students "ability to identify, differentiate, and discriminate visual phenomena" (41), while the psychosocial programs focus on the students "personal and group experiences, emotions, self-esteem, parental and peer relationships, and ties to others" (41).  The cognitive program is the "mental ability to code information symbolically, remember concepts and constructs and reason abstractly" (41).  As an art teacher, I see the students struggle with psychosocial development.  They are unsure of themselves, trying to find where they are going to fit as they move through puberty and are continually questioning every move they make.  My students are continually looking for reassurance from the peers and this is a great opportunity to help them develop their self-confidence and allowing them to discover new things (42). 

Moody states in conclusion that "art educators should consider the particular emphasis within each program".  He seems to believe that there are important pieces in each of the programs and the students must understand the program the educator is teaching (45). 

This article is somewhat reassuring to me as an art teacher because I continually struggle with middle school students.  Many of them want to succeed in art and be 'good drawers' but at some point in their lives, they began to doubt their ability.  This was my third year and I've been continually changing my middle school curriculum because it's just not right...nor do I think it ever will be perfect.  I struggle to find a balance in the types of work we create in the short 9 weeks that I have them in my room.  Reading this article clarified and introduced me to some new ideas and reasons adolescent students struggle.