VTS Practice Lesson 9/1/11

"Michael and James"
by Stephen Assael

  I am doing this lesson a week ahead of the assigned time because once the students arrive there will be no time to run this lesson with my peers. :)
   I am actually planning on doing VTS with an elementary group and a middle school group (using different images of course for each).  I decided however, to use the secondary image with my peers because I felt it was powerful and subtle, forcing them to really look deeply.  I am pleased with how it went.
     Question 1: Did your colleagues notice what you noticed about the painting?


    I was astounded at the amount of information which was seen and shared in this exercise.  The collective energy of even this small group was consuming, and I noticed, like Ive read in other blogs, it was hard for me to stay on the outside. I did though.  My colleagues noticed most of the things I did, and as the discussion evolved, noticed even more.  I found that as they noticed things and talked about what they thought was hapening, (what did you see to make you think that?) the interpretation would spurn further visual investigation to confirm or alter the initial interpretation.  Although my process was similair, the evolution of idea progressed much more rapidly as thoughts were woven into deeper meaning.

Question 2: Did they notice details or offer insights you had not considered?  How did you respond to these?


    My colleagues offered many insights similair to my intial insights,  as the discussion evolved, subtle differences emerged among a common theme.  One person would offer an insight and another would consider and then build off that, each insight inspring the next. (Imagine a lego house being constructed, each insight and thought a brick, locking into another, building off of each other and supporting a larger structure, or in this case, idea)
     Because I know these people well (we have all been working together for over ten years)  I began to notice how personal experience directly influenced their interpretation of what was happening in the painting.  For example, one of the women in the room in the past, lost a child.  The particular image depicts a child seemingly unwell. Her very first response was the child was dead, before even investigating the rest of the painting.  I noticed many statements which were as connected to personal experience as what was literally seen. Eric Jensen mentions this in his book. I too have spent a lot of time investigating perception as a combination of what is seen combined with experience.  I wanted to discuss this but was not certain it was protcol?  So I refrained and just guided them back to the painting.

Question 3: How did you feel about facilitating this discussion and what did you learn from the experience?


     Oddly enough, I was a little nervous, perhaps because I was following a structured lesson format as opposed to my intuitive way of teaching. I relaxed quickly though as the image was introduced and my peers jumped eagerly into investigating the image.  I learned that I imbue much of this sort of thinking already into my teaching. There has been a lot of positive affirmation for me in my reading and practice thus far.

Question 4: Were you surprised by anything related to this discussion?


     The aspect of the discussion I found most curious was the way personality and experience defined responses. Having done this discussion with adults, I found only some of them were curious beyond the first perception and willing to immediately consider the origins of why they thought something and thus consider something beyond.  However, as the discussion progressed, the curiosity of others was impetus enough for the more "fixed" thinkers to imagine (and look) beyond initial responses.  I am curious to know if this more fixed thinking is more present among adults, and what, if any, differences there will be in working with the elementary and the middle school aged student.
    In all, the excitement of looking at a piece of art (they were all non art teachers) seemed to really inspire them and they'll left the room wanting to know more about the painting.

Question 5: What would you like to work on in your next facilitation and how might you do that?


     Well, to start, I invite feedback in regards to how far beyond the three basic questions I should/can go? I anticipate that my middle school students will be well versed in this kind of exercise and will want to follow threads of conversation that arise from the initial questions. I want to allow them to follow those threads if they arise and then find a way to weave them into the tapestry of discussion surrounding the art work itself.  So I am wondering, as a facilitator, what my own role should be as a guide...Should I allow the exploration and then weave it back into the discussion with questions I deem appropriate for the task?  This is my impulse.
     I will also need to remember to slow the conversation down, the excitement was such that it was difficult to get them to slow down enough to rephrase etc...  I except my students will be a little more responsive than the adults to this....  :)

     Feedback from the lesson was positive.  They all asked to be included in any other exercise I might need them to do.  Having  a few moments to sit and investigate a piece of art was refreshing and inspiring.