Thanks, OSU!

Before another 'rant' about assessment in the visual arts, I'd like to thank Dr. Kevin Tavin and his great group of art ed undergrad students at The Ohio State University for having me down this past Thursday to speak with them about visual culture, and my experience with it. I hope that I was able to relieve at least a little of the tension you might be experiencing as you begin to dive into the world of teaching art. Some of your questions have gotten me thinking as well, especially on the value of our Ohio state standards in the visual arts, and their 'importance' and/or their 'insignificance'. I've committed some thoughts to paper, so maybe it'll be something I address here on the 'ol VCAE blog, and you can feel free to vent as well.

Again, thanks for having me down. You know how to reach me if you have any further questions. I'll be back mid-week for the second part of my assessment in the visual arts rant.

-dug!

Assessment in the Visual Arts Part 1: Neatness and Creativity

Assessment in the visual art field is something that I think all art educators struggle with, but are afraid to tackle. With what criteria should art teachers be assessing their students? Neatness? Creativity? Sure...as long-standing standards of Discipline Based Art Education continue to overwhelm your curriculum, neatness and creativity are going to be staples of your assessment strategy. But I argue, (as an art educator who no longer prescribes to DBAE, but more in line with a 'visual culture' curriculum) what is "Neat", and what is "Creative"? A student who is naturally 'gifted' in the visual arts will have no problem having high assessment scores in both of these criteria. However a student who possesses very little 'skill' in the visual arts is probably going to struggle with these two criteria...more so with creativity which can be sub-labeled as individual thinking. So how do we as art educators make fair assessments without punishing students who struggle with their art making abilities, and without punishing students who need to be pushed to higher-level thinking because of their strength?

Imagine if ALL seventh grade students were told they needed to take algebra, and thus told that they would all be graded equally on the content they were given, regardless of their past math experience and knowledge. Now, I understand that math is a heavy opposite to art because with math there's little to no 'wiggle room' for creativity. But, that's not important to the analogy. What I'm trying to point out is that students are grouped together and placed in a variety of math courses to better their individual education. Whether it is remedial math, basic math, or algebra, all seventh grade students take a math course based on their skill in that particular subject. It would be next to impossible to do this for a subject such as "art" (which is unfortunately still seen in many eyes as a way to give 'real' educators their district required daily planning time). Can you imagine "remedial art"??? However, this is the struggle we deal with. How can we fairly assess our students without showing favoritism for those with a strength, and punishment for those who don't. Is it possible to eliminate 'neatness' and 'creativity' from the assessment strategy. And if it is, what do we replace it with?

-dug!
(Next Week: Part 2: Use of Art Materials and Effort)

Back to OSU

It's been some time since I've updated the VCAE blog, and honestly...it's my own fault. The start of this school year was pretty hectic, learning that I had to travel between two school for the first semester, and my co-directoral duties of the school musical (which includes set design and construction). Anyway...I think it's finally time to get this ball rolling.

I've been invited to speak to some art ed undergrads at OSU this week, and in the process of doing so will be unveiling the wiki to an audience other than my friends and advisors. That said...I hope to also have the wiki 'open for business' to anyone who happens to stumble upon it. So, as these great opportunities begin to open their doors to me, I'm going to dedicate myself to updating this blog with some thoughts, ponderings, and musings regarding visual culture art education. I'm hoping through the wiki and/or blog I can open up some dialogue between a group of art educators who are looking to immerse themselves in visual culture, or are just wondering what it is. Anyway...it's late...and I just wanted to get that out there. So...OSU...here I come again. I'll post an update next weekend and let you know how it went, and maybe some insight as to how this generation of future art educators sees our profession.

-dug!