I completed my peer VTS last week, and overall, it went great. Most of the adults felt pretty comfortable, but the other art teacher mentioned that she felt a lot of pressure about looking at the work. The image I chose was "Dad's Coming" by Winslow Homer. Everyone participated, and most people seemed interested, though there were a few people who joked around about not having an art background. The general responses I got afterward were:
- VTS helped the narrative/story come together for the participants
- VTS forces you to continue to look for more, even if you think you have noticed everything
- helped to think critically about the image
- encouraged you to revisit objects or things in the image you already looked at
Overall, the experience went really well and I even had one group member ask if I could help her do this with her students.
It sounds like it went great! I am doing it tomorrow morning and I chose the same artwork. I hope my outcome is as positive as yours!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to inspire your peer to incorporate it into her classroom as well! I also like that the people who felt like they didn't have an art background were still included and realized there was no right answer, and that everyone can continuously find more information, art background or not.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that the art teacher felt pressure to look at the artwork. Perhaps this is because we rarely are asked to view a piece of art and let it fully marinade without distraction for an extended time period. I think this is a good skill/habit to teach our students.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, isn't it, that even without an art background, viewers are able to put together a narrative about a piece of art. It's really about thinking and communicating more that it is about "art".
ReplyDeleteI'm very curious about the other art teacher's response. Were you able to get her to elaborate? I'm suspecting it was pressure among peers to have deep and insightful answers or even, the "right" answer. I wonder if she would have felt the same pressure in a group of art educators. I am suspecting she wouldn't. Neat, too, that one member was impressed enough to want to try it with her students. Sounds like you gave her a great introduction! Congrats!
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