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  • Home
  • About
  • History
    • Prehistoric
    • Egyptian
    • Roman
    • Greek
    • Medieval
    • Renaissance
  • Culture
    • Africa
    • North America
    • South America
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • Europe
  • Technology
    • 3-D Design
    • Photography
    • Video
    • Animation
  • Contact

What is ArtEd21?

The terms “makerspace” and “fab lab” have suddenly emerged as some of the most poignant buzzwords in education within the past few years.  The impetus for this is an increased value that has been placed upon creativity and innovation in public school education.  As an art teacher, I have always placed a high value on creativity because that is one of the primary tenets of art education.  Or is it?  Why has school-based art become so much about conforming to a standard appearance, duplicating the example of the teacher, and completing prescribed projects?  In an effort to quantify the educational gains and results, teachers have slipped into a system of teaching creative production while marginalizing creativity itself.  After all, if art education was truly featuring creativity, would schools feel the same need to develop auxiliary makerspaces?

"Teachers have slipped into a system of teaching creative production
​while marginalizing creativity itself."

Starting with the 2018-19 school year, we will attempt to reverse this course and enact a creative renaissance in the art curriculum at Jefferson Elementary School.  Instead of the more traditional art education environment, my students will enter a student-centered classroom emphasizing project-based, personalized, competency-based learning.  Rather than uniformity and conformity, students will be able to choose their projects and learning activities based on their interests and abilities, work at their own pace, take as much time as needed, and regain ownership of their educational progress.  Students will be responsible for reaching a designated point total to earn grades and attain levels which can also “unlock” other materials or creative opportunities.  Blended learning will occur in school and at home to transcend the traditional school learning environment.  Meanwhile, choices of projects may include painting, animation, digital drawing, 3D printing, sculpture, printmaking, comic book design, video production, Lego construction, mosaics, ceramics, graphic design, robotics, photography, reading, and more!

"Rather than uniformity and conformity, students will be able to choose their projects and learning activities based on their interests and abilities, work at their own pace, take as much time as needed, and regain ownership of their educational progress."

This project will enable the development and equipping of a wide variety of creative stations.  Some of these stations will include the following:  reading and research center, vertical Lego wall, digital drawing and painting studio, engineering challenge, observation station with natural sciences, traditional painting studio, 3D modeling lab, ceramics corner, and animation station.  Flexible seating, equipment, and other resources will completely reinvent the art room and curriculum.
The redesign of the art curriculum at Jefferson Elementary will serve as a model for other classrooms and as an example for educators attesting to the potential learning opportunities offered in less restrictive, innovative teaching strategies and classroom environments.  In response to our rapidly changing culture, pressures of standardized testing, and increased desire to develop creativity in our students, STEAM labs have been created in the hope that they would become a multidisciplinary connector.  Unfortunately, these labs are often underutilized because there is no personal ownership of the resources, teachers have limited time to learn how to use the equipment, and there is not enough time to include untested content.  The ArtEd21 model is a revolutionary approach to the same demand, but, rather than adding an auxiliary room, it is based on the idea that the art room has been and should be the creative epicenter of the school.

"The art curriculum will be reborn in the 21st century as the all-inclusive, cross-curricular, creative amalgam, the original makerspace, that it once was in the Renaissance."

During the Renaissance, artists were painters, mathematicians, sculptors, inventors, scientists, architects, philosophers, and poets.  In many ways, they embodied what we now call “STEAM.”  Through this initiative, the art curriculum will be reborn in the 21st century as the all-inclusive, cross-curricular, creative amalgam that it once was in the Renaissance.

Theory

​Innovation with technology in education is about creating true 21st century learning opportunities featuring students as active producers rather than passive consumers (Couros, 2015).  This is encouraged through creative decision making combined with constraints and limitations (Caroll & Tucker, 2003).  The unique needs of students understood through multiple intelligences theory require a restructure of the traditional learning environment including activity centers (Armstrong, 2018).  Personalized learning and student choice in curriculum encourages cross-curricular thinking (Kallick & Zmuda, 2017), empowers and motivates students (Gregory & Kaufeldt, 2015), and cultivates creative curiosity (Ostroff, 2016).
Armstrong, T. (2018). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, 4th Ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Carroll, K. L., & Tucker, J. L. (2003).  Better Practices in Visual Arts Education. Baltimore, MD: Maryland State Department of Education
Couros, G. (2015). The Innovator’s Mindset. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting Inc.
Gregory, G., & Kaufeldt, M. (2015). The Motivated Brain. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kallick, B. & Zmuda, A. (2017). Students at the Center. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
​Ostroff, W. L. (2016). Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Change

In the past, the art curriculum has featured teacher-directed assignments and projects.  Sometimes, this has involved step-by-step instructions that has seemed to teach students to follow directions more than it has taught them to be uniquely creative.  Although projects often allowed elements of creative choice, the ArtEd21 project will completely redesign the art curriculum to be entirely student-centered.  In this new program, students will have the freedom to choose the projects that they want to complete, decide how to meet goals, and guide their own creative inquiry. 

"This massive curricular shift will result in deeper learning experiences and more intrinsically motivated work from the students. "

​This does not eliminate the need for teacher-provided instruction, but it will change the format in which it is offered.  The teacher will film short instructional videos that will provide valuable, pertinent instruction for students using different media and completing curricular goals.  Students will then work at their own pace and watch the instructional videos to support their progress as needed.  It is expected that this massive curricular shift will result in deeper learning experiences and more intrinsically motivated work from the students.  This program is designed to be a model for other educators as we share successes and difficulties related to this radically different way of teaching at the elementary school level.

Inquiry and Documentation

The ​ArtEd21 program seeks to discover the results and best practices pertaining to a new educational system featuring blended learning and student-driven projects.  How are motivation and engagement affected when students are given choices?  Is video an effective form of instruction for individuals working on different projects?  Will students differentiate on their own while continuing to challenge themselves across all levels?  Does the blended learning and self-guided format result in more learning activities being completed outside of the school setting? 
 
Over the course of this program, successes and struggles related to implementation, execution, technology, engagement, and structure will be carefully documented.  Student learning will also be tracked through project-based assessments.  The achievements of the students will be compared to those from previous school years to identify changes exhibited in the student activity and creative product.  A Quantitative evaluation of the work that is completed throughout each school year will reveal the number of projects finished while qualitative assessments of the work will assess the degree to which students are exercising creativity.  Formal and informal surveys of the students and parents will communicate interest levels, motivation, and the amount of time that was spent doing work outside of school.

About Mr. Gebhardt

Picture
Adam Gebhardt
​Education:
B.S. Art Education - Pennsylvania State University
​M.A. Art Education - Boston University
Current Position:
Art Teacher at Jefferson Hills Intermediate in the West Jefferson Hills School District of Pennsylvania
Other Credentials:
2018 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Finalist
2018 Remake Learning Teacher Champion
Pennsylvania Teacher Advisory Committee (PTAC) Member
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