The Shapes, Colours and Lines of Thought

The final product will be an art installation (Shapes, Colours, Lines) which reflects the interests and fascinations of our community's children. Meant to inspire a recollection of past learning and experiences for adults, meant to document current learning of the children, this project is inspired by Reggio Emilia and the many art installations they have produced and made visible within their community in Reggio Emilia, Italy. To accomplish this project dialogues with the children and observations of their interests will help to shape the installation as it progresses throughout the year.

This project is based upon documentation practice and seeks to make the learning and interests of the children visible to the school community with the potential of inspiring community growth and dialogue. It will document discussions, observations and community interactions centered on its creation; requiring students to think about their work, engage in discussion, work through the challenges of its production and then to reflect upon it and re-shape it. This project seeks to demonstrate how the arts provide an opportunity for student engagement and the processes, decisions and discussions implicit to art extend thinking and encourage the development of positive learning dispositions.

Mise à jour (1 juillet 2012)

Reflections-

My proposal originally intended to gather students' work and arrange it in an art installation that would demonstrate the shapes, lines and colours of thought. Inspired by the Reggio approach, I felt it was important to first address the parents of students as the development of a sense of community provides the foundation from which we can begin to work collaboratively. To accomplish this, I planned for a weekly meeting with parents in the morning while students were with another teacher. This arrangement allowed a small amount of time to accomplish quite a few objectives. I wanted the parents to develop a sense of who I was as a person and the philosophies that guide my teaching practice. I also wanted to develop a sense of what their experiences had been to help me understand their perspectives.

During our first session, I shared a reading from Malaguzzi and we shared memories of school. It was very enlightening. Parents shared vivid memories, stories of success and sometimes stories of disappointment. Following our 30 minute round table discussion, we welcomed our students back to class and parents engaged in play with the children. Their task was to observe the interests of the children and to avoid guiding the play.

During our second session together( over morning coffee and treats) I shared a piece of artwork I had produced as a Kindergarten student. I also shared a story about my experience painting a beautiful house, only to see later in life from an adult perspective that it was not the house I had been imagining while I produced it. It was an important reminder that our adult eyes see differently than those of the children and every piece of artwork that they value is important. We then reviewed what we had observed during the first session. This then led to dialogue about the children's interests and how we could further support their learning. Again, students returned and engaged in play with observations taking place.

During our third session together, I introduced the notion of environment as a factor that contributes to the child's learning. This was again followed by a session of play.

Our last encounter focused on documentation. One parent sketched a group of students, another made notes and one photographed the children at play and doing artwork.
Following that final session, I feel that parents came away with a sense of who I was as a person and teacher; an increased understanding