If we as educators fail to support our youth’s cultural capital and creative performances in the arts, we risk losing a generation of students to the standardization of today’s curriculum. I believe as educators, we have a responsibility to create a place within our schools where individuals and their ideas and ideals can flourish, and that by blending arts and integration and multiple intelligence theory, we are hopeful that our students will become life long learners. “The feeling that one belongs within the human circle, as the Native Americans say, should not be seen as privilege for a few” (Lake, p. 4). Learning and knowing must become a kind of adventure; one so authentic that students are able to develop their body, mind and soul both in and out of the classroom setting. The classroom should be child-centered, and according to Dewey, the teacher ought to “accept the child where the child is” and work from there (Wink, p. 106). Educators need strategies to move integrated arts back into the fore front of the curriculum. These value systems that both teacher, and students support reconnect them to the community at large.
This all sounds very utopian; however, today’s public school systems offer quite a different scenario for their students. No Child Left Behind mandates standardized testing and teachers in many cases are caught teaching to these tests to maintain high test scores, rather than developing their own in depth curriculum for their students, or utilizing Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory to facilitate higher learning. Classrooms on the whole do not value cultural capital, so individuals who come from diverse backgrounds may feel as though they do not have an acceptable way to express themselves at school. In a democratic school, students need time to name their subject matter, to reflect thoughtfully about what they learn about a subject, and most importantly, need more time to critically act based on this new knowledge (Wink, 123)
In schools today, a certain tension exists between this sense of creating a community of learners and creating a sense of individuality within the structure of a school day. How is it possible to find the time to allow student’s thoughts to roam free when standardized testing takes up so much class time? In some cases this testing is becoming the basis for classroom learning. The trick is for educators today to rise up and challenge the system by creating a place for art within their curriculum. These courageous teachers are the ones who will gain the most access to the creative minds of their students. These are the teachers who open minded and often refer to Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory for guidance as they develop their lesson plans. Gardner understood that intelligence is more than ‘the capacity to acquire new knowledge’. He defines it as “the ability to solve problems that one encounters in real life and the ability to make something or offer a service that is valued within one’s culture” (Silver, Strong + Perini, p.7). These teachers aren’t afraid to experiment with lessons plans that are developed to teach utilizing the eight different intelligences: linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, musical, logical, visual/spatial and body kinesthetic in their classrooms. They represent role models for educators in the future. After all, what is truly worth knowing is the information that each student is able to take away from a class and apply later on in his or her own life. What better way to convey information than to teach children early on how to identify with and learn, utilizing all eight intelligences? This type of education is described as being:
“the medicine which takes hold. It is the whole set of changes produced in a person by learning. The difference between an educated person and an uneducated one is he knows how little knowledge is connected to every other piece. The world needs freedom, and the only way we can get it is through education. The ideas of the spirit of humanism are carried not in pamphlets or proclamations but in minds and hearts…”(Bigelow, p. 133).
The main thrust of this effort should consists of ‘strong arts=strong schools’. “The arts humanize the curriculum, and also affirm the interconnectedness of all forms of knowing” (Fowler, p. 4). Creating a work of art involves making a personal connection with the work, and is a powerful act for the student and for the facilitator. Then, the feeling that the artwork creates makes up another layer of significance. We learn to respect the work of our students, as they respect the time that we take as educators to provide them with appropriate feedback. In this manner, students begin to cultivate a sense of place in the classroom, and hopefully a sense of self-worth and belonging, as well. Art teaches us that our human potential is boundless (Fowler, p. 8). What children learn early on impacts their future learning abilities, so it is especially important for their early years to be filled with joyful learning experiences. They need to develop the appropriate skills, attitudes and work habits from the start. Learning experiences build one after the next. For example, when the brain first registers something, the experience is filed. The second time, it is actually recognized as having meaning. This is why the arts can be viewed as a ‘cognitive restructuring’ experience. When one area of the brain develops it makes room for future overlaps (Caterall, p. 154). Caterall emphasizes in her article that cognitively speaking, all students will benefit from the inclusion of art in the curriculum, including those students who may have been underachieving before (p. 155). Studies also have shown that schools that have strong arts programs have more students who are excited and motivated to learn. These are the kids who are given the play time, as well.
Dramatic play in the classroom, as well as recess time is important to maintaining a robust student body. According to Piaget, ‘play is the serious business of childhood’ (Sylwester, p. 33). For example, when I first started teaching in the Florida public school systems this past fall, I took a creative approach to start with my students. My seventh and eighth grade gifted students were given at least a half an hour each day to write and ten minutes to share their responses. I found that after the first few weeks, the students became quite comfortable speaking in front of their peers. As the schedule was structured, my students had little time to play there were only five minutes between periods. Even their lunch hour was rushed and highly regulated, so as I became aware of this I decided to try an experiment with my eighth grade students. I had this group two periods in a row. One period was for Language Arts and the other was for silent sustained reading. What I did was allow the students to have a short recess between classes within my classroom. Eventually, the time became productive. One student, who was strong in theater performed monologues on several occasions. The time became a time for the students to get to know one another a bit. They were able to form a bond together as a group; not an easy feat with such a diverse group of students.
It is important for educators to realize that what is taught in their classrooms effects students learning in the future. The disciplines are not isolated. Both motion and emotion are essential to the arts and to life. Powell goes on to describe this concept as follows:
“Art soothes pain! Art wakes up sleepers! Art fights stupidity! Art sings hallelujah! Art is for kitchens! Art is like good bread! Art is like green trees! Art is like white clouds in blue sky! Art is not business! It does not belong to banks and investors. Art is food. You can’t eat it but it feeds you. Art has to be cheap and available to everybody. It needs to be everywhere because it is inside the world. Hurrah” (Powell, p. 6).
As art educators, it is always important for us to be aware of the ‘other point of view’, as well, the point of view that is either being silenced by the presentation or by the speaker. By this I mean, whose voice is being represented in the material being presented to the students. There are always blind spots in a traditional curriculum, certain voices that are being left out, and as educators, it is our responsibility to provide a wide variety of materials for our students to learn from. When the library finally opened at the school I worked at in Florida, it did a good job addressing this issue within the schools curriculum. Bilingual students had access to books written for kids making the transition into English speaking classrooms. The school provided the middle school students with literature by authors that the kids could relate to at a personal level, as well. The key was to create a classroom environment that allowed for plenty of reflection and critical thinking to take place. Activities outside the traditional classroom also provide avenues for students to explore learning that involves taking sensible risks. Community organizations emphasize the importance of keeping the youth motivated outside the classroom setting. Young learners are often involved in making important decisions for the organization, by both strategizing and organizing. These activities are a wonderful dress rehearsal for the adult every day life (Burton, p. 26). As Longley states:
“Tomorrow’s workforce-and, especially, its leaders-will need to broaden its abilities beyond technical skills. There will be a demand for people who are creative, analytical, disciplined, and self-confident-people sensitive to the world around them. Hands-on participation in the arts is a proven way to help children develop these abilities” (Longley, p. 71).
Teachers must be willing to open their hearts and minds in order to allow their natural intuitive abilities guide them in order to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students. Knowing when to switch gears for a particular student, or an entire class is a gift. Luckily, thanks to educators who have come before us, we have a firm foundation from which we may build from. From John Dewey, Paulo Freire, Carl Marx to Gandhi, all of these great leaders have provided us with ideas and ideals to follow. Dewey with his child-centered model, Freire with his powerful statement about paying full attention to students questions in order to ensure a humanistic approach in the classroom, Marx and his belief that education was being used as a vehicle for institutionalizing the elite values and indoctrinating people into ‘unconsciously maintaining those values’ (Wink, p. 95) and Gandhi’s belief that education should aim at ‘developing an individual’s body, mind and soul’ are all strong examples. For Gandhi, the body is important for earning a living, the mind important for bringing in creativity, and the soul is crucial for building character (Wink, p. 104).
Teachers today ought to be asking questions like ‘is there an inherent sense of beauty that can be found in the material being presented? How will this particular lesson affect my students’ daily lives? Are the bilingual students sitting in the classroom being
challenged and attended to? If so, how will teachers meet their needs? Students today come into our classrooms already weighed down by the outside world and its strange
materialistic focus. Many feel estranged from their own past histories, as well as from the history of this country. It is the teacher’s job to create an atmosphere in which students become empowered learners. It is important that teachers are aware of this divide, and strive to avoid preaching about the standards. Instead, teachers ought to be modeling a healthy check and balance system within their classrooms. Most importantly, the progressive teacher must be humble to allow for the students to gain a sense of ownership over the work that the students are to learn (Wink, p. 86). Teachers who allow for this kind of flow in their classrooms demonstrate by example a serious commitment to the quality and authenticity of the creative process. These teachers also know how to eliminate awkward power dynamics within their classrooms, simply by remaining receptive to learning new lessons each day. Art lessons that focus on student centered activities encourage such an environment. Students who understand their cultural history and the history of the world around them are better prepared to create powerful artwork and images depicting ‘where we might be headed’ (Noel, p. 6).
When teachers are successful, the classroom is able to break the mold of tradition and forge a path for change (Bigelow, p. 29). They encourage students to share their cultural capital, their home language and the traditions that have made them the people they are today. Such teachers and schools serve as models of a democratic system, and the students within them become familiar with the flexible readjustments that occur within a structured democracy by learning new ways of thinking about and adjusting to social change (Wink, p. 122). Creating a strong art emphasis in the classroom is critical; for creating such an atmosphere involves drawing from sources from deep within. Transformation occurs when the arts speaks to the heart.
“It’s like finding good water in an unused well.
First you have to remember the spot where the well
was located and then search beneath weeds and brambles….
Someone might have put a heavy, locked cover on it for
safety. You lug back the top and peer down into the dark hole,
just barely seeing water when your eyes get used to the light.
In the first tentative bucketful, the water is dirty, full of decaying
leaves. So you put the bucket down deeper and deeper to drink,
and pretty soon-
you are drawing up cool, clean water that you can drink. And then
you invite your friends to taste that sweet water.” (Powell, p. 2)
Annotated Bibliography
Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple Intelligences in the classroom. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Virginia: Alexandria.
Armstrong describes each of the eight intelligences as identified by Gardner. His informal checklist identifies personal strengths in intelligences and practical ways to use them in the classroom. This book is a valuable tool for teachers at any level.
Berriz, B. (n.d.). Raising Children's Cultural Voices. In Rethinking Schools Online. Retrieved Summer, 2000,from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/bil144.shtml. Berta Berriz teaches third graders in the Boston Public Schools. In this article, she describes her experience teaching bilingual students and shares her teaching strategies with the reader. The article emphasizes the importance of developing literacy through journal writing, autobiographies and publishing projects. Second language students benefit from her sheltering approach and feel a sense of accomplishment when their work is published.
Bigelow, B., Harvey, B., Karp, S., & Miller, L. (Eds.). (2000). Teaching for Equity and Justice. Rethinking Our Classrooms, Two.
Rethinking Our Classrooms includes a wide variety of articles that promote teaching the values of community, justice and equality in the classroom. The journal is a valued source of critical teaching information that serves to connect educators to their high aspirations and their curriculum content. It includes over 75 articles and highlights creative lesson plans, poetry idea for the classroom and even articles, essays and handouts.
Brooks, J. G., & Thompson, E. G. (2005). Social Justice in the classroom. In Educational Leadership (52(3), 4-9). Retrieved April/May, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database. Social Justice in the Classroom is an article thats speaks about the 'cultural capital' that students bring to the classroom. By this the author means, the certain artistic preferences, languages and knowledge bases that students bring to the classroom. The emphasis is that given today's curriculum some students may not feel at liberty to express themselves freely in the classroom.
Burnaford, G., Aprill, A., & Weiss, C. (2001). Renaissance in the Classroom. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.
Renaissance in the Classroom is a book meant for art educators and policy makers alike that makes a case for teaching art education in the classroom. Within its pages educators have access to a visionary guide to K-12 curriculum unit planning. The focus being that educators today have the power to go beyond the traditional, linear methods of instruction and make careful choices to create positive change in the classroom.
Burton, J., Horowiitz, R., & Ables, H. (1999). Champions of change: The impact of arts on learning Imaginative Actuality. In Learning in and through the arts:Curriculum implications (pp. 35-46). Retrieved June 17, 2007, from Google Champions of Change Click on (PDF) Champion Report database.
When young people organize together they have the potential to make projects stronger. In the article Imaginative Actuality, the abudance and intensity of such a practice is described in detail as the authors speak together about creative planning for today's youth. Strategy building is emphasized as a way to encourage youth development as creative collaboration with adults in the community.
Catterall, J. S. (2002). Critical Links. In Arts and the transfer of learning (p. 161-172). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from PDF Web site: http://aep-art.org/cllinkspage.htm.
Learning experiences build upon each other, and according to research gathered in The Arts and the Transfer of Learning the article emphasizes that learning in the arts facilitates such action. The article compares the ways in which children learn and provides figures that depict the correlation between the arts and academic and social outcomes. The article is useful because is shows how the building skills in the arts fosters student motivation.
Fowler, C. (1994). Strong Arts, Strong Schools. In Educational Leadership (57(2), 71-74). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
According to Fowler, in an ideal academic setting the arts take a place in the fore front of our school curriculum. The article states that the arts allow for a humanistic approach to education. On the other hand, schools who do not follow this model allow room for barbarism. This is mainly due to the fact that without the arts students aren't included in the emotional, intuitive and irrational aspects of learning that may not be easily explained by science alone.
Lake, R. (1990). An Indian Father's Plea. In Teacher Magazine. Retrieved May/June 15, 2007, from http://www.msublings.edu/shoobs/Wind_Wolf.htm.
Lake's article begins with a letter addressed to Wind-Wolf's teacher describing Wind-Wolf's educational setting. Wind-Wolf is an Indian boy who begins school in an integrated classroom. Wind-Wolf's father makes the point to the teacher that just because Wind-Wolf needs more time to process emotional material doesn't mean that he is a slow learner. He is an example of a student who brings a great deal of 'cultural capital' to the classroom that ought to be acknowledged. Longley, L. (1999).
Gaining the arts literacy advantage. In Educational Leadership (57(2), 71-74). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
It is quintessential that we continue to build our literacy programs in our public school systems and arts education strongly supports this venture. Longley builds a case for literacy reform in this article and introduces national studies that support her findings. The article encourages school districts question whether they have teachers, principals and with proper training.
McIntosh, P. (1990). White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In Independent School (49(2)). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premiere database.
McIntosh states that the feeling of power and belonging within a community should not 'belong to a privelaged few'. The hierarchies that exist within society and acts of racism that occur are not always merely individualistic attacks. The point the author makes is that being white puts her at an advantage; but she is still beneath the working class of men. Status in society is a responsibility and it is not to be taken for granted.
Noel, J. (2003). Creating artwork in response to issues of social justice: A critical multicultural pedagogy. In Multicultural Education (10(4), 15-18). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Pro Quest Database.
Noel describes the arts based approach to multicultural education in her article Creating artwork in response to issues of social justice: A critical multicultural pedagogy. In her cohort group, as she studies for her Masters they discuss social justice issues: the history of oppression, cultural and socio-economic. The class learns about racism and prejudice and expresses their reactions and reflections to these topics through artwork that produces 'social transformation' within the group for participants.
Powell, M. (1997). The Arts and the Inner Lives of Teachers. In Phi Delta Kappan (78(6) 450-453). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Lesley University's Creative Art's and Learning Masters degree recognizes and encourages teacher creativity within the classroom. The article describes the program and its main component inspiring teachers in the areas of poetry, visual arts, music, dance, drama and storytelling as they learn to include these strategies in their curriculum. Teaching is about opening this invitation, teachers learn to let their students know that the arts belong to all students.
Silver, H. F., Strong, R. W., & Perini, M. J. (2000). So Each May Learn:Integrating Multiple Intelligences. Alexandria, V.A.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Looking for hands on organizers to help you teach while utilizing Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory, look no further. This book is a useful tool as it addresses one of our greatest challenges to date: learning how to encourage diversity in our classrooms, while we promote a challenging curriculum for all students. This book includes instructional models, actual curriculum and assessment stategies to model.
Style, E. (1996). Curriculum as window and mirror. In SEED. Retrieved June 16, 2005, from http://www.wcwonline.org/seed/curriculum.html.
This article highlights the importance of understanding another person's frame of reference when entering into an educational dialogue. This method ensures that the outsider, the individual who may be needing clarificaton as to whose voice is being represented via the curriculum being presented is heard. The subordinate voice needs to be heard and this article explains how subtle changes in perspective when presenting curriculum can make a big difference.
Sylwester, R. (1998). Art for the brain's sake. In Educational Leadership. Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Artistic activity encourages soul development, as Sywester aptly points out in his article Art for the Brain's Sake. This article delves into ideas surrounding self-concept, as well as serotonin fluctuations in children. A correlation has been found between children who are able to develop fine motor skills early on and who benefit from good art programs; they tend to develop higher serotonin levels. Therefore, educators must note that motion and emotion develop together and should be nurtured in the classroom setting.
Wink, J. (2000). Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World. Stanislaus, CA: Addison Welsey Longman.
Pedagogy opens up a door to a more in depth understanding of teaching and teaching terminology for effective use in the classroom and the community at large. The personal narrative voice of the author invites the reader in to truly take in the experience as educator faces today's challenges and includes voices of past educators, as well as our present day teachers.
Bibliography
Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple Intelligences in the classroom. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Virginia: Alexandria.
Berriz, B. (n.d.). Raising Children's Cultural Voices. In Rethinking Schools Online. Retrieved Summer, 2000, from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bilingual/bil144.shtml.
Bigelow, B., Harvey, B., Karp, S., & Miller, L. (Eds.). (2000). Teaching for Equity and Justice. Rethinking Our Classrooms, Two. Brooks, J. G., & Thompson, E. G. (2005). Social Justice in the classroom. In Educational Leadership (52(3), 4-9). Retrieved April/May, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Burnaford, G., Aprill, A., & Weiss, C. (2001). Renaissance in the Classroom. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates. Burton, J., Horowiitz, R., & Ables, H. (1999).
Champions of change: The impact of arts on learning Imaginative Actuality. In Learning in and through the arts:Curriculum implications (pp. 35-46). Retrieved June 17, 2007, from Google Champions of Change Click on (PDF) Champion Report database.
Catterall, J. S. (2002). Critical Links. In Arts and the transfer of learning (p. 161-172). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from PDF Web site: http://aep-art.org/cllinkspage.htm. .
Fowler, C. (1994). Strong Arts, Strong Schools. In Educational Leadership (57(2), 71-74). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Lake, R. (1990). An Indian Father's Plea. In Teacher Magazine. Retrieved May/June 15, 2007, from http://www.msublings.edu/shoobs/Wind_Wolf.htm. Longley, L. (1999).
Gaining the arts literacy advantage. In Educational Leadership (57(2), 71-74). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
McIntosh, P. (1990). White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In Independent School (49(2)). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premiere database.
Noel, J. (2003). Creating artwork in response to issues of social justice: A critical multicultural pedagogy. In Multicultural Education (10(4), 15-18). Retrieved May/June 12, 2007, from Pro Quest Database. Powell, M. (1997). The Arts and the Inner Lives of Teachers. In Phi Delta Kappan (78(6) 450-453). Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Silver, H. F., Strong, R. W., & Perini, M. J. (2000). So Each May Learn: Integrating Multiple Intelligences. Alexandria, V.A.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Style, E. (1996). Curriculum as window and mirror. In SEED. Retrieved June 16, 2005, from http://www.wcwonline.org/seed/curriculum.html.
Sylwester, R. (1998). Art for the brain's sake. In Educational Leadership. Retrieved April/May 12, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database. Wink, J. (2000). Critical Pedagogy: Notes from the Real World. Stanislaus, CA: Addison Welsey Longman.
December 23, 2007
A Quote from the President of the Children's Defense Fund
Taken directly from the source.
“Never before have we exposed children so early and relentlessly to cultural messages glamorizing violence, sex, possessions, alcohol, and tobacco with so few mediating influences from responsible adults. Never have we experienced such a numbing and reckless reliance on violence to solve problems, feel powerful, or be entertained. Never have so many children been permitted to rely on guns and gangs rather than on parents, neighbors, religious congregations, and schools for protection and guidance. Never have we pushed so many children on to the tumultuous sea of life without the life vests of nurturing families and communities, caring schools, challenged minds, job prospects, and hope.
Never before have we subjected our children to the tyranny of drugs and guns and things or taught them to look for meaning outside rather than inside themselves, teaching them in Dr. King’s words ‘to judge success by the value of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationships to humanity.’
As we face a new century and a new millennium, the overarching challenge for America is to rebuild a sense of community and hope and civility and caring and safety for all our children. I hope God will guide our feet as parents-and guide America’s feet-to reclaim our nation’s soul, and to give back to all our children their sense of security and their ability to dream about and work toward a future that is attainable and hopeful.”
-Marian Wright Edelman
President, Children’s Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
“Never before have we exposed children so early and relentlessly to cultural messages glamorizing violence, sex, possessions, alcohol, and tobacco with so few mediating influences from responsible adults. Never have we experienced such a numbing and reckless reliance on violence to solve problems, feel powerful, or be entertained. Never have so many children been permitted to rely on guns and gangs rather than on parents, neighbors, religious congregations, and schools for protection and guidance. Never have we pushed so many children on to the tumultuous sea of life without the life vests of nurturing families and communities, caring schools, challenged minds, job prospects, and hope.
Never before have we subjected our children to the tyranny of drugs and guns and things or taught them to look for meaning outside rather than inside themselves, teaching them in Dr. King’s words ‘to judge success by the value of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationships to humanity.’
As we face a new century and a new millennium, the overarching challenge for America is to rebuild a sense of community and hope and civility and caring and safety for all our children. I hope God will guide our feet as parents-and guide America’s feet-to reclaim our nation’s soul, and to give back to all our children their sense of security and their ability to dream about and work toward a future that is attainable and hopeful.”
-Marian Wright Edelman
President, Children’s Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
December 20, 2007
Excerpt from the United Nations: Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959
Principles to Stand By Taken from the Source.
Principle One
The child shall enjoy the rights set forth in this Declaration.
All children, without any exception whatsoever, shall be
Entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination
on account of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status, whether himself or his family.
Principle Two
The child shall enjoy special protection and shall be given
Opportunities and facilities, by laws and by other means, to
Enable her to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually,
and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions
of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose
the best interests of the child shall be paramount consideration.
Principle Three
The child shall be entitled from birth to a name and a nationality.
Principle Four
The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security, she shall
be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end special
care and protection shall be provided both to her and to her mother,
including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall
have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical
services.
Principle Five
The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be
given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular
condition.
Principle Six
The child, for the full and harmonious development of her personality,
needs love and understanding. She shall wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of her parents and in any case in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security: a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from her mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of state and other assistance toward the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.
Principle Seven
The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture, and enable him on a basis of equal opportunity to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.
The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right.
Principle Eight
The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.
Principle Nine
The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. She shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.
Principle Ten
The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal friendship and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men and women.
Principle One
The child shall enjoy the rights set forth in this Declaration.
All children, without any exception whatsoever, shall be
Entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination
on account of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status, whether himself or his family.
Principle Two
The child shall enjoy special protection and shall be given
Opportunities and facilities, by laws and by other means, to
Enable her to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually,
and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions
of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this purpose
the best interests of the child shall be paramount consideration.
Principle Three
The child shall be entitled from birth to a name and a nationality.
Principle Four
The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security, she shall
be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end special
care and protection shall be provided both to her and to her mother,
including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall
have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical
services.
Principle Five
The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be
given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular
condition.
Principle Six
The child, for the full and harmonious development of her personality,
needs love and understanding. She shall wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of her parents and in any case in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security: a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from her mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of state and other assistance toward the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.
Principle Seven
The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture, and enable him on a basis of equal opportunity to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.
The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents.
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right.
Principle Eight
The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.
Principle Nine
The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. She shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.
Principle Ten
The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal friendship and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men and women.
The Manor Inn
Nestled away at the top of Battle Avenue, in Castine Maine, I work sitting at the front desk checking people in at The Manor Inn. The job is straightforward and the Innkeepers hard-working, honest people interested in bringing this traditional place to life. The inn once housed boarders in the 1940’s; it served as Martha Stern’s refuge in the 20’s and 30’s, and originally stood tall touting Victorian style turrets and shingled siding the building itself surrounded by 200 acres of carriage trails. The original owner hailed from the South Boston Yacht Club, Commodore Fuller was his name and he kept the inn for five years. After his wife passed away it was sold to the McClintock family who remodeled it and then later sold it to the Sterns family. For Martha Sterns, The Manor was her refuge. In 1912, Martha, then one of the Eustis sisters, was one of the many passengers aboard the Titanic when it sank. She also happened to be staying at the Fairmont Hotel when the fire and earthquake hit in 1906. One can only imagine how serene Castine must have seemed to her during those days when horse and carriage trails still were the main means of transportation.
In the dining room today sits a Grand piano that one of Innkeepers summer workers often plays. One of the songs that he plays happens to be from the Titanic soundtrack; what an interesting coincidence. When asked if he knew of the inn’s history, the Innkeeper thought that he didn’t. This particular worker is from Romania, he and his girlfriend work doing odds and ends around the house in exchange for a place to stay and of course a stipend. In essence, they are boarders like the people who came to stay in the 40’s only of a different kind. Of course the Inn has been restored since then, and our guests here enjoy a unique mixture of past history and modern comfort. On a usual day here, I sit by the phone taking reservations, mailing out confirmations and generally watching over the place. Weddings are often held here and they can be a lot of fun. Generally speaking, they have a certain rhythm to them, clicking in time with the old grandfather clock here that chimes on the hour. Wedding parties are encouraged to serve cocktails first and then proceed with their own wedding plans.
All this being said, by about mid-July, I began to feel at home with the rhythm of the place. Perhaps, this is why I found it particularly amusing when my assignment to write about a concert seemed to come right to me. I arrived at work at twelve thirty and like any other day I prepared to check people in. I knew that a wedding party was coming; but knew little about the group. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the first guest checked in dressed up in a pirate costume. I kid you not, he was decked out and looked a lot like Blackbeard complete with the hemp pieces tied into his beard. Out at sea, the real Blackbeard used to light those on fire to scare those salty individuals he planned to conquer.
“Argh,” he said with a twinkle in his eye as he checked in.
Then sure enough, one by one, two by two they all began to check in. Some in costume, some in a rush to get into costume in time for the scavenger hunt they had planned for the evening. They wore bright colors matching their boisterous personalities. The women wore a lot of red and black. It was difficult to figure out at first who the bride was to be would be because she was dressed up like the rest of them. Then, in addition to all the clatter in waltzed a band to accompany them in the living room. The band consisted of a couple of fiddle players and a couple of violinists. These string instruments the backbone of the mini orchestra, singing out bold sea shanties and ballads. These were the instruments that were once found aboard Navy ships in the 16th century; tonight they bring history to life. Sea shanties are old work songs played aboard sailing vessels as the sailors work away hauling in lines. More often than not, the lyrics are chanted out loud rather than sung in harmony. The group of ‘pirate’ folk were not singing along with the musicians, rather they chose to clap occasionally, in between fierce belly laughs loud enough to rumble their way up the stairwell alerting the other guests that something rather unusual was going on in the living room. On man came down in a suit and tie and asked me politely how long I thought these pirate folk would be playing for. At the root of his question rested a certain leeriness that deserved an immediate answer. Perhaps he drove a great distance in hopes of securing a quiet little room of his own tucked away here at this historic Inn. I told him that they would be leaving for the scavenger hunt soon.
“Not to worry,” I said with a smile, as I spoke to the man, a child’s voice could be heard rising up over the music, then the voice of a crooning mother. The two are playing some sort of game involving knocking down a set of wooden dowels. The mother is encouraging the others in the group to head down to Fort Madison where the scavenger hunt is to begin. The clock quivers as it prepares to chime out the hour. A camera is left sitting alone on the table as these rascals file out, their voices muffled now as they move away, what a motley crew. The doors creaks open and slams several times. They are gone now and their music spins me closer to a place and time long past, or has it really?
Delicate sounds climb effortlessly now up the stairwell, soft mumblings and the ticking of the clock. As these soft sounds dissolve like mist hovering over the horizon line, the sun sinks lower and lower now as evening sets in.
In the dining room today sits a Grand piano that one of Innkeepers summer workers often plays. One of the songs that he plays happens to be from the Titanic soundtrack; what an interesting coincidence. When asked if he knew of the inn’s history, the Innkeeper thought that he didn’t. This particular worker is from Romania, he and his girlfriend work doing odds and ends around the house in exchange for a place to stay and of course a stipend. In essence, they are boarders like the people who came to stay in the 40’s only of a different kind. Of course the Inn has been restored since then, and our guests here enjoy a unique mixture of past history and modern comfort. On a usual day here, I sit by the phone taking reservations, mailing out confirmations and generally watching over the place. Weddings are often held here and they can be a lot of fun. Generally speaking, they have a certain rhythm to them, clicking in time with the old grandfather clock here that chimes on the hour. Wedding parties are encouraged to serve cocktails first and then proceed with their own wedding plans.
All this being said, by about mid-July, I began to feel at home with the rhythm of the place. Perhaps, this is why I found it particularly amusing when my assignment to write about a concert seemed to come right to me. I arrived at work at twelve thirty and like any other day I prepared to check people in. I knew that a wedding party was coming; but knew little about the group. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the first guest checked in dressed up in a pirate costume. I kid you not, he was decked out and looked a lot like Blackbeard complete with the hemp pieces tied into his beard. Out at sea, the real Blackbeard used to light those on fire to scare those salty individuals he planned to conquer.
“Argh,” he said with a twinkle in his eye as he checked in.
Then sure enough, one by one, two by two they all began to check in. Some in costume, some in a rush to get into costume in time for the scavenger hunt they had planned for the evening. They wore bright colors matching their boisterous personalities. The women wore a lot of red and black. It was difficult to figure out at first who the bride was to be would be because she was dressed up like the rest of them. Then, in addition to all the clatter in waltzed a band to accompany them in the living room. The band consisted of a couple of fiddle players and a couple of violinists. These string instruments the backbone of the mini orchestra, singing out bold sea shanties and ballads. These were the instruments that were once found aboard Navy ships in the 16th century; tonight they bring history to life. Sea shanties are old work songs played aboard sailing vessels as the sailors work away hauling in lines. More often than not, the lyrics are chanted out loud rather than sung in harmony. The group of ‘pirate’ folk were not singing along with the musicians, rather they chose to clap occasionally, in between fierce belly laughs loud enough to rumble their way up the stairwell alerting the other guests that something rather unusual was going on in the living room. On man came down in a suit and tie and asked me politely how long I thought these pirate folk would be playing for. At the root of his question rested a certain leeriness that deserved an immediate answer. Perhaps he drove a great distance in hopes of securing a quiet little room of his own tucked away here at this historic Inn. I told him that they would be leaving for the scavenger hunt soon.
“Not to worry,” I said with a smile, as I spoke to the man, a child’s voice could be heard rising up over the music, then the voice of a crooning mother. The two are playing some sort of game involving knocking down a set of wooden dowels. The mother is encouraging the others in the group to head down to Fort Madison where the scavenger hunt is to begin. The clock quivers as it prepares to chime out the hour. A camera is left sitting alone on the table as these rascals file out, their voices muffled now as they move away, what a motley crew. The doors creaks open and slams several times. They are gone now and their music spins me closer to a place and time long past, or has it really?
Delicate sounds climb effortlessly now up the stairwell, soft mumblings and the ticking of the clock. As these soft sounds dissolve like mist hovering over the horizon line, the sun sinks lower and lower now as evening sets in.
Issues of Identity and Art: Derek Walcott
When we travel the world, we carry with us our sense of national identity, and the potential to transform this based upon the experiences we encounter along the way. It is only when we free ourselves from our personal connections to society, from the past and from the future that we move forward and are able to create truly authentic artwork. How do we do this without losing our sense of self along the way? As we examine the life and work of artist Derek Walcott, we may come to realize that identity arises then not solely from external influences, but from individual decisions about which aspects of inheritance we accept as our own. Walcott, “the descendent of two white grandfathers and two black grandmothers” (with a mix of British, Dutch and African heritage), chose to maintain certain aspects of his identity and by doing so opened the door to true self-expression and personal development (Jonathan Cape, 1962). In his own words, he states “I bear my house inside me, everywhere” (Walcott, 176). These words echo in my own heart; however, not only do Walcott and I come from two entirely different geographical locations; but our place in the field of identity theory differs, as well.
When we examine this artist’s life, it becomes clear that the majority of his work is generative, in that the primary concern in his life and in his art making has to do with accepting his own ‘racial hybridity’. In doing so, he is able to create a cultural identity strong enough to serve as a foundation for his greatest works. The fact that he has been able to successfully work as a playwright, poet and art critic in the Caribbean, a place where theaters are few and far between, start and run his own theater called the Little Carrib Theater, as well as to serve as visiting Professor to Boston University is a testimony to his creative genius. Although, in his poetry he expresses at times this feeling that he is ‘caught between worlds’, in his personal life he certainly seems comfortable living outside the lines that still serve to separate the black folk cultures of his native Caribbean and European cultures and literary cannon. Like Walcott, I too have learned to carry my creative integrity with me as I move through this world. However, after reviewing Eric Erickson’s work in Identity Theory it became clear to me that for a long time I was creating my own identity as I worked, and only recently had I moved to the relationship vs. isolation phase of his famous eight phase theory. My work in my early twenties, up to this point has had a lot to do with the formation of artistic collaborations and establishing my own voice as separate from the sea of talent that exists in the world. Most recently, like Walcott, I find myself most drawn to the generative phase of development. I know now that my role as a creative artist is to give back to the younger generation, and to do so may mean moving past this early individualistic phase. In addition, after carefully examining my own life and work, I am beginning to understand this idea that as Americans “we’re all imported, black, Spanish…When one says one is American-that’s the experience of being American-that transference of whatever color, or name or place of escape, and it is not even a place of resolution. It is a place of struggle.“ (Conversation with Derek Walcott, p. 2 Lorenzo Thomas).
Walcott , like a Phoenix rising from the ashes has throughout his artistic career held an uncanny ability to piece together the fragments of his identity and generate his greatest works. In this excerpt from A Far Cry from Africa, Walcott’s voice can be heard raw, but clear:
I who am poisoned with the blood of both,
Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?
I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how to choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?
Although I have never shared this feeling of being ‘poisoned with the blood’ of two vastly different ethnicities, nor felt torn between two languages, I do feel an affinity with the lyrical voice of the islands themselves that he expresses unconsciously as he writes and creates his watercolors. The language of the people of the Caribbean is a language that sings. It is fluid, flexible to new ideas and funny little sayings, there is an interesting abstraction to it. Without being overbearing, it is philosophical and poetic; yet it is so different from traditional English that at times one might be tempted to jump toward the closest dictionary to try to look up some abbreviated or invention word. On the island of St. Lucia, the mix between French patois and English in the schools strengthened Walcott’s ability to capture the kind of lyrical, surrealistic voice that many an English writers have since tried to recapture; but failed. Such style has truly only been mastered by the likes of Neruda, Lorca, Cesaire and others schooled in the Romance languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese. The language of the Caribbean just so happens to match the language of that my soul sings softly in New England. Somewhat subdued, the colorful layers of meaning that my poetry has often created in in my audience’s imagination became clear to me, as I stepped off the boat for the first time and laid foot on the Bahamian shore.
The first circular steps that I took around Man O War Cay, were steps light as whistling arrows for they were steps taken without expectation. At first, there seemed to be no logical separation between my life as I had dreamt it, and the life that I could only anticipate with my eyes closed in the comfort of my home, or lying out under a clear night sky. When reading a description of Walcott’s native island St. Lucia, I am reminded again of that feeling of richness that I felt when I allowed myself to loosen my grip on tradition and progress’s reigns in order to allow for the aesthetic beauty of the place to touch my spirit. It did not matter that many of the Bahamians there communicated without utilizing the latest technologies; the important work of the day was done mainly via direct communication or by hand. Of course, in this day and age there is a sense even there that technology is moving in; but Bahamians certainly aren’t known to rush as they value quality and genuine human interactions first. The tourists influx helps support their economy, so in that sense the islanders must comply (to some degree) to standards set by other nations; however, this movement is not embraced by all of the islanders. Endurance without technological enlightenment in this day and age means that the islanders must constantly be in competition with the land owners, real estate agents and those who promoted cultural integration of all kinds on the island in order to survive there. Walcott refers to outsiders to his native island as ’hotel mongers’ and greedy ’UNESCO guerillas’ to name a few labels, and yet he is still somewhat proud of his British heritage as he values the literary cannon and has a clan of cross-cultural friends (including the late poet and Castine summer resident Robert Lowell). To Walcott greatness knows no physical boundary line or language. In Walcott’s homeland he recognizes his own British heritage without losing a sense of African customs, as well. It is through his artwork that he seems to be able to maintain this sense of integrity of being; however, he also clearly recognizes the fact that any time an individual chooses to integrate aspects of two different cultures and languages that something will be forgotten. It is through this sometimes painful process that he frees himself, and consequently invites his audience to join him as he illuminates the differences between cultures, and the somewhat strained Caribbean connection to the predominately English literary cannon. For example, why had he learned as a boy about snowflakes and winter and not the wrath of the familiar hurricane? His artworks depicts people as landscape: humble and free. He sings of his “wide country, the Caribbean Sea
who hated shoes, whose soles were cracked as stone,
who was gentle with ropes, who had one suit alone,
whom no man dared to insult and who insulted no one,
whose grin was a white breaker cresting, but whose frown
was a growing thunderhead…” (from Omeros)
How familiar this all sounds…the talk of the lack of meaning in contemporary society and the artist who is able to keep his finger on the pulse of life without compromising his values along the way. These creative, precious moments that so often occur as we create our art, sing our song, light the world with the fire that can only be known as our life spark are the moments that transform us all as artists and as human beings. Not only do we have the power as individuals to construct reality as we move along; but together we have a responsibility to teach the younger generation, as well. Could this be best described as a sort of servitude? Are we truly humbled by this process as artists, or do we actually have a skewed perspective regarding our role as artist and creators here in America? Poet and artist Derek Walcott challenges this notion by stating to a group of his students at Boston University “the problem is that Americans think that poetry is democratic, that anyone can write it. It’s not-it’s aristocratic”?
When reading this statement for the first time, I felt as though I had been hit on the head with a sledge hammer and then was waking up to a world where I suddenly could see the limitations of the language of the English literary cannon that I had grown up adoring, as well as the limitations of so many other claims that I have always made at heart regarding the unity between myself and others. Sure enough, I had solely relied upon the English language as the common ground, the vehicle through which I communicated my thoughts and dreams to the world. Suddenly, I could no longer view English as the sole basis for communicating, nor could I identify exactly what it meant really to live by these new passionate beliefs. My vision cleared, suddenly it made the most sense to me that the poor would claim a certain undeniable, closeness with God, one that I could only reach through the art of servitude. So there, I saw it and saw myself desiring the nothingness that I so often did desire when creating my poetry. When I was in the Bahamas, I taught every day I could…wore the basically the same kinds of clothes to work (just a couple of outfits that I had initially planned to wear on the boat)…served…helped children grow a garden and sought spiritual counsel, all while I was in Walcott’s home territory: the Caribbean. But truthfully, I was an outsider even then with constant concerns. I wondered how I would transfer the experiential knowledge that I had learned there and make it applicable in the states. I wondered where I would go to apply this new sense of identity that I had developed after learning a bit about what it feels like to be both a minority and a teacher. For the first time, I claimed to know what it felt like to be the bird that guides Icharus on his journey towards the sun, only in my mind I was not going to burn eternally in the end. Like Walcott, I knew that I was destined to return to my place of origin to relearn the importance of tradition and the meaning of America’s appetite for progress. It is my job now to pick up the pieces and soar again. It is my aim to teach and strive to generate strong new pathways for the younger generation of this country to follow here and abroad. The truth is that this although this change in perspective temporarily freed me, I feel more determined than ever before to create from my heart for this is the stage of development that I now embrace as a creative artist and teacher.
Bibliography available upon request.
When we examine this artist’s life, it becomes clear that the majority of his work is generative, in that the primary concern in his life and in his art making has to do with accepting his own ‘racial hybridity’. In doing so, he is able to create a cultural identity strong enough to serve as a foundation for his greatest works. The fact that he has been able to successfully work as a playwright, poet and art critic in the Caribbean, a place where theaters are few and far between, start and run his own theater called the Little Carrib Theater, as well as to serve as visiting Professor to Boston University is a testimony to his creative genius. Although, in his poetry he expresses at times this feeling that he is ‘caught between worlds’, in his personal life he certainly seems comfortable living outside the lines that still serve to separate the black folk cultures of his native Caribbean and European cultures and literary cannon. Like Walcott, I too have learned to carry my creative integrity with me as I move through this world. However, after reviewing Eric Erickson’s work in Identity Theory it became clear to me that for a long time I was creating my own identity as I worked, and only recently had I moved to the relationship vs. isolation phase of his famous eight phase theory. My work in my early twenties, up to this point has had a lot to do with the formation of artistic collaborations and establishing my own voice as separate from the sea of talent that exists in the world. Most recently, like Walcott, I find myself most drawn to the generative phase of development. I know now that my role as a creative artist is to give back to the younger generation, and to do so may mean moving past this early individualistic phase. In addition, after carefully examining my own life and work, I am beginning to understand this idea that as Americans “we’re all imported, black, Spanish…When one says one is American-that’s the experience of being American-that transference of whatever color, or name or place of escape, and it is not even a place of resolution. It is a place of struggle.“ (Conversation with Derek Walcott, p. 2 Lorenzo Thomas).
Walcott , like a Phoenix rising from the ashes has throughout his artistic career held an uncanny ability to piece together the fragments of his identity and generate his greatest works. In this excerpt from A Far Cry from Africa, Walcott’s voice can be heard raw, but clear:
I who am poisoned with the blood of both,
Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?
I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how to choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?
Although I have never shared this feeling of being ‘poisoned with the blood’ of two vastly different ethnicities, nor felt torn between two languages, I do feel an affinity with the lyrical voice of the islands themselves that he expresses unconsciously as he writes and creates his watercolors. The language of the people of the Caribbean is a language that sings. It is fluid, flexible to new ideas and funny little sayings, there is an interesting abstraction to it. Without being overbearing, it is philosophical and poetic; yet it is so different from traditional English that at times one might be tempted to jump toward the closest dictionary to try to look up some abbreviated or invention word. On the island of St. Lucia, the mix between French patois and English in the schools strengthened Walcott’s ability to capture the kind of lyrical, surrealistic voice that many an English writers have since tried to recapture; but failed. Such style has truly only been mastered by the likes of Neruda, Lorca, Cesaire and others schooled in the Romance languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese. The language of the Caribbean just so happens to match the language of that my soul sings softly in New England. Somewhat subdued, the colorful layers of meaning that my poetry has often created in in my audience’s imagination became clear to me, as I stepped off the boat for the first time and laid foot on the Bahamian shore.
The first circular steps that I took around Man O War Cay, were steps light as whistling arrows for they were steps taken without expectation. At first, there seemed to be no logical separation between my life as I had dreamt it, and the life that I could only anticipate with my eyes closed in the comfort of my home, or lying out under a clear night sky. When reading a description of Walcott’s native island St. Lucia, I am reminded again of that feeling of richness that I felt when I allowed myself to loosen my grip on tradition and progress’s reigns in order to allow for the aesthetic beauty of the place to touch my spirit. It did not matter that many of the Bahamians there communicated without utilizing the latest technologies; the important work of the day was done mainly via direct communication or by hand. Of course, in this day and age there is a sense even there that technology is moving in; but Bahamians certainly aren’t known to rush as they value quality and genuine human interactions first. The tourists influx helps support their economy, so in that sense the islanders must comply (to some degree) to standards set by other nations; however, this movement is not embraced by all of the islanders. Endurance without technological enlightenment in this day and age means that the islanders must constantly be in competition with the land owners, real estate agents and those who promoted cultural integration of all kinds on the island in order to survive there. Walcott refers to outsiders to his native island as ’hotel mongers’ and greedy ’UNESCO guerillas’ to name a few labels, and yet he is still somewhat proud of his British heritage as he values the literary cannon and has a clan of cross-cultural friends (including the late poet and Castine summer resident Robert Lowell). To Walcott greatness knows no physical boundary line or language. In Walcott’s homeland he recognizes his own British heritage without losing a sense of African customs, as well. It is through his artwork that he seems to be able to maintain this sense of integrity of being; however, he also clearly recognizes the fact that any time an individual chooses to integrate aspects of two different cultures and languages that something will be forgotten. It is through this sometimes painful process that he frees himself, and consequently invites his audience to join him as he illuminates the differences between cultures, and the somewhat strained Caribbean connection to the predominately English literary cannon. For example, why had he learned as a boy about snowflakes and winter and not the wrath of the familiar hurricane? His artworks depicts people as landscape: humble and free. He sings of his “wide country, the Caribbean Sea
who hated shoes, whose soles were cracked as stone,
who was gentle with ropes, who had one suit alone,
whom no man dared to insult and who insulted no one,
whose grin was a white breaker cresting, but whose frown
was a growing thunderhead…” (from Omeros)
How familiar this all sounds…the talk of the lack of meaning in contemporary society and the artist who is able to keep his finger on the pulse of life without compromising his values along the way. These creative, precious moments that so often occur as we create our art, sing our song, light the world with the fire that can only be known as our life spark are the moments that transform us all as artists and as human beings. Not only do we have the power as individuals to construct reality as we move along; but together we have a responsibility to teach the younger generation, as well. Could this be best described as a sort of servitude? Are we truly humbled by this process as artists, or do we actually have a skewed perspective regarding our role as artist and creators here in America? Poet and artist Derek Walcott challenges this notion by stating to a group of his students at Boston University “the problem is that Americans think that poetry is democratic, that anyone can write it. It’s not-it’s aristocratic”?
When reading this statement for the first time, I felt as though I had been hit on the head with a sledge hammer and then was waking up to a world where I suddenly could see the limitations of the language of the English literary cannon that I had grown up adoring, as well as the limitations of so many other claims that I have always made at heart regarding the unity between myself and others. Sure enough, I had solely relied upon the English language as the common ground, the vehicle through which I communicated my thoughts and dreams to the world. Suddenly, I could no longer view English as the sole basis for communicating, nor could I identify exactly what it meant really to live by these new passionate beliefs. My vision cleared, suddenly it made the most sense to me that the poor would claim a certain undeniable, closeness with God, one that I could only reach through the art of servitude. So there, I saw it and saw myself desiring the nothingness that I so often did desire when creating my poetry. When I was in the Bahamas, I taught every day I could…wore the basically the same kinds of clothes to work (just a couple of outfits that I had initially planned to wear on the boat)…served…helped children grow a garden and sought spiritual counsel, all while I was in Walcott’s home territory: the Caribbean. But truthfully, I was an outsider even then with constant concerns. I wondered how I would transfer the experiential knowledge that I had learned there and make it applicable in the states. I wondered where I would go to apply this new sense of identity that I had developed after learning a bit about what it feels like to be both a minority and a teacher. For the first time, I claimed to know what it felt like to be the bird that guides Icharus on his journey towards the sun, only in my mind I was not going to burn eternally in the end. Like Walcott, I knew that I was destined to return to my place of origin to relearn the importance of tradition and the meaning of America’s appetite for progress. It is my job now to pick up the pieces and soar again. It is my aim to teach and strive to generate strong new pathways for the younger generation of this country to follow here and abroad. The truth is that this although this change in perspective temporarily freed me, I feel more determined than ever before to create from my heart for this is the stage of development that I now embrace as a creative artist and teacher.
Bibliography available upon request.
Absolute Music
Beyond all boundaries, we all navigate through a world filled with sounds; instinctively we identify them. We know that there is something magical that occurs when we begin putting the pieces together, when we weed out the noise from the notes. ‘Absolute music’ as Schaffer describes it is the term used to describe a work “whose content its composer has given no guiding caption”. This definition frees us to negotiate the conventions of every day living, to compose with sounds found in our sensory environment. This concept lends itself well to the very foundation of our course: Music as A Way of Knowing for it enjoins us all to take part in the creation of a composition simply by listening to the world around us. As Louise Pascale put it in her article, Dispelling the Myth of the Non-singer “it is easy to get caught up in the main text of life”; consequently forgetting that melody moves as freely as the wind across the bay.
We are used to defining this melody in a certain way as Westerners, listening for the upward and downward swoops it makes on its path toward some recognizable piece or final product. The heavenly rhythms can be identified as sounds that ascend upward and the notes that descend, particularly in classical music are often considered to represent the underworld. We must not forget as educators to introduce our students to the polyrhythmic, process oriented music that the drummers many countries in Africa have made their own, as well as the free flowing form of Eastern music. Performing, playing, composing and teaching such music feeds the individual teacher, while allowing for creativity to exist within the parameters of the every day life. As a result, the daily routines, habits, duties and all of the obligations that we too often feel we have little control over suddenly, if we are lucky, become all the more bearable (Pascale, p. 1). For children, performing music offers up an avenue for them to channel their emotions in a safe manner, one that allows them enough creative control to feel ‘in charge and comfortable.’ As a teacher and artist, I have come to realize that classroom time is a sacred time for my students. In order for them to feel confident enough to practice their art, the atmosphere must be charged with a certain spark, an acknowledgement of sorts that their passions are to be respected when presented with care. Such an atmosphere breeds creativity. As Mozart put it “the silence between the notes” that’s where the music sings. For the students, although they may not even know it, it is often in moments of supervised imprecision that they truly feel free enough to access their most creative thoughts and imaginative feelings. Consequently, it is important to communicate the message that although they will never live their lives completely devoid of musical sounds and compositions that they all have the capacity to be the composers of their own work.
In class, although a bit reticent at first, I felt deeply enlivened by the singing that we did together as a group. These activities brought me back to a time in my life growing up when I attended theater camp and everybody sang! The camp counselors were all professional actors and actresses from New York, and they worked with us as we practiced and performed musicals like ‘Annie’ and ‘Godspell’. During this time in my life, I felt free to discover my own musical talents. A feeling of sadness touched me though when on the first night of the first class we were asked to think about music in today’s entertainment culture. As notable musician Wynton Marsalis states “our culture is dying from the inside” (Miller and Cohen, p. 459). Cornell Reagan, an eighteen year old organizer and African American singer states “it is important to be fluent in history and not hide from it, for this is how the healing takes place” (Kernan, p. 33). Somehow, over the past few years we have allowed ourselves as a nation to move away from the soulful music that once enlivened the heart of this country and moved us all to take direct social action. Of course, this idea can be countered. Musicians today do reach out to the youth of America and the world at large; but have the technological advances that allow artists today to become players on the global stage also stripped away some of the authenticity that once grew at the root of a social movement? As we discussed in our small groups, I wonder if we are feeding an isolationist movement when we begin to rely on technology to such a degree. Only time will tell.
“If history tells us anything, it tells us that the United States, like other nations,
will be measured in the eyes of posterity not by its economic power nor by
its military might…but by its character and achievement as a civilization.”
-Historian Arthur Schlesinger
(from The Case for Music in Schools)
One thing is for sure, music study brings us closer as human beings promoting socialized discipline and civil behavior. We learn from each other and the artists what moves match what genre and we move in time with these artists as they sing their songs. As people, we know that we have the essential ingredients to work with to create a positive future. The effort it takes to live a disciplined, civil, passionate and soulful existence is right at our finger tips. All we have to do is put our minds to use and figure out what each word means in relation to the individual goals and objectives that we set for ourselves in our own private lives. Although I never played a musical instrument myself, I have grown to respect and revere the discipline that playing one fosters, as well as the general reverence for humanity that a melody moving in full freedom evokes in the human heart. While a student at Bates College, I did have the opportunity to sing in the choir. When we performed The Messiah, I was not ‘myself’, rather an instrument, a part of a movement, something larger.
Perhaps this is why I feel particularly disheartened by the news that I hear now from the Naval Academy, from my brother. The Academy has ushered in a new Superintendent who (most likely in an attempt to cut costs for the war) has cut back many of the schools programs: including cutting back on funding for their well known Glee Club. In my heart, I have known for quite sometime what such measures mean. We are in danger of not only failing to nurture the creativity and humanity of our children; but we are forgetting the natural avenues we once used to do so. Much akin to the ways in which many citizens have grown so alienated from one another and their natural surroundings. As I step back into by own natural rhythm here in Maine however; it has been wonderful to become a part of a greater design once again. The dynamics created by this Lesley course have been amazingly uplifting and hopeful. After viewing all of the interview presentations I feel inspired to paint again, sing (even if only in the shower) and tune in to the magic that so many Native American songs hold hidden in their lyrics. I am intrigued by these cases that describe instances where “the words” in their tribal songs “hold beauties of inarticulate emotion. (Schaffer, p. 198).
In our class, I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail that so many of the presenters took with their work and just how in depth the musical inquiry interviews were. So many teachers took the time to interview an important family member or interesting member in their community. We are lucky to have had the opportunity to share our creative work with each other in such a supportive environment. As far as the course requirements were concerned, I have to say that I enjoyed the sound journal activities tremendously! What a great tool to incorporate into the classroom on occasion. For me, I found that in silent moments, I felt most inclined to write poetry. It will be interesting to watch future students experiment with this activity. What fun it was to listen to and examine the instruments that people brought in and to learn a bit about creating our own group composition pieces. After the second workshop, I felt confident enough to apply the information that I learned directly to a lesson that I had planned for our yacht club here in town. I invited a group of students to come down with their instruments to attend my workshop entitled: Discover the Sounds of the Penobscot Bay. A group of six showed up and I was able to test out the one minute composition piece that we experimented with in class. I also led them in a brief series of charades and asked them to identify some of the sounds they hear in and around the Penobscot Bay.
In the future, I plan to refer to the many of the materials and websites provided in the course packet; especially the exercises found in the articles When Words Sing and Ear Cleaning. I agree that every teacher should allow for a bit more ‘Melismas’ in the midst of their well thought out, structured lesson plans (Schaffer, p. 176). ‘Melismas’ as they were characterized by the Greeks are jubilant outbursts. In the future I imagine myself utilizing this theory wherever I go. Yes, it is the teacher’s responsibility to enliven the curriculum a bit. I plan to enjoy introducing my future students to the art of playing with words and trusting their own creative voices: onomatopoeics for kids. I am sure that they will find it interesting to play with the frequency of words once they make the connection that there is a parallel between the way a particular word sounds and the way it is written upon the page. With the middle school students I plan to help them work through tough feelings of guilt and general adolescent angst using a personal approach that has always worked for me. I plan to continue to use story telling, play writing, role playing, drawing, listening, recognition and identification of songs all as a part of my bag of tricks to inspire them. My hope is with a little more experience and passionate interest in the subject material that I will be able to inspire the kids to work; thus minimizing the amount of class time that I have to spend with discipline. Now that I realize, after teaching and reading Pellitten’s article Music and the Sounds of Emotional Intelligence, that children are often the most rebellious and then consequently feel guilty after they have violated a particular rule or standard. It should become easier for me to identify the issues as they present themselves and help students find the proper creative outlets for their frustrated or blocked emotion, music being a main avenue for this activity. I hope that such youngsters will learn to take charge and flow with their own life experiences independently utilizing music as a means of expression. We shall see. Now more than ever before in history, we must awaken to the fact that we are all part of this great ‘global village’ (Fung, p. 67). Here at home in our classrooms we are the instruments singing loud and clear. We have the potential to introduce our students to the sonic world that immediately surrounds them, and then to the world at large all through the songs that we sing, play, present and create. Process vs. product oriented music, eastern vs. western, it makes no difference. We all share in this show together…absolutely!
Bibliography available upon request.
We are used to defining this melody in a certain way as Westerners, listening for the upward and downward swoops it makes on its path toward some recognizable piece or final product. The heavenly rhythms can be identified as sounds that ascend upward and the notes that descend, particularly in classical music are often considered to represent the underworld. We must not forget as educators to introduce our students to the polyrhythmic, process oriented music that the drummers many countries in Africa have made their own, as well as the free flowing form of Eastern music. Performing, playing, composing and teaching such music feeds the individual teacher, while allowing for creativity to exist within the parameters of the every day life. As a result, the daily routines, habits, duties and all of the obligations that we too often feel we have little control over suddenly, if we are lucky, become all the more bearable (Pascale, p. 1). For children, performing music offers up an avenue for them to channel their emotions in a safe manner, one that allows them enough creative control to feel ‘in charge and comfortable.’ As a teacher and artist, I have come to realize that classroom time is a sacred time for my students. In order for them to feel confident enough to practice their art, the atmosphere must be charged with a certain spark, an acknowledgement of sorts that their passions are to be respected when presented with care. Such an atmosphere breeds creativity. As Mozart put it “the silence between the notes” that’s where the music sings. For the students, although they may not even know it, it is often in moments of supervised imprecision that they truly feel free enough to access their most creative thoughts and imaginative feelings. Consequently, it is important to communicate the message that although they will never live their lives completely devoid of musical sounds and compositions that they all have the capacity to be the composers of their own work.
In class, although a bit reticent at first, I felt deeply enlivened by the singing that we did together as a group. These activities brought me back to a time in my life growing up when I attended theater camp and everybody sang! The camp counselors were all professional actors and actresses from New York, and they worked with us as we practiced and performed musicals like ‘Annie’ and ‘Godspell’. During this time in my life, I felt free to discover my own musical talents. A feeling of sadness touched me though when on the first night of the first class we were asked to think about music in today’s entertainment culture. As notable musician Wynton Marsalis states “our culture is dying from the inside” (Miller and Cohen, p. 459). Cornell Reagan, an eighteen year old organizer and African American singer states “it is important to be fluent in history and not hide from it, for this is how the healing takes place” (Kernan, p. 33). Somehow, over the past few years we have allowed ourselves as a nation to move away from the soulful music that once enlivened the heart of this country and moved us all to take direct social action. Of course, this idea can be countered. Musicians today do reach out to the youth of America and the world at large; but have the technological advances that allow artists today to become players on the global stage also stripped away some of the authenticity that once grew at the root of a social movement? As we discussed in our small groups, I wonder if we are feeding an isolationist movement when we begin to rely on technology to such a degree. Only time will tell.
“If history tells us anything, it tells us that the United States, like other nations,
will be measured in the eyes of posterity not by its economic power nor by
its military might…but by its character and achievement as a civilization.”
-Historian Arthur Schlesinger
(from The Case for Music in Schools)
One thing is for sure, music study brings us closer as human beings promoting socialized discipline and civil behavior. We learn from each other and the artists what moves match what genre and we move in time with these artists as they sing their songs. As people, we know that we have the essential ingredients to work with to create a positive future. The effort it takes to live a disciplined, civil, passionate and soulful existence is right at our finger tips. All we have to do is put our minds to use and figure out what each word means in relation to the individual goals and objectives that we set for ourselves in our own private lives. Although I never played a musical instrument myself, I have grown to respect and revere the discipline that playing one fosters, as well as the general reverence for humanity that a melody moving in full freedom evokes in the human heart. While a student at Bates College, I did have the opportunity to sing in the choir. When we performed The Messiah, I was not ‘myself’, rather an instrument, a part of a movement, something larger.
Perhaps this is why I feel particularly disheartened by the news that I hear now from the Naval Academy, from my brother. The Academy has ushered in a new Superintendent who (most likely in an attempt to cut costs for the war) has cut back many of the schools programs: including cutting back on funding for their well known Glee Club. In my heart, I have known for quite sometime what such measures mean. We are in danger of not only failing to nurture the creativity and humanity of our children; but we are forgetting the natural avenues we once used to do so. Much akin to the ways in which many citizens have grown so alienated from one another and their natural surroundings. As I step back into by own natural rhythm here in Maine however; it has been wonderful to become a part of a greater design once again. The dynamics created by this Lesley course have been amazingly uplifting and hopeful. After viewing all of the interview presentations I feel inspired to paint again, sing (even if only in the shower) and tune in to the magic that so many Native American songs hold hidden in their lyrics. I am intrigued by these cases that describe instances where “the words” in their tribal songs “hold beauties of inarticulate emotion. (Schaffer, p. 198).
In our class, I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail that so many of the presenters took with their work and just how in depth the musical inquiry interviews were. So many teachers took the time to interview an important family member or interesting member in their community. We are lucky to have had the opportunity to share our creative work with each other in such a supportive environment. As far as the course requirements were concerned, I have to say that I enjoyed the sound journal activities tremendously! What a great tool to incorporate into the classroom on occasion. For me, I found that in silent moments, I felt most inclined to write poetry. It will be interesting to watch future students experiment with this activity. What fun it was to listen to and examine the instruments that people brought in and to learn a bit about creating our own group composition pieces. After the second workshop, I felt confident enough to apply the information that I learned directly to a lesson that I had planned for our yacht club here in town. I invited a group of students to come down with their instruments to attend my workshop entitled: Discover the Sounds of the Penobscot Bay. A group of six showed up and I was able to test out the one minute composition piece that we experimented with in class. I also led them in a brief series of charades and asked them to identify some of the sounds they hear in and around the Penobscot Bay.
In the future, I plan to refer to the many of the materials and websites provided in the course packet; especially the exercises found in the articles When Words Sing and Ear Cleaning. I agree that every teacher should allow for a bit more ‘Melismas’ in the midst of their well thought out, structured lesson plans (Schaffer, p. 176). ‘Melismas’ as they were characterized by the Greeks are jubilant outbursts. In the future I imagine myself utilizing this theory wherever I go. Yes, it is the teacher’s responsibility to enliven the curriculum a bit. I plan to enjoy introducing my future students to the art of playing with words and trusting their own creative voices: onomatopoeics for kids. I am sure that they will find it interesting to play with the frequency of words once they make the connection that there is a parallel between the way a particular word sounds and the way it is written upon the page. With the middle school students I plan to help them work through tough feelings of guilt and general adolescent angst using a personal approach that has always worked for me. I plan to continue to use story telling, play writing, role playing, drawing, listening, recognition and identification of songs all as a part of my bag of tricks to inspire them. My hope is with a little more experience and passionate interest in the subject material that I will be able to inspire the kids to work; thus minimizing the amount of class time that I have to spend with discipline. Now that I realize, after teaching and reading Pellitten’s article Music and the Sounds of Emotional Intelligence, that children are often the most rebellious and then consequently feel guilty after they have violated a particular rule or standard. It should become easier for me to identify the issues as they present themselves and help students find the proper creative outlets for their frustrated or blocked emotion, music being a main avenue for this activity. I hope that such youngsters will learn to take charge and flow with their own life experiences independently utilizing music as a means of expression. We shall see. Now more than ever before in history, we must awaken to the fact that we are all part of this great ‘global village’ (Fung, p. 67). Here at home in our classrooms we are the instruments singing loud and clear. We have the potential to introduce our students to the sonic world that immediately surrounds them, and then to the world at large all through the songs that we sing, play, present and create. Process vs. product oriented music, eastern vs. western, it makes no difference. We all share in this show together…absolutely!
Bibliography available upon request.
Creative Nonfiction and Collage
Curriculum Course: Creative Nonfiction and Collage
ABSTRACT
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is an interdisciplinary curriculum unit for seventh through twelfth grade students, teachers, artists, parents and community members. The course is designed to train participants in the art of writing and illustrating their own creative work. Primarily a writing and art course, this class also encourages students to develop in other key areas by incorporating multiple intelligences into the curriculum. Special programming raises student awareness about diversity, race, social class and culture and teaches them to think practically about their role in the community that they live in. The basis for all exploration centers around the essential questions: why write creative nonfiction and how does one’s community and familial background influence one’s writing and collage making? The unit includes: a curriculum wheel for each month that the course will be taught illuminating the relationships between the essential questions, content skills and multiple intelligences. The paper also includes a review of research materials that have been gathered over the last five years examining collage making and the art of writing a strong creative nonfiction piece and a force field analysis outlining the project’s driving and restraining forces that each play a role in how the program is implemented in school and community settings. Plans for spreading the word about the course and its benefits to the community at large and a series of lesson plans that incorporate the multiple intelligences with two bibliographies (one for teachers planning the course and the other for the students enrolled in the course) complete this presentation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….1
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is an interdisciplinary curriculum unit for seventh through twelfth grade students, teachers, artists, parents and community members. The course is designed to train participants in the art of writing and illustrating their own creative work. Primarily a writing and art course, this class also encourages students to develop in other key areas by incorporating multiple intelligences into the curriculum. Special programming raises student awareness about diversity, race, social class and culture and teaches them to think practically about their role in the community that they live in. The basis for all exploration centers around the essential questions: why write creative nonfiction and how does one’s community and familial background influence one’s writing and collage making? The unit includes: a curriculum wheel for each month that the course will be taught illuminating the relationships between the essential questions, content skills and multiple intelligences. The paper also includes a review of research materials that have been gathered over the last five years examining collage making and the art of writing a strong creative nonfiction piece and a force field analysis outlining the project’s driving and restraining forces that each play a role in how the program is implemented in school and community settings. Plans for spreading the word about the course and its benefits to the community at large and a series of lesson plans that incorporate the multiple intelligences with two bibliographies (one for teachers planning the course and the other for the students enrolled in the course) complete this presentation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….1
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………..2
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE…………………………………3-4
STUDENT BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………5-8
TEACHER BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………..…9-10
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS……………………………………………11-14
STUDENT BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………5-8
TEACHER BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………..…9-10
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS……………………………………………11-14
LESSON PLANS……………………………………………………….15-22
(AVAILABLE ON REQUEST)
ACTION AND COMMUNICATION PLANS………………………...23-24
ASSESSMENT PLAN…………………………………………………24-26
REVIEW OF RESEARCH LITERATURE…………………………....27-30
REVIEW OF RESEARCH LITERATURE…………………………....27-30
APPENDIX……………………………………………………………..31-37
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE
This Creative Nonfiction and Collage class has evolved over the course of the last four years. In the fall of 2001, before completing my degree at Bates College I was given permission by the college to attend The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies and transfer the credits that I earned there to Bates in order to finish my degree. At Salt, I studied documentary creative nonfiction and worked intensively with a photographer to produce one final product, a work meant to be magazine ready which was approximately twenty pages in length. The experience taught me to value the creative process. Each one of us learned the art of transcription after interviewing our subjects in the community with the common goal of bringing to light stories unique to the state of Maine. In the end, we showcased our creative nonfiction, photography and radio pieces at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in a gallery setting.
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is a course modeled after Salt’s program for 7th-12th grade students to enjoy. The course is designed to be one that is adaptable to any school setting, and the resources found in the teacher and student bibliographies are a testimony to the fact that this course has a little something for everyone. This kind of flexibility leaves room for the teacher to be as creative as he or she wishes within the written framework of the course description. As we well know, an engaged, happy teacher makes for a productive work environment and successful students. Student and teachers alike are taught to value the process, as well as the final product. At the beginning of the course, each student must come prepared with two journals: one for field work and the other for transcriptions, as well as a hand held tape recorder for interviews. Outside of class, after asking their interviewees to sign release forms, students will be asked to listen and learn to cue into their natural surroundings, as they collect stories for their own independent research. In class, they will be taught to structure, redraft and edit their work. In addition to this, they will also learn to represent their findings through the artistic medium of collage making. Students will learn the importance of critique and revision, and will benefit from being in a student centered learning environment. Their final products will be a reflection of their work as a group. Although their subjects will all be different, there will be common threads to their final products due to the fact that they will be interviewing people from the same state. Each student will be required to interview a family member and a member of their immediate community. The idea behind this is that they are to learn the importance of understanding their own roots, personal histories and the history of the communities that they inhabit through the stories that they are told by their subjects, by each other and through the research they do and the things that they learn in class.
All of the lessons for this course explicitly or implicitly answer the essential questions: why write creative nonfiction and how does your community and familial background influence your writing and collage making? These essential questions open the doors for a wide range of interpretations making the final presentations particularly thought provoking and meaningful to the community at large.
Student Bibliography
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is a course modeled after Salt’s program for 7th-12th grade students to enjoy. The course is designed to be one that is adaptable to any school setting, and the resources found in the teacher and student bibliographies are a testimony to the fact that this course has a little something for everyone. This kind of flexibility leaves room for the teacher to be as creative as he or she wishes within the written framework of the course description. As we well know, an engaged, happy teacher makes for a productive work environment and successful students. Student and teachers alike are taught to value the process, as well as the final product. At the beginning of the course, each student must come prepared with two journals: one for field work and the other for transcriptions, as well as a hand held tape recorder for interviews. Outside of class, after asking their interviewees to sign release forms, students will be asked to listen and learn to cue into their natural surroundings, as they collect stories for their own independent research. In class, they will be taught to structure, redraft and edit their work. In addition to this, they will also learn to represent their findings through the artistic medium of collage making. Students will learn the importance of critique and revision, and will benefit from being in a student centered learning environment. Their final products will be a reflection of their work as a group. Although their subjects will all be different, there will be common threads to their final products due to the fact that they will be interviewing people from the same state. Each student will be required to interview a family member and a member of their immediate community. The idea behind this is that they are to learn the importance of understanding their own roots, personal histories and the history of the communities that they inhabit through the stories that they are told by their subjects, by each other and through the research they do and the things that they learn in class.
All of the lessons for this course explicitly or implicitly answer the essential questions: why write creative nonfiction and how does your community and familial background influence your writing and collage making? These essential questions open the doors for a wide range of interpretations making the final presentations particularly thought provoking and meaningful to the community at large.
Student Bibliography
Ackerman, D. (1990). A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Random House.
A master at scientifically and artfully describing our sensorary world , Diane Ackerman’s book “A Natural History of the Senses” enjoins the naturalist in every one of us to step outside of ourselves for a moment and take the time to map out the ways we perceive the world around us. Our senses inform our every day lives and so she describes that it is important for us to take pause to observe and study how they inform our lives and our histories.
A master at scientifically and artfully describing our sensorary world , Diane Ackerman’s book “A Natural History of the Senses” enjoins the naturalist in every one of us to step outside of ourselves for a moment and take the time to map out the ways we perceive the world around us. Our senses inform our every day lives and so she describes that it is important for us to take pause to observe and study how they inform our lives and our histories.
Agee, J., & Evans, W. (2001). Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Boston, Massachussetts: Houghton Mifflin Books/Mariner Books.
This intricately woven book offers a glimpse into the lives of the sharecroppers in the south. Through the skilled lens of Walker Evans’ photographs and James Agee’s unsparing narrative, the souls of a people and their landscape are revealed in truth. The books speaks to the poet in each of us, and about the hidden desire to view the more dire circumstances as salvagable and somehow, classically beautiful, as well.
This intricately woven book offers a glimpse into the lives of the sharecroppers in the south. Through the skilled lens of Walker Evans’ photographs and James Agee’s unsparing narrative, the souls of a people and their landscape are revealed in truth. The books speaks to the poet in each of us, and about the hidden desire to view the more dire circumstances as salvagable and somehow, classically beautiful, as well.
Bruchac, J. (1985). Iroquois Stories. Trumanburg, New York: The Crossing Press.
Bruchac has gathered a wide array of Iroquois folk legends that have been passed along throughout the ages. In the traditional manner, he humbly introduces each one, imbuing the reader with a sense of place within the narrative itself. By retelling these stories he reminds the reader of the Iroquois strength and formative place in our history, as the Iroquois League, a strong military power in their day welcomed non-Iroquois into the circle of peace, creating a model for our modern day diplomacy.
Bruchac has gathered a wide array of Iroquois folk legends that have been passed along throughout the ages. In the traditional manner, he humbly introduces each one, imbuing the reader with a sense of place within the narrative itself. By retelling these stories he reminds the reader of the Iroquois strength and formative place in our history, as the Iroquois League, a strong military power in their day welcomed non-Iroquois into the circle of peace, creating a model for our modern day diplomacy.
Davenport, G. (n.d.). When Place Becomes Character: a critical framing of place for mobile and situated narratives. Retrieved Fall, 2007, from MIT Media Lab Web site: http://mf.media.mit.edu/pubs/other/CharacterPlace.pdf
Technology brings a new dimension to literature and story telling. This article high lights how it is now actually possible to pass through real locales virtually, allowing the reader to dramatically create his or her story along the way. Audiences are invited to become active participants in the author’s journey; thus opening up entirely new avenues for fiction and creative nonfiction writing.
Technology brings a new dimension to literature and story telling. This article high lights how it is now actually possible to pass through real locales virtually, allowing the reader to dramatically create his or her story along the way. Audiences are invited to become active participants in the author’s journey; thus opening up entirely new avenues for fiction and creative nonfiction writing.
Durham, NC: Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. (1995-present). Double Take.
Double Take was formerly a magazine associated with Duke University’s Documentary Program and is now produced in Somerville. Since its inception, the magazine has accepted a wide range of work including: fiction, poetry and essays all documenting the human experience.
Erikson, K. T. (1976). Everything In Its Path. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo
Signapore:Simon and Schuster.
132-million gallons of debris burst through the streets of Buffalo Creek in West Virginia in the late 1970’s. This book is a documentary account of this horrific event, how it affected this small community and the way that they dealt with the aftermath of the trauma.
Double Take was formerly a magazine associated with Duke University’s Documentary Program and is now produced in Somerville. Since its inception, the magazine has accepted a wide range of work including: fiction, poetry and essays all documenting the human experience.
Erikson, K. T. (1976). Everything In Its Path. New York London Toronto Sydney Tokyo
Signapore:Simon and Schuster.
132-million gallons of debris burst through the streets of Buffalo Creek in West Virginia in the late 1970’s. This book is a documentary account of this horrific event, how it affected this small community and the way that they dealt with the aftermath of the trauma.
Frenkel, N., & Woods, N. (2006). Rhinos and Raspberries: ToleranceTales for the Early Grades [Special section]. Teaching Tolerance: Montgomery, AL.
This magazine has twelve tales in all intended for teachers teaching students in grades K-12 who are interested in setting the stage for an inclusive classroom
environment. The tales come complete with discussion tips, ten lesson plans and two student readers.
This magazine has twelve tales in all intended for teachers teaching students in grades K-12 who are interested in setting the stage for an inclusive classroom
environment. The tales come complete with discussion tips, ten lesson plans and two student readers.
Grifalconi, A. (1986). The Village of Round and Square Houses. Boston Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.
In the remote hills of Cameroon live a tribe of people whose houses are divided into two shapes: square houses and round houses. The women live in the round houses and the men live in the square houses. This children’s book focuses upon the life of a young girl as she grows up in this environment and makes us all reflect upon how environment affects the very fabric of every human being.
In the remote hills of Cameroon live a tribe of people whose houses are divided into two shapes: square houses and round houses. The women live in the round houses and the men live in the square houses. This children’s book focuses upon the life of a young girl as she grows up in this environment and makes us all reflect upon how environment affects the very fabric of every human being.
Hamilton, V. (1985). The People Could Fly American Black Folktales . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
These tales bring us to the heart of people’s lives by illuminating their successes and failures. They all share a common thread and that is the underlying hope for freedom and relief from the tension of captivity. Created out of sorrow, they provide a clear avenue for the reader to access the American black folktale traditions that often were told orally and can now be read to children as a way to celebrate the promise of the human spirit.
A Place at the Table [Motion picture]. (2000). U.S.A.: Hudson and Huston Montgomergy, AL: Teaching Tolerance.
The narrators of this documentary film are eight teenagers from across the country. Through the lens of these teens’ lives the film examines how we
strive for liberty, justice and happiness in this country. The film’s main focus is on how individual families pursue this dream as they interact in their local communities.
These tales bring us to the heart of people’s lives by illuminating their successes and failures. They all share a common thread and that is the underlying hope for freedom and relief from the tension of captivity. Created out of sorrow, they provide a clear avenue for the reader to access the American black folktale traditions that often were told orally and can now be read to children as a way to celebrate the promise of the human spirit.
A Place at the Table [Motion picture]. (2000). U.S.A.: Hudson and Huston Montgomergy, AL: Teaching Tolerance.
The narrators of this documentary film are eight teenagers from across the country. Through the lens of these teens’ lives the film examines how we
strive for liberty, justice and happiness in this country. The film’s main focus is on how individual families pursue this dream as they interact in their local communities.
Portland, ME: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. (1995-present). Salt Omnibus.
These magazines dating back to the 1970’s depict Maine with biting honesty. The artists selected for this magazine have spent countless hours in the field interviewing and photographing Mainers in hopes of portraying their work as authentically as possible. Nonfiction writers work with photographers, and each piece is informed by this collaboration and the connections that the artists are able to bring to light for their readers.
Teacher Bibliography
International Visual Sociology Association. (2000). The place of image in fieldwork: assessing traditions and envisioning futures. Lecture presented at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies and The Center for Maine History, Portland, Maine.
These magazines dating back to the 1970’s depict Maine with biting honesty. The artists selected for this magazine have spent countless hours in the field interviewing and photographing Mainers in hopes of portraying their work as authentically as possible. Nonfiction writers work with photographers, and each piece is informed by this collaboration and the connections that the artists are able to bring to light for their readers.
Teacher Bibliography
International Visual Sociology Association. (2000). The place of image in fieldwork: assessing traditions and envisioning futures. Lecture presented at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies and The Center for Maine History, Portland, Maine.
In Composition Studies 27.1 (Spring 1999): 7-14. Reprinted in Everyone Can Write: Essays Toward A Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing. Oxford Up, 2000.
Kingore, B. (n.d.). The Kingore Observation Inventory (KOI). (Reprinted from Categories of Gifted Characteristics, 2nd ed. ed., 2001, Austin: Professional Associates Publishing)
This one page hand out outlines the categories the state of Florida uses when identifying Gifted and Talented students. The categories are list the following skills: advanced language, analytical thinking, meaning motivation, perspective, sense of humor, sensitivity and accelerated learning which are all key markers.
This one page hand out outlines the categories the state of Florida uses when identifying Gifted and Talented students. The categories are list the following skills: advanced language, analytical thinking, meaning motivation, perspective, sense of humor, sensitivity and accelerated learning which are all key markers.
Leland, C. (2002). The Creative Writer’s Syle Guide: Rules and Advice for Writing Fiction and Creative Non-fiction. Cincinatti Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.
Maine Learning Results. (1997). Retrieved December 11, 2007, from http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/
Meeting the Need of Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom. (n.d.). Teacher’s First.com. Retrieved April/May 8, 2006, from Working with Gifted and Talented Students Web site: http://www.teachersfirst.com/gifted/strategies.html
Michael, K. (2005). The Complete Guide to altered imagery: mixed media techniques for collage, altered books, artists journals and more. Gloucester, Mass: Quarry Books.
Miller, B., & Paota, S. (2004). Tell It Slant: Writing and Creative Nonfiction. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Moore, D. (2007). The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Non-fiction. New York: Pearson/Longman.
Seger, L. (1990). Creating Unforgettable Characters. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Skrebels, P. (n.d.). Bring creative nonfiction skills into the classroom: Extending the boundaries of literary study. In English Teaching Practice and Critique. Retrieved September, 2003, from http://education.waikato.ac.nz/journal/english_journal/uploads/files/2003v2n2art7.pdf
Tomlinson, C. (n.d.). The Dos and Don’ts of Instruction: What It Means to Teach Gifted Learners Well. In NAGC Website. Retrieved July/August 26, 2006, from National Association for Gifted Children Web site: http://nagc.org/index.aspx?id=659
The Rational (cont.)
Due to the fact that this course is designed to be taught in schools and in local communities, it is important to take a closer look at the common themes that make it a competitive one for students of all age groups in order to generate funding and community interest for the program. Before highlighting the strengths of the course and its possible limitations, I will briefly explain the kinds of adjustments that I will make according to what grade level I will be teaching.
Initially, if I intend to teach it at the Middle School level, I plan to start off by informally introducing my students to the writing process, and then once they begin to master a few in-class activities, I will gradually move them toward structure by giving them real life examples of creative nonfiction work that already inspire their everyday lives i.e. magazine articles, certain newspaper stories and journals to model their assignments after. The following books will be read in class to garner student response: excerpts from “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”, “Iroquois Stories”, “Rhinos and Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades”, “The Village of Round and Square Houses” and “The People Could Fly Black Folktales”. These folk tales provide the children with a tie to a form of literature that they are already have some familiarity with, and provide the educator with a comfortable spring board to teach from. In addition, I will require each student to select a creative nonfiction work to bring to class and share. After sharing their work, I will ask them to begin to think about their local communities and the people who have been their greatest influences. Students will be asked to generate a list of the genres that they are already familiar with and compare these genres with the kinds of associations they have already formed about the creative nonfiction writing process. Finally, I will introduce them to the collage aspect of the course by asking the students to bring in magazines and scraps from home. I will bring in a large bag of materials, as well, and we will get to work creating a collage depicting characters of interest.
At the high school level, I plan to present the class differently. The classroom setting will be much more formal and each student will be required to read Diane Ackerman’s “A Natural History of the Senses”. Her book is layered with examples for students to follow when they begin to conduct their fieldwork as she has succeeded in capturing the subtle nuances and beauty that surround us everyday. Ackerman’s work provides the reader with a decent map of our own sensory environment to explore. Students will be encouraged to come to the first class prepared with information that they have already gathered about the environments that inform their daily existences. On the first day, each student will be presented with a syllabus tailored to match each grade level.
Finally, this course can be taught as an adult education course. Many adults are interested in exploring their family histories. For those who aren’t as curious about their immediate families, they will have the option to pursue another subject, as long as the subject resides nearby and is available for to be interviewed. All those who take the course will potentially gain something lasting from it. That is the goal.
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
CREATIVE NONFICTION AND COLLAGE
DRIVING AND RESTRAINING FORCES
DRIVING FORCES RESTRAINING FORCES
A CREATIVE WAY TO ADDRESS THE STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
MAINE STATE LEARNING RESULTS MAY FIND THE PACE OF THE COURSE
REQUIREMENTS AND AN ENGAGING TOO RIGOROUS
SERIES OF LESSONS FOR ALL LEARNERS
PREPARES STUDENTS FOR THE SCIENCE AND MATH ORIENTED STUDENTS
PROFESSIONAL WORLD MAY NOT FEEL THAT IT IS PREPARING
THEM ADEQUATELY FOR THEIR
CHOSEN PROFESSIONS
DOCUMENTARY STUDIES TIME CONSTRAINTS
AN EXCELLENT MEDIUM THE TOPIC MAY BE TOO BROAD TO
FOR DEVELOPING VOICE, COVER IN JUST EIGHT WEEKS
STYLE AND SELF-EXPRESSION
THROUGH THE ARTS
LEARNING ABOUT ONE’S WHO WILL THE PROGRAM
PERSONAL HISTORY HAS COORDINATOR CONTACT
A UNIVERSAL APPEAL IN EACH TOWN TO PROMOTE
THE COURSE? WHAT WILL
THE COST BE TO TEACH THE
COURSE AT EACH LOCATION?
STUDENTS WILL LEARN THE ART COST OF THE GALLERY OPENING.
OF WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING
THEIR OWN CREATIVE NONFICTION
WORK AND GAIN A SENSE OF CONNECTION HOW DO WE MOTIVATE PEOPLE
WITH THEIR IMMEDIATE COMMUNITIES AND ORGINIZATIONS TO DONATE
THROUGH THE PRESENTATIONS MONEY FOR THIS CAUSE?
OF THEIR FINAL PRODUCTS.
ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO REFLECT, STUDENTS WHO ARE MUSICALLY
GROW AND UNDERSTAND THEIR TALENTED MAY NEED TO SEEK
COMMUNITIES AND THEIR ARTISTIC OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE IF THEY WISH
EXPRESSIVE SIDE TO ADD TO THEIR PROJECTS
IMPROVES LITERACY STUDENTS READING AT A LOW LEVEL
MAY NEED ONE ON ONE ATTENTION
PROMOTES TEAMWORK AND
PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER ARTISTS
THE COURSE CAN BE TAUGHT IT MAY BE CHALLENGING TO
AS AN ADULT EDUCATION CLASS GAIN PERMISSION TO TEACH
OR AS A CLASS IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING THE COURSE IN CERTAIN LOCALS
WHERE THE TEACHER IS NOT
KNOWN TO THE COMMUNITY
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is a course that should be welcomed and taught in a wide variety of settings; however, in order to make this dream a reality it is important to take a closer look at the restraining forces at work, and eliminate as many of them as possible in order swing the pendulum in a positive direction. After researching each town’s history, I plan to utilize ideas generated by students who have taken the course already and apply some of their ideas to the community that I am in. I will need to gain community support, support from local families (families of my students) and support from their friends in order to help swing the analysis in the right direction. Together, we will all meet and craft a fundraising plan specific to the local area. This will help eliminate the main restraining factors: the cost of teaching the class, hosting a gallery opening and promoting future classes. I will now use a few of the fundraising ideas that my Lesley University classmates generated for another project and pick a few that might be helpful in this case. When fundraising, we could hold a video party at a well known local venue outlining the history of the program. The video will showcase student products and community response to those products. Another way to promote the course would be to create an advertisement for it in the newspaper and create one for radio, as well. The fundraising possibilities really are endless once the ball gets rolling. In the future, I think that it would be wonderful to be able to employ a few other teachers to work on the project team with me. I would like to hire an art teacher to help with the collage portion of the class and one other teacher to work with students in my class who need any extra assistance. The class will be taught at an accelerated rate; but with extra help, it would be much easier to adapt it to meets the needs of students with learning disabilities. My goal is to create a course that is integrative and accessible to all of my students. Having additional resources available to teach the course will be key to its growth and development. It is easier to teach a course in a new community when you come prepared with the resources that you need to pull it off.
Creative Nonfiction and Collage
Syllabus
DURATION: 8 WEEKS
GOALS: 1. To provide students with a sense of purpose and direction by immediately
outlining what is expected of them while they are enrolled in the course.
2. To help students learn to develop their writing and artwork utilizing their
multiple intelligences by teaching them to ask questions that encourage them to explore their local environments.
Initially, if I intend to teach it at the Middle School level, I plan to start off by informally introducing my students to the writing process, and then once they begin to master a few in-class activities, I will gradually move them toward structure by giving them real life examples of creative nonfiction work that already inspire their everyday lives i.e. magazine articles, certain newspaper stories and journals to model their assignments after. The following books will be read in class to garner student response: excerpts from “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”, “Iroquois Stories”, “Rhinos and Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades”, “The Village of Round and Square Houses” and “The People Could Fly Black Folktales”. These folk tales provide the children with a tie to a form of literature that they are already have some familiarity with, and provide the educator with a comfortable spring board to teach from. In addition, I will require each student to select a creative nonfiction work to bring to class and share. After sharing their work, I will ask them to begin to think about their local communities and the people who have been their greatest influences. Students will be asked to generate a list of the genres that they are already familiar with and compare these genres with the kinds of associations they have already formed about the creative nonfiction writing process. Finally, I will introduce them to the collage aspect of the course by asking the students to bring in magazines and scraps from home. I will bring in a large bag of materials, as well, and we will get to work creating a collage depicting characters of interest.
At the high school level, I plan to present the class differently. The classroom setting will be much more formal and each student will be required to read Diane Ackerman’s “A Natural History of the Senses”. Her book is layered with examples for students to follow when they begin to conduct their fieldwork as she has succeeded in capturing the subtle nuances and beauty that surround us everyday. Ackerman’s work provides the reader with a decent map of our own sensory environment to explore. Students will be encouraged to come to the first class prepared with information that they have already gathered about the environments that inform their daily existences. On the first day, each student will be presented with a syllabus tailored to match each grade level.
Finally, this course can be taught as an adult education course. Many adults are interested in exploring their family histories. For those who aren’t as curious about their immediate families, they will have the option to pursue another subject, as long as the subject resides nearby and is available for to be interviewed. All those who take the course will potentially gain something lasting from it. That is the goal.
FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS
CREATIVE NONFICTION AND COLLAGE
DRIVING AND RESTRAINING FORCES
DRIVING FORCES RESTRAINING FORCES
A CREATIVE WAY TO ADDRESS THE STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
MAINE STATE LEARNING RESULTS MAY FIND THE PACE OF THE COURSE
REQUIREMENTS AND AN ENGAGING TOO RIGOROUS
SERIES OF LESSONS FOR ALL LEARNERS
PREPARES STUDENTS FOR THE SCIENCE AND MATH ORIENTED STUDENTS
PROFESSIONAL WORLD MAY NOT FEEL THAT IT IS PREPARING
THEM ADEQUATELY FOR THEIR
CHOSEN PROFESSIONS
DOCUMENTARY STUDIES TIME CONSTRAINTS
AN EXCELLENT MEDIUM THE TOPIC MAY BE TOO BROAD TO
FOR DEVELOPING VOICE, COVER IN JUST EIGHT WEEKS
STYLE AND SELF-EXPRESSION
THROUGH THE ARTS
LEARNING ABOUT ONE’S WHO WILL THE PROGRAM
PERSONAL HISTORY HAS COORDINATOR CONTACT
A UNIVERSAL APPEAL IN EACH TOWN TO PROMOTE
THE COURSE? WHAT WILL
THE COST BE TO TEACH THE
COURSE AT EACH LOCATION?
STUDENTS WILL LEARN THE ART COST OF THE GALLERY OPENING.
OF WRITING AND ILLUSTRATING
THEIR OWN CREATIVE NONFICTION
WORK AND GAIN A SENSE OF CONNECTION HOW DO WE MOTIVATE PEOPLE
WITH THEIR IMMEDIATE COMMUNITIES AND ORGINIZATIONS TO DONATE
THROUGH THE PRESENTATIONS MONEY FOR THIS CAUSE?
OF THEIR FINAL PRODUCTS.
ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO REFLECT, STUDENTS WHO ARE MUSICALLY
GROW AND UNDERSTAND THEIR TALENTED MAY NEED TO SEEK
COMMUNITIES AND THEIR ARTISTIC OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE IF THEY WISH
EXPRESSIVE SIDE TO ADD TO THEIR PROJECTS
IMPROVES LITERACY STUDENTS READING AT A LOW LEVEL
MAY NEED ONE ON ONE ATTENTION
PROMOTES TEAMWORK AND
PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER ARTISTS
THE COURSE CAN BE TAUGHT IT MAY BE CHALLENGING TO
AS AN ADULT EDUCATION CLASS GAIN PERMISSION TO TEACH
OR AS A CLASS IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING THE COURSE IN CERTAIN LOCALS
WHERE THE TEACHER IS NOT
KNOWN TO THE COMMUNITY
Creative Nonfiction and Collage is a course that should be welcomed and taught in a wide variety of settings; however, in order to make this dream a reality it is important to take a closer look at the restraining forces at work, and eliminate as many of them as possible in order swing the pendulum in a positive direction. After researching each town’s history, I plan to utilize ideas generated by students who have taken the course already and apply some of their ideas to the community that I am in. I will need to gain community support, support from local families (families of my students) and support from their friends in order to help swing the analysis in the right direction. Together, we will all meet and craft a fundraising plan specific to the local area. This will help eliminate the main restraining factors: the cost of teaching the class, hosting a gallery opening and promoting future classes. I will now use a few of the fundraising ideas that my Lesley University classmates generated for another project and pick a few that might be helpful in this case. When fundraising, we could hold a video party at a well known local venue outlining the history of the program. The video will showcase student products and community response to those products. Another way to promote the course would be to create an advertisement for it in the newspaper and create one for radio, as well. The fundraising possibilities really are endless once the ball gets rolling. In the future, I think that it would be wonderful to be able to employ a few other teachers to work on the project team with me. I would like to hire an art teacher to help with the collage portion of the class and one other teacher to work with students in my class who need any extra assistance. The class will be taught at an accelerated rate; but with extra help, it would be much easier to adapt it to meets the needs of students with learning disabilities. My goal is to create a course that is integrative and accessible to all of my students. Having additional resources available to teach the course will be key to its growth and development. It is easier to teach a course in a new community when you come prepared with the resources that you need to pull it off.
Creative Nonfiction and Collage
Syllabus
DURATION: 8 WEEKS
GOALS: 1. To provide students with a sense of purpose and direction by immediately
outlining what is expected of them while they are enrolled in the course.
2. To help students learn to develop their writing and artwork utilizing their
multiple intelligences by teaching them to ask questions that encourage them to explore their local environments.
3. To help students develop a sense of connection with their communities and families.
4. To provide a forum for artistic expression.
5. To encourage students and teachers to integrate arts into their curriculum.
6. To help them foster a concern for the global community that they are a part of as well.
LESSON PLANS
Creative Nonfiction Writing and Collage
4. To provide a forum for artistic expression.
5. To encourage students and teachers to integrate arts into their curriculum.
6. To help them foster a concern for the global community that they are a part of as well.
LESSON PLANS
Creative Nonfiction Writing and Collage
This is a class designed to train participants in the art of writing and illustrating their own creative nonfiction work. Students should come prepared with two journals, one for field work and one for transcriptions and a hand held tape recorder for interviews. Outside the class, after asking their interviewees to sign release forms, students will be asked to listen and learn to cue in to their natural surroundings, as they collect stories for their own independent research. In class, they will be taught how to structure, redraft and edit their work. In addition to this, they will also learn to represent their findings through the artistic medium of collage making.
Note: Material for collage making also should come from the student’s home.
Magazines and newspapers work well for collage making.
Core requirements: Character portraits (written and collage), critique sessions, description of place paper, thesis topic, background history and research, two drafts, group feedback, field notebook for in class sessions and of course the final piece of creative nonfiction and collage work ready to publish.
Bring your imaginations and your best analytical skills to class each week because we will be constantly exploring and reinventing new ways to approach the stories that we aim to tell our audience. By the conclusion of the eight week course, your work will be ready to be sent out into the world for artistic consumption.
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