Professional Inquiry Project Rational
An important element of any art practice is the critiquing process. By learning to speak about the formal elements and intent behind a piece, as well as through receiving constructive feedback in relation to their own work, an artist experiences growth in all areas of his/her craft. Sadly, many factors within the high school art classroom often result in the removal of this beneficial practice, and as a result, students are not pushed to think and create in a highly critical manner.
The purpose of our Professional Inquiry Project was to experiment with the application of formative assessment and critique within a secondary art classroom. The goal throughout our PIP was to create an environment which connected students from various art classrooms in differing schools, exposing them to the works of other students their age. Our goal was to create an authentic and engaging experience for our students while establishing the importance of the art community. As teachers, aware of the importance of teaching to the 21st century learner, we chose to create a website to foster these web- based interactions. Due to our formatting, this method of critique could be translated as a resource for online distant learning classrooms and independent studies. Our hope was that in having the students connect in a less structured and semi-private manner, they would not feel the same stress and pressure that accompanies vocalizing opinions within a traditional art critique. Students would be given time to read over the provided artist statement and view a digital image of the work, formulating a response based around suggested prompts discussing the formal principles of the artwork, as well as the artists intention. We believe that in structuring our critique in this manner, students will have the opportunity for personal reflection in relation to their own artwork and that of others, as well as providing them with the purpose and motivation that accompanies creating artwork for an audience.
The purpose of our Professional Inquiry Project was to experiment with the application of formative assessment and critique within a secondary art classroom. The goal throughout our PIP was to create an environment which connected students from various art classrooms in differing schools, exposing them to the works of other students their age. Our goal was to create an authentic and engaging experience for our students while establishing the importance of the art community. As teachers, aware of the importance of teaching to the 21st century learner, we chose to create a website to foster these web- based interactions. Due to our formatting, this method of critique could be translated as a resource for online distant learning classrooms and independent studies. Our hope was that in having the students connect in a less structured and semi-private manner, they would not feel the same stress and pressure that accompanies vocalizing opinions within a traditional art critique. Students would be given time to read over the provided artist statement and view a digital image of the work, formulating a response based around suggested prompts discussing the formal principles of the artwork, as well as the artists intention. We believe that in structuring our critique in this manner, students will have the opportunity for personal reflection in relation to their own artwork and that of others, as well as providing them with the purpose and motivation that accompanies creating artwork for an audience.