VISUAL-VERBAL MEANING MAKING Strengthening the connection between words and pictures

Research in the ARTS The Double edged sword! Value of the arts - not be based on its secondary, utilitarian value, to improve achievement in other academic areas, although there is some evidence that this occurs Arts should be justified in terms of what they can teach that no other subject can Studying the arts can lead to some form of academic improvement But why? Possibly because: The arts are associated with academic achievement because of other academic innovations that are made in schools that bring in the arts - Strong Arts; Strong Schools The arts provide engaging and motivational entry points into academic study for the many students who do not thrive in the structures and cultures of our schools today PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

“The arts call forth a complex constellation of cognitive and creative capacities that reveal a rich interweaving of intuitive, practical, and logical forms of thought at work advancing the range and depth of children’s thinking.” Champions of Change PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

Effect of Art Learning on specific dimension of abilities Students who attend “high arts” schools are able to: Express ideas and feelings openly and thoughtfully Form relationships among different items of experience and layer them in thinking though an idea or problem Conceive or imagine different vantage points of an idea or problem and to work towards a resolution Construct and organize thoughts and ideas into meaningful units or wholes Focus perceptions on an item or items of experience and sustain this focus over a period of time. better than students who attend “low arts” schools. PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

DIVERSITY IN CHILDREN’S ART Exploring the Universal and Unique in Student Learning and Meaning Making DIVERSITY IN CHILDREN’S ART

Why do we value Diversity? Different students need different styles of instruction to acquire the learning we offer. Different students need different modes of assessment to demonstrate their learning. Each child’s interests and talents, concerns, and fascinations are the best foundation for increasing that child’s ability and motivation to learn. The operation of democracy requires an in-depth understanding of a variety of perspectives and contributions, as well as the ability to listen and learn from the lives and cultures of a variety of people. PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

Meaning & Diversity in Children’s Art Artistic Development Frame Artistic Learning Frame Individual Style Frame Personal Meaning Making Frame PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

The Hundred Languages of Children by Loris Malaguzzi They tell the child: to think without hands to do without head to listen and not to speak to understand without joy to love and to marvel only at Easter and Christmas. to discover the world already there and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine. They tell the child: that work and play reality and fantasy science and imagination sky and earth reason and dream are things that do not belong together. And thus they tell the child that the hundred is not there. The child says: No way. The hundred is there. No way. The hundred is there. The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking. A hundred always a hundred ways of listening of marveling of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream. (and a hundred hundred hundred more) But they steal ninety-nine. The school and the culture Separate the head from the body. PPinciotti Visual Verbal Meaning Making

DRAWING INQUIRY PROJECT Select one of the following for your Drawing Inquiry BookArt: Developmental Change: Collect drawings of children’s art over time to highlight each stage of artistic development. You may collect them as longitudinal (one child) or cross-sectional (different children at various ages/stages). Sequence and discuss various the highlights of each stage. Artistic Patterns: Select an art exploration to do with a group or class of children. Work small or take pictures of their work. Correlate their efforts and individual interpretation with Patterns of Coordination. Describe evidence of each Pattern (Thrust, Shape, Swing, Hang) in selected works.