Disciplinary Text Sets

April 27, 2019

Disciplinary Text Sets

Since my research, or inquiry project, is regarding how to establish a classroom culture that will promote respect, risk-taking, and creative thought through language and critique a la the Socratic seminar; my approach for this inquiry project will be to look at how to in the first weeks of class set up my students for success throughout the year. Establishing best practices by reading together, and using free writing exercises in our sketchbooks, in order to get students comfortable using descriptive language, and to flesh out their ideas, before bringing them to the larger group. As a result, from this first few weeks of school perspective, I am interested in looking at texts that will help students "define" what is art?

Text 1:
27 Responses to the Question “What is Art?” By Judith Herman
Retrieved from: http://mentalfloss.com/article/57501/27-responses-question-what-art

This article from the website Mental Floss, is more or less a complication of quotes on "what art is" as defined by many artists across history. I think the quote structure will peak student interest, since it has an Instagram culture feel. These small sound bites are a catalyst for a much larger conversation, and can allow students to identify with certain artists, and allows students to become familiar with the idea that there is no one definition of art. This will lead into our own discussion of how we as a class will choose to define art. I like doing this exercise with my students because it allows them agency and autonomy, and shows the value of their ideas, putting them on par with the thoughts and ideas of famous artists, because as they will come to hear from me time and time again, they are all artists in my classroom.

From a text complexity standpoint, StoryToolz gives this text an average grade level of 8.3, making it the perfect text to start my advanced middle school students, or Art 1 high school freshman and sophomores.

Text 2:
Guidelines for Group Critique
Retrieved from: https://www.albany.edu/faculty/dgoodwin/shared_resources/critique.html

StoryToolz, gives this resource an average grade level of 11, though, I might only use parts of this resource, or read it aloud with students to have them better understand how critique will work in the classroom. Truly this text seems more of a jumping off point for a conversation about how, we as a class want critiques to run. I see utilizing the "rules" and guidelines laid out here to help facilitate a discussion about the guidelines we want to establish in class. I think giving students the power to influence the culture of the class critique will give them more of a willingness to be open in the critique setting, because their input was valued. Though the text is rather dry, I think pulling the guideline content from it will be useful for students.

Text 3:
Why Do Humans Make Art? by: Nathan H. Lents, Ph.D. Posted to Psychology Today Sep 05, 2017
Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beastly-behavior/201709/why-do-humans-make-art

StoryTools gives this article an average reading grade level of 9.3, perfectly in line with the two previous texted reviewed. This articles examines, why humans make art and how this differs from other animals, and the beauty of this particular form of human expression. Additionally, the author discusses art as storytelling, of causing or reflecting human emotions and experiences. I think this text is a welcomed edition to our discussion of what art is and how it affects our lives and how our lives influence it and the "reading" of someone else's artwork. I like this article because it doesn't use overly complex and inaccessible art language, but discusses art in a way my high school students could understand and in a way that they will be able to add to the discussion.

Overall, I see using all three of these text to frame the environment and culture of our art class. I would also love to add a text exploring artists use of sketchbooks, and visual research journals as a way to introduce this idea to my students as well. Since, I want to encourage my students to fall in love with writing and sketching via the sketchbook.

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