GCSE at SHF

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It was good to see this highly crafted, strong, observational drawing permeating all work in this GCSE exhibition. Some things are just timeless. The department will once again be encouraging students to enter their work onto online exhibitions like the Saatchi Gallery.

THE Game

>Just spent an evening with colleagues and students on the last session of the online games course. I was really impressed with so much of this. It is a curious experience because it is, on the one hand, very matter of fact, but on the other it breaks so many boundaries. It is delivered from Chicago and other presenters join in from across the world – so geographically liberated. It takes place in the evenings and we are at home – so timetable free. Most of the presentations are done by games professionals or the students themselves – so teacher free or at least the teacher is not the expert but a fellow learner. Self evaluation of their work and their working practice is wired into the structure and the thinking – so assessment for learning is not an afterthought. Students are invited to critique the course, the teaching and the presenters – so they are involved in managing and improving their learning.

And do they respond – of course they do. They worked in teams and made a game but more than that they also learned about team building and working. They were able to talk clearly about their own work and working practice and in doing so demonstrated how much they had learned about gaming concepts, design, principles, constraints, brainstorming, marketing and the creative process. But for me the most important aspect of the experience was to remind me, once again, of how sensitive and perceptive learners children can be when they are given the responsibility and freedom to work with their teachers rather than for them. I am grateful for that.

Something significant happening here

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Just need to put down a marker here about the work being done at Chalfonts Community College. I have written of this before but the new website seems to me to be something special. It represents four, or five, years hard work, risk taking and experiment, but it does at last give a real sense of what can happen when students become totally digitally literate and use the technology and grammar of new communications media to express themselves. Here there are 6th form students whose portfolio is purely digital. They are in fact accomplished designers who publish their work. In other places the natural humour and creativity of adolescents are given free reign as games are designed and published for others to play – love the game which uses smoke being blown into lungs as a scoring system. I’written before of the online games design course. The creative and media diploma is also well represented as the course and outcomes are published online.

The other thing I find inspirational in this school is the way that media studies are being developed in ways which totally embrace web 2 technology. Teacher blogs and twitter have become part of the learning dialogue free from the constraints of classrooms and timetables. Published video blogs have been folded into the broader revision practices being used in the run up to the examinations.

In a sense some of us have been talking about this for a long while now. But it does seem that this work around new media is now genuinely established and demonstrating really new ways of working.

>Testing the ‘C’ boundary

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In a daily routine of emails and meetings it was a pleasure to join art teachers and just talk about teaching art and students: like the yr 10 student whose sole expectations from life were “make up, a baby and love” probably in that order.

We met to review and share work at the boundary of GCSE ‘C’ and ‘D’. There were ten teachers from four schools. In the event all schools entered for Edexcel examinations and so we were unable to compare results from different exam boards. Encouragingly we found that there was consistency in the samples from these four schools. The ‘D’s and ‘C’s did correspond and it was possible to discern a consistent order of merit across the schools. It was interesting to note the defining difference between C and D grades. It seemed to be, not so much in technical expertise or formal fluency but in the intellectual curiousity and maturity of the student. Work at a D grade seemed to be shallower and monochromatic in scope whereas work at a C grade suggested a narrative which was deeper and richer.

We noted that during recent Edexcel training teachers were told to ignore changes to specifications and in effect carry on as they had always done. In addition there was some agreement that, this year, moderators were encouraging teachers not to emphasise the absolute need for writing and to accept that visual analysis and reflection could demonstrate critical evaluation and understanding.

We noted that the similarities were far more obvious than the differences between schools. Characteristics of all work were: brainstorming, open ended experimentation in sketchbooks, references to several artists and consequent stylistic experiments, use of photographic references and the internet. Often the final piece was the weakest and the preparation seemed to contain many hours of work. This prompted a discussion about the possibility of students spending a disproportionate amount of time working and reworking development pages in their journals rather than spending time creating successfully realised works of art.

Many students had worked from figures with varying degrees of success. I mentioned a website I had seen earlier in the day featuring the work of the dance company Philobulous. A short brilliant piece by two dancers creating an extraordinary sequence of shapes and combinations using just two bodies. Certainly worth looking at for ideas about the use of figures.

Finally one really good idea a teacher’s small assessment note attached to work with a paper clip which contained comments – ‘A good thing is…’, Could be better if…’, Relevant to Assessment Objective AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4′. Thanks to Kirsty for that. And to the teachers of Sir William Ramsay Arts College, Holmer Green School, Amersham School and Chalfonts Community College.

>FFT, Myths and Reality

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There are many misconceptions about FFT data. The most prevalent myth is that somehow FFT takes performance in English Maths and Science and through some obscure psychometric testing uses this to predict aptitude in Art. In fact this is not true. FFT only uses SATs data to identify pupils with similar starting points and then produces a profile of how this group performed in their art exams. Having identified the performance of the group it then estimates the probability of children with the same starting point achieving different grades. Essentially its a sum, an estimate, a statistical possibility. Its not a target or a prediction.

A few advisers have been developing a working paper to try to explain the nature and role of FFT in target setting in art. This can be found at www.FFTart.wikispaces.com This provides explanation and some recommendations that may be helpful.

>Creative and innovative practice

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Spent really exciting evening at a GCE, GCSE art exhibition at Chalfonts Community College. Above there is part of a students contextual study, all printed on cans which was a brilliant idea. The whole thing is set in an abstracted display cabinet (it relates to Pop Art). There was some excellent painting with real sensitivity and maturity in the use of the oil paint and some really excellent drawing and illustration and some very clever digital art installations.

The digital art work was particularly interesting as the school has pioneered a GCSE course in digital media (under the unendorsed art and design GCSE specification). There are now students at AS level with three years experience of digital work having completed the two year GCSE digital art course in KS4. You can get a sense of the work being done by looking at Ben’s video blog on YouTube. It is genuinely intriguing and revealing. The video blog shows how the ideas developed, some of Bens references and the final animations (these were shown projected onto a very large gauze screen in a dark environment with loud music so the YouTube version is just an approximation of the actual installation). What is perhaps more important is that it demonstrates a genuine partnership between Ben and his teachers as Ben is encouraged to take risks and experiment with a medium and grammar which is demonstrably his own, rather than that of the school. So Ben is taking ownership of his own independent practice encouraged and supported by his teachers – it can only happen with trust on both sides.

As Stephen Heppell has said “all this has been changed by the ability of modern computers to allow expression in a wide variety of media: speech, sound and aural ambience, text as labels or prose, symbols, animation, music, video, diagrams and more. And all this can be individual or collaborative, in public or private, at school or (for many but not all) at home. Obviously this broadens the corridors through which learners might evidence their success“, Stephen Heppell

The evidence of trust was evident in many other students’ work as well. digital animations dealt with intensely moving and personal themes which could only have come about in an atmosphere of mutual respect between students and students, and between students and their teachers. In a sense it reminded me of the way that good drama is always predicated on genuine trust within the group which allows personal expression to be shared and celebrated. It is almost always a characteristic of work which is most exciting – where students are able to use their art to explore issues and ideas of personal significance to themselves and their lives.

As a postscript I have just posted a first video to YouTube. It is a short film made in partnership with the school about an introductory visit to Sweden to develop ideas for working with the artist and designer Andie Cowie. We intended to use the Chalfonts Community College VLE to explore the option of having an artist/designer from another country contribute to the VLE based course.

>Assessment burdens

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A visit to the GCSE exhibition at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School included an interesting discussion on the amount of work students do in art. We came to no clear conclusions but felt that the assessment burden on teachers and students for GCSE/GCE examinations does seem excessive in art. But it was harder to identify precisely where the pressure comes from. To a certain extent it is self imposed, the examination rubric talks of a ‘selection’ implying that not everything the student sdoes should be selected. We have also invented an evidence trail which consists of highly contrived and carefully executed works of art in the form of ‘artists books‘.

The question posed by the head of art was quite simple. “Are we asking them to do too much and what are other schools doing?” I guess the answer to the first question is ‘probably’ and to the second it is ‘the same as you’. It is interesting to compare the sketchbook/journal approach with that used by Ben from Chalfonts Community College. The evidence for his development of ideas and research for his AS this year is given simply on YouTube as a video blog. Other work in the same school uses a narration over a slide show to present ideas rather than a sketchbook (using relatively simple software).

This year I worked with QCA to revise the subject criteria for art and design GCSE examinations. I wrote the initial working paper proposals which went to a consultative group. Part of the brief was to seek ways to reduce the assessment burden on pupils and teachers. One of the stumbling blocks was that all 4 assessment objectives are assessed in both coursework and externally set test. Which means that the same objectives are met twice. It also means that the externally set test has the constraint of requiring evidence for each of the 4 assessment objectives – which are equally weighted. Hence the evolution of a particular pattern of response which is virtually identical from school to school. There was a brief moment when a new pattern began to emerge but consultation forced it back to the status quo. However, exam boards are likely to be charged with seeking to reduce the assessment burden by defining more carefully what might constitute evidence for assessment.

However, perhaps the question has two perspectives. From the simple perspective of producing evidence, for assessment, of the ability to research and develop ideas students probably spend too much time illuminating sketchbooks. However, from the perspective of producing works of art which are illuminating, expressive and often deeply personal it is hard to regret the time and effort. Indeed these are often the most exciting and creative outcomes of their course.

>Platforms for improvement

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Each year I try to publish a schedule of Bucks schools art exhibitions and to visit as many as I can. Last week I visited a GCSE and GCE exhibition at Waddesdon C of E School which is a visual arts college. The work was excellent (I loved the combination of digital photography and textiles in this sketchbook) but still evolving and it was interesting to recognise the evolution of practice and expectations over time (I have known the work of the school for twelve years after all). But I was astonished at the sophistication and maturity of the work in graphic design. In discussion with staff at the school we noted that standards were being built incrementally year on year as students acquired and demonstrated in their work a set of visual references relating to contemporary design practice. The interesting point was the recognition of the influence of each cohort on the succeeding cohort of 6th form students. Perhaps this was easier to recognise in the work of these graphics students because the course was new and the work was unlike other work done in the department. We felt that it was possible to see how each cohort had added a further level of sophistication and maturity to the visual set of references in the department. Of course it was possible that teaching had also evolved but it did seem that there was an annual cultural shift in the visual references and understanding used by each cohort that seemed to be built upon the legacy of previous cohorts. I recall a similar evolution of sophistication and maturity in the development of a course in Theatre Design.

I recall some years ago visiting an exhibition of BTEC graphics in a college of FE. It seemed that students gained so much from the contemporary, professional, visual and cultural references of the college. It was hard to see how 6th form students in schools surrounded by a visual environment of Yr 7 and Yr 10 art work could acquire a similar level of sophistication. This exhibition demonstrated how it can be done and how much students actually absorb and learn from each other.

>Writing in art – why, who for?

>Recently I was involved in a whole school training day about literacy across the curriculum in Key Stages 3 and 4. More explicitly it was about writing. This is sometimes a contentious subject in art and design, especially where teachers’ feel pupils are not strong academically.
There is a recurring argument that, the examination criteria and the implicit expectations of moderators, requires candidates to exemplify their knowledge and understanding of art, artists and the relationships with their own work, through writing. It is claimed that this disadvantages less able candidates who may be good at art but not at writing. Awarding bodies counter the argument by claiming that writing is not a requirement and that candidates can record, video or illustrate their knowledge through their work: although such recordings and videos are unheard of in practice.
Or at least they were until recently. I know that Chalfonts Community College is using pupils ideas, as captured in their VLE, as a record of candidates knowledge. They are also experimenting with podcasts as a way of recording ideas and responses.
But what was interesting about this training was that the art department had left this argument behind and were fully committed to developing writing skills. They were already talking about and modelling appropriate writing with students. Some of the writing seen in sketchbooks was genuinely perceptive and indicated a personal involvement with works of art. There was little vacuous labelling (ie writing ‘a green frog’ next to a picture of a green frog) and students presented their written work carefully.
In our discussion about ways to further develop students writing and raising standards further we refered to ‘Literacy across the curriculum materials’ – in particular to the unit on ‘writing non-fiction‘. It raised questions that we had not considered before. It had not occurred to me before to explore the particular purpose and audience for the writing students do in art.
The unit maps out some possible categories of non-fiction and, although there was no obvious single category, it was interesting to recognise that students’ writing may have different purposes and different audiences and that each of these has an impact on the nature and conventions for their writing. This realisation gave another dimension to our attitude to students’ writing and how it might be supported. We did not find all the answers but it did raise new and interesting questions. It helped give a sense of how we might explore the difference between – say ‘personal note taking’ and and writing to ‘explain’. Key questions were:

• What is its purpose?
• Who is it for?
• How will it be used?
• What kind of writing is, therefore, appropriate?

The teachers decided they wanted to invite an English teacher to an art lesson and to discuss their approach to supporting different sorts of writing.
This was one of those occasions where I genuinely found an interesting and new set of ideas. It was an enjoyable and positive discussion and I am grateful to Geoff and Sally for sharing their ideas and work with me.

PS. There is a very good National Strategy publication ‘Literacy and Learning in Art and Design‘ which is subject specific and considers literacy from the point of view of learning in art.

The unit ‘writing non-fiction‘ identifies the following as a favourable context for writing.
1. Establishes both the purpose and the audience of the writing.
2. Ensures that writers have something to say.
3. Gives writers opportunities to develop, sharpen and revise ideas.
4. Encourages collaboration during planning, drafting and proof-reading.
5. Gives pupils access to references materials to support writing – eg word banks, dictionaries, thesauruses, etc.
6. Provides feedback both during and after writing of writing strengths and of ways to improve weaknesses.