Spend a day with teenagers and you will see how different each one is from the others, and with good reason. High school students in 2023 are a part of Generation Z. This generation includes people born between the years of 1997-2012. Gen Zs were born into a world that was reliant on the internet. From birth, this group of high school students has had limitless information at their fingertips and they have experienced many unexpected challenges. Large changes to their familiar school structure due to COVID shutdowns is only one of their many learning challenges. This group of teenagers has taught themselves how to take online classes, they participate in school lockdowns due to threats of weapons on campus, they battle cyber bullying and snuff quickly spreading rumors on social media. They have endured longer school days to compensate for a sudden school closure, they experience transportation issues due to overcrowding, and they are trying to figure out how to manageexpectations for increased involvement and academic excellence. Gen Z has been flexible and thus has risen to the occasion. While these students are smart, adaptable, and resilient, they are in fact still children.
After COVID shutdowns education saw changes in students that were concerning. The landscape in the classroom had changed and educators were not sure how best to support their students. Personally, I saw a lack of commitment and a disinterest in the work. It was almost as though students forgot how to “school.” Due to their previous need for flexibility without a familiar structure, today’s students have learned to cut corners in order to get assignments done. I noticed that the assignments that I had worked so hard to create seemed to be falling flat. Simply put, the world had changed and now something needed to change in my classroom.
After researching educational theories, I found a method referred to as TAB, or teaching for artistic behavior. The TAB process is much different than the traditional instruction format of the art classroom which involves an “I do, You do” model. In this paradigm the art teacher directs the creative process by dictating the medium, subject matter, process direction and guidelines for the final outcome of the assignment. This has been my method of instruction for years and it does not allow much autonomy for the students. Unlike the traditional models, TAB involves individual choice in the classroom. This approach boasts the benefits of increased student involvement, independent thinking, risk taking, exposure/exploration of a variety of media, and the ability to review work and improve on it, all while working with a subject matter that the student is interested in. TAB sounded like the best move for my classroom. (CITE ARTICLE)
At the start of the 2022/23 school year, I implemented choice in my advanced drawing classes. I would be lying if I said that I was not nervous. What if my students could not handle the freedom? What if I struggled to meet my grading requirements due to the shift? What if offering choice overwhelmed the students even more?
Several art works created by students in my classroom illustrate the point. Following each example I will note some of their previous creative struggles and highlight what changes I have seen in the students since implementing choice. My goal is to see students who are intrinsically motivated and confident enough to experiment while taking risks for discovery in their work.
Student A: Male - 17 years old - Senior
Colored Pencil 16x20
Risks taken: Size of artwork, Fabric Background, Realistic Skin tone, Hair
Student A has been in my class all 4 years of his high school career. He is very creative and excels in multiple media. Just before and after COVID, this student became Disinterested in making art. He spent little time sketching, and was unable to develop his work. Since implementing choice, I have observed that this student has completed multiple large pieces of high quality art. Having complete freedom in the studio, he has become fully invested in the creative process again. Student A is in multiple studio courses and is doing well in those too. He has begun to take risks in his art again. Because of this, he has gained an internal assurance that his ideas are worth his effort. I no longer have to remind him to get his work out in class and complete his assignments. He has created completed pieces in colored pencil, oil pastel, and paint so far this year and has entered two pieces in our Visual Art Scholastic Event. He has rediscovered his love for the artistic process.
Student B: Male - 16 years old - Sophomore Clay - Hand-built Risks taken: New media, No reference used, limited knowledge.
Student B is new to my class. Initially, he seemed apprehensive. During the first few weeks of class he began drawing characters in his sketchbook that had a zombie-like air. Having no knowledge of his needs, but seeing he was using pencil in his sketchbook, I handed him a package of weighted pencils and a blending stump and said “try these.” At first he seemed disengaged, but then became interested and created the graphite drawing pictured below.
I keep a list of available media posted in the classroom and student B has continued to select new media for every piece. He appears to be motivated, even driven by variety. I can not wait to see what he creates next. We know as educators that a person’s environment plays a huge role of an individual’s development. We are unable to control or fully understand our student’s environmental and cultural influences, but what we can do is provide a space where they are able to drive their own learning allowing them to focus and reflect on their world through art (Feldman, 1985).
REFERENCE
Feldman, D. H. (1985). The concept of non-universal developmental domains: Implications for artistic development. Visual Arts Research, 11(1), 82-89
Ferrari, J., & Payto Gbayee, A. (n.d.-b). TAB Storytellers. Teaching for artistic behaviors inc
Taylor, J. (2021, February 2). How to Support Social-Emotional Learning Through Choice. The
Art of Education University. https://theartofeducation.edu/2020/11/06/how-to-support-social emotional-learning-through-choice/