I love it when another professional really challenges me to re-think and contemplate my belief system. I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Dan Hodgins speak at the MiAEYC Conference last week in Grand Rapids. Since his session, I have seriously been contemplating "the process."
Dan challenges us to make our practices match our belief system. You can
read more from Dan here.
Dan says.... If we really truly believe in the importance of process.... We NEVER send home art projects....
I am really struggling with this thought. I am a firm believer in the importance of process. I have worked with not only children, but also with adults as they work through artistic processes. Art is a process, and so is life. We are continually doing, changing, adding, and moving on.
But.... I think that there are times when the product has importance too. I don't think that it has nearly the same amount of importance as the process, but in my mind it does have value.
What if we thought more of the product as a celebration of the process. I know that for children it may not be as developmentally appropriate, but it is a "touch stone" (thanks CA :). It helps us to remember the process. I know that children live in the "now" and may not hold the same thought patterns that we as adults do. However, I think that there is some value in using the product as a memory of the process.
I also think that the "product" is a valuable tool in documenting the process. Through open ended art, children have the freedom to express themselves. They take the time to choose materials and to determine their own process.
Ultimately, "the product" is partial documentation of that process. When paired with photos, the product can provide evidence of a child's learning.
A "product" sent home to parents provides an avenue for communication, and a tangible piece of "evidence" for their child's learning and progress. Have you ever looked at the continuum of art for a child? Watched how their process and products have changed through time?
In my mind, the dissonance will need to be resolved. I don't think that agree that art is all about the process. I believe that the process is more important than the product, but I will continue to send art projects home.
But, what I will change is how I talk about art. In order to resolve the dissonance and maintain my integrity (matching my walk to my talk...) I will continue to promote art as being a process, but also note that when we celebrate the process and truly allow people to experience and explore, we have a wonderful gift in the resulting product.
Art then, is about freedom. It is about having the opportunity to make your own choices- choosing your own paper, colors, and tools. It is about mixing mediums and experimenting. Most important it is about having a space where anything is possible and there are no prescribed outcomes.
Art is an opportunity for children to make their own lines.....
Where they can choose to color in, out, or all around. The only boundaries are their own.
How then, do we accomplish the celebration of process????
We provide children with materials.
We allow them to make all of the decisions, and we don't drive the product.
We are their to support the children's needs. This means our job is to replenish supplies and move art from the creating area to the drying area.
It also means that when we talk to children about their work, we don't talk about what we think the product looks like. We make statements about what the child is doing, or reflections on actual things we saw them do. We don't give value to the product- we allow the children to own and give value to it. "Do you like my painting?" is a question that can be redirected, "Why don't you tell me about your painting?" or "I noticed that you really spent a lot of time on that."
We provide an opportunity for children to share their journey by allowing them to show others "how to" create certain outcomes. They show each other what happens when they use different tools.
Through the entire process, each individual child still has the opportunity to choose. They control their own process, discovery, and ultimately product.
Each piece completely different from the next, even though they were created side by side.
Thank you Dan, for making me think. While I can appreciate your viewpoint, I do not completely agree with it.
I can however change the way in which I articulate my beliefs in order to maintain my integrity.
Although the process is extremely important, I also think it is important for us to recognize the product as celebration of that process.
(I also think that there is value in craft, but know that there is a MAJOR difference between art and craft)
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Comments
Many, many times the art work never goes home.
I'm slowly seeing a change at the art table by how the parents are involved. And I think it's because of how the materials or idea is presented.
Last December I read an article from the blog Not Just Cute about Intention Deficit Disorder and realized I wasn't communicating my goals for each project to the children or the grown ups so I've started to write a list of what a child may learn when doing a project and things the adult could talk about with their child.
Here is an example from a craft
http://strongstart.blogspot.com/2010/12/jingle-bell-bracelets.html
Recently our local ECE group invited an art specialist in on "How to talk with your child about their art". As you said talk about what you see not what you like. Talk about the elements of art - dimensions, shapes, line, colour, etc. In that way you are helping the child learn about art.
And at my centre, modeling for the parents.
Artwork is often a way we do connect with parents as well. Parents need to and want to see what their children are doing. What a child brings home can often be the catalyst of conversation between parents and children as well as the connector between school and home.
Yes - we can and should promote communication through other means as well but I don't believe that we should get into the mindset that art is only to be experienced and never admired or shared.
And what about the teachers role? I believe that children are capable of learning new techniques, new information, new ideas, new concepts. Yes - they will and should learn through valuable experiences but I believe that teachers can guide children into new ways of doing, new ways of thinking, and new ways of experiencing as they explore the process.
No need for me to rewrite what you have already and so thoughtfully written and besides - I might mess it up! I really appreciate all the thought and time you have taken to share your thoughts on this topic. I really could go on and on though! LOL!
@Ticia, the more you allow yourself to "let go" and relinquish control the easier it is to let it be about the process.
Art might be different from craft, but good art involves craft (ie, the skill) and good craft can be art...
@Rachelle, I think it very much depends on the child and their development. Sometimes when the children try out a new process, they are super excited about it and have wonderful stories to share with their parents about what we did. (Again, the piece of work sent home reminds them of what they "did") I think it is VERY important that we are mindful of how we react and talk about the product though so that we are still focused on the process of that product "How did you do this?"/"Tell me about this" versus "What is this?" We can very quickly and easily mold and model a mindset that is more product orientated. I love to keep a portfolio of my son's work. (He wants to keep everything he does.) We started giving him sketchbooks at a very early age. It is fun to go through and look at the progression of his process and development of his skills. I also have an "art gallery" on my walls. I often mat the children's work on poster board and allow them to give it a name or description. I print off labels that include the child's name and age along with the description/title and the medium(s) used. I don't think the children have ever talked about the art display in terms of the "product" when they look at it. I hear a lot of "Can we do that again?" (Notice the focus on the action, the doing, the process). The product really does help them remember the process!
Love when speakers can not only inspire and challenge us but keep us thinking and discussing long after the talk is over.
Second, I most certainly love this article as a parent and a preschool teacher. I have art in frames from when my children were little and people still come to our house and comment on our our beautiful art work. As my children have gotten older I appreciate their willingness to talk about "Art" class and all the materials they were able to use. It is certainly one of the ways we can communicate with each other.
In my classroom we celebrate the process and enjoy doing so, but when it's all done it's usually on display for parents, teachers, and other students to admire. I send our creations home each Friday, and we just enjoy starting the "process" all over again!
Thank you for posting on this.
Instinctively I place a lot of value on the product, so have had to "train" myself to focus on the process - but we still do frame items, put them on the fridge, etc. And my daughter beams when she's complimented on them. However, for some reason she usually resists letting me frame them - she'd rather play with them, sleep with them, take care of them? :)
I've traditionally sent everything the kids make home, but in the crush of things that seem more important, I've sent almost nothing home this year. The strange part is that not a single parent has complained. Maybe they're so well versed in the "process" orientation that they don't expect anything.
Between us teachers here, I must confess that as much as I love making art with children, and as much as I like reflecting on the process, I really don't like the drying, storing, saving, sorting . . . I'm quite pleased to learn that sending it home is NOT expected of me.
Naturally, the kids can always choose to put things in their cubbies to take home, but for the time being at least, I seem to be out of the curating business.
Great post! A lot to think about! Thanks.
I am a supporter of children being the meaning makers of their work while the educator facilitates and documents. With that said, I believe skill specific explorations are important to offer so that children have an opportunity to understand the "tools" of art: HOW these particular pens could work, HOW this glue might be squeezed or scraped, HOW these scissors feel comfortable in our hands. The children then have familiarity with the tools used for their own processes and experiments in a deeper way.
Amy, I think you have really opened up a discussion on Intentional Teaching - all of us exploring the WHY of what we are doing. Surely, there is room for product art IF the intention by the teacher still values the individual child to make their own choices within the project :)