Skills and Learning in the Lower Grades by guest blogger Katherine Douglas

     

     " In college I enjoyed my drawing and printmaking classes, but ran into problems

with painting. In the long-ago 1960s some professors were heavily invested in “do 

your own thing”—resulting in assignments with little or no instruction.  I struggled 

terribly with the unfamiliar oil paints, never feeling like I knew what I was doing.  

The course ended—I stopped painting.

      Years later I took another oils course.  This time the professor took us step by step 

through the creation of a particular type of still life. Every class he would be over my 

shoulder telling me exactly what to do next. At semester’s end I had a painting that 

amazed even me, but I had no real idea how I had done it and could not have 

repeated the techniques.


      Thinking on these two unsuccessful experiences--where, in my teaching of young 

children, was the sweet spot of instruction without micromanaging?


      Primary age students are often unaware that certain tools, materials and techniques 

even exist. For that reason I offered brief introductions in each weekly class, and 

required all students to watch and listen. After four minutes, they would begin to 

vibrate and become restless as they prepared to go to their centers for independent 

work. For this reason my whole group stand ups were usually five minutes long. At 

the end of the demo I would invite interested students to stay with me to hear and 

see more, while they interacted with the new material or technique.  Students who 

were engaged with this had the opportunity to continue with it as long as they 

wished. The outcome of this was an increased skill and resulting comfort with the 

medium, often far above what might be considered “grade level”.


         As a choice teacher with very limited time with my young students, I had to think 

hard about how skills should be presented. Some of them were what John Crowe of 

Mass Art calls “I do it, you do it.” This might involve how to thread a needle, or what 

materials were to be set up before painting. There was no choice in these matters! A 

more open ended example of skill development took place when brayers and block 

print ink were offered as one type of monoprint. Students had the chance to 

experiment with various amounts of ink, and several ways of lifting the color from 

the plate to their paper. As they worked we could comment on the sound that the 

brayer was making, as well as process how well their print came out and why.  The 

skills involved in inking a plate were then in place before block prints were 

introduced.  Arranging the demos in that order resulted in vastly improved success 

with the more complicated block printing.


      In a TAB studio at any level, teachers plan requirements very carefully, making 

certain to be clear on their necessity and applicability to future work. The priority is 

studio time for independent art making—so teaching of skills whole group must be 

targeted carefully to meet observed student needs. As individual students work, 

their questions and struggles can be addressed in a “just in time” manner - one on 

one, or in small groups, while the rest of the class works independently."
By TAB co-founder and all-around wonderful teacher and person Katherine Douglas.