How does sustainability fit into my teaching context of Art & Creativity?

Reassessing this EfS blog as part of my GCTLT studies:


After an unexpected change of tutors - I reviewed my current direction on this subject in context of the actual course material. I think I will try to round off the first half of this project and 'fill in the required, missing pieces':

I hope I covered the topics 1, 2, 4, 5 & 7:

1) What does sustainability mean?

2) What does education for sustainability mean?

3) What does sustainability mean for the OP (or in my case SH) - this still needs to be addressed.

4) What does education for sustainability mean for NZ?

5) What does education for sustainability mean internationally?

6) How is experiential learning connected to sustainability? - this still needs to be addressed.

7) How do you engage people in sustainability?

8) How can you integrate sustainability in you teaching? - this still needs to be addressed.



To  be addressed: Topic 3, 6 & 8:

As I understand from the course material, there is an option to have these posts be long or short.

To do:
3. In your learning journal describe what a sustainable practitioner might look like, or what characteristics they might have, within your school/department. 
And: 

6. Begin to plan an experiential learning activity that can enhance sustainability awareness for your students and provide them with tools to add social, environmental and economic value to your industry.

And:

8. Reflect upon your process of designing an experiential learning activity that enhances sustainability awareness for your students and provides them with tools to add social, environmental and economic value to your industry.

Looking at the 3 points above, they might just fit into what I've written below:

What does Sustainability mean for my teaching context at Springhill:
I keep myself limited specifically to the Art room and nowhere else in the building (a matter of having to have clear boundaries in place). I am not involved in any organizational activities like meetings. Overall, there is not a lot of funding available for art materials, hence this fact limits the possibilities of what we can do in the Art & Creativity class. 

Using paper (newspaper or old egg cartons) for paper pulp or paper mache is an obvious solution towards sustainable practice - recycling an already existing, but no longer needed - material (paper). As using paper in this way for a creative project is known to most students, there aren't a lot of questions about 'what to do with it' or 'how to do it'. Using used paper is sustainable. 

Admittedly, thats about where it stops on the subject of sustainability. 
As to experiential learning, about which it says a bit in:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_learning
I have tried to introduce cardboard rolls of toilet paper as an option of sustainable art practice, while also bringing along a few pages of print outs on 'toilet roll art' for inspiration. I love to give students materials and just get them to experiment with it without giving too many ideas of what can be done with it but letting them tap into their creativity and 'play', then see what happens. 
In the link to the wikipedia it has this wonderful quote: 
Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them".

I am all for doing and learning through doing - much more so than learning the theory first, then having the doing come after that. 

This little exert from the Wiki about Experiential Learning expresses the predominantly used learning style in my teaching context really well. I also believe it is the most natural way of learning something new:

  Experiential learning can exist without a teacher and relates solely to the meaning making process of the individual's direct experience. However, though the gaining of knowledge is an inherent process that occurs naturally, for a genuine learning experience to occur, there must exist certain elements.[1] According to David A. Kolb, an American educational theorist, knowledge is continuously gained through both personal and environmental experiences.[8] He states that in order to gain genuine knowledge from an experience, certain abilities are required:

The learner must be willing to be actively involved in the experience;

The learner must be able to reflect on the experience;

The learner must possess and use analytical skills to conceptualize the experience; and

The learner must possess decision making and problem solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained from the experience.

Kolb, D (1984). Experiential Learning as the Science of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Only one student took up this idea but he didn't finish the project, which was: using an old screen printing frame (destined for the tip), painting it black and gluing colorfully painted, cut out cardboard (toilet paper roll) pieces on the netting on the frame. This was actually quite a 'funky' idea along the line of 'Pop Art'. Even so the idea was good, when asked what he thought about his work he said he preferred to compose and play music. 
An other student offered to finish his work after he left, but she didn't do that in the end, so it is still in a state of 80% finished. 
When we happened to run out of charcoal pencils at some stage, I suggested to an other student to look in their fireplace (which was cold) and find some charcoal pieces. After initially being surprised at my suggestion, she did go and get some and was very pleased to have found a simple solution to the problem. I am sure that this person will now most likely use charcoal from cold fireplaces in the future. It is a simple alternative to the commercially available charcoal. It is also sustainable.

I will keep suggesting ideas which address sustainability. As everyone chooses their own project, the opportune moment might not happen for a while or might present itself in the next art class as from week to week the mood is always different (unpredictable). 

I have had ideas about removing all materials except the 'recycling' ones and offer to teach how to make paint with plants (e.g. berries, leaves) to broaden the idea of 'sustainability for the environment in regards to art practices' but as I am aware that 'group decisions' are the preferred version of choice in activities and the current decision is that everyone has their own project, this might not happen for a while either. 

Ideally, I would have students who are in my class because they want to be there and learn about a sustainable way to do Art & Creativity and when finished with the program, go out into the world with lots of enthusiasm and enrich the (Art) industry with their sustainable, creative ideas. In this particular teaching context, this might happen with maybe 1 out of 50 people who attend this class. Saying that - even one is better than none. 




I was going to add this to the reply section but it keeps telling me I've got too many characters so I'll copy and paste it here: 

# 6:

In my teaching context, classes are very much based on ‘choose your own project’. I’ve offered planned classes for a while, but that ‘trailed off’ into individual projects, so guided classes proved to be not sustainable for everyone (including me as it felt like I was often ‘swimming against the tide’).

I will suggest ‘this or that’ but if everyone doesn’t take it up it will fall flat, as it did with my suggestion on paper mache (or pulp). Only one person ‘ran with it’. The same happened with the suggestion to use the cardboard inner rolls of toilet paper (also only one person took that one up).

Designing an actual guided experiential class will trip the flow of the ones, which are already working on, finishing off or just starting their project. No one is at the same point/stage.

I also do have quite a few samples in 3 folders of ‘recycling materials in art’ and with new people who don’t know what they want to do, I offer them these folders to look at to get some inspiration.

At the moment I have a woman who straightaway took to the cardboard roll idea and is ‘on a roll’. This inspired another student to have a go as well.

This is exactly what I found has worked well: one student has a go at a certain material and then one or the other finds it interesting and has a go too.

Apart from these two ‘cardboard toilet paper ladies’, I have other social combinations like:

-            One woman is using an embroidery kit, which was left behind by a previous student. Work on it was never started so it’s actually new but this could be considered ‘recycling’ someone’s left-behinds. She has worked on it for one week so far.

-            While talking to a newly arrived lady, who didn’t know what she wanted to do, I found out that she has a quilt set she brought with her and would love to work on that.

Voila – now I have two women of similar age (around 50+) doing craft together and happily chatting away to each other about common interest and life in general.

Then I have another lady who has returned, which means she left before completing the program a while ago and then ‘ended up’ back at Rehab.

Now - with this lady I’ve learned ‘the first time around’, that all she does without getting herself into a state, is cut out pictures from National Geographic’s and create cards for family members. If I would ‘force’ her to do something else, I know for a fact that she would have a ‘melt down’. In fact – she actually is recycling National Geographic’s. Any previous suggestions on different options of project were adamantly refused.

Then there is one really keen person doing a political stone sculpture. That inspired another 3 people to have a go too. As he seems to know what he’s doing, he now guides the other two in their carving attempts.

One person is painting rocks – there are plenty of those on the beach so part of that project is environmentally and economically sustainable (the rock – no cost and plenty of them available on the beach).

I could suggest to use some of the yarn which has been left in the room (recycling that) and crochet the stone into it, which is what some people do, but the crochet hooks we had ‘walked off’ so to go through the whole approval / DHB process again for this seems ‘a pain’. Also most people don’t know how to crochet and the idea of learning seems to put them off.

One student (after completing his sculpture) has been sent a couple of ‘paint by number’ projects, which his mother sent him. Now this is a bit different to the coloring in book two previous students had a go at.

He and my oldest student joined together and have diligently worked on this project individually (one each) and produced a nice result. The first one wanted to practice ‘how to paint’ and ‘have a steady hand’ and the older gentleman really couldn’t get any inspiration about anything but joining in that project, he was happy to methodically work through it. He also wanted to test his eyesight and make sure he didn’t leave any black lines.

This might actually sound ridiculous to some people, but these two gentlemen took their project rather seriously and produced a good result.

Another young lady wanted to make a ‘dream catcher’ so she is re-using (dissembling and re-assembling) a ‘wire loop’ which was started but not finished by a previous student.

One more student just finished his program and his sculpture. We also had to find a ‘home’ for it, which we did (Peoples Advocacy Bureau), as the stone is part of the Creative Community Founding Scheme I’ve organized last September.

Then there are two new ladies who didn’t do much in their first class (apart from looking at the folders). Art class is usually the first class they join after arriving and most people are not in a good space to ‘get into it’. So I’ll see where they are at next time.

So here we have the 14 students attending Art class at the moment, mingling in a ‘socially sustainable blend’ of different talents, inclinations, and previous knowledge. Some will be inclined to choose projects, which have something to do with sustainability socially or economically, others just don’t care (at the time). 

My plan is not really a plan as such as ‘plan each and every single class’ (as that has proven to be not sustainable due to the special character of my students and teaching context) but it’s more of an overall awareness on my part to catch the right moments to suggest this or that ‘sustainable art practice’ and hope it’ll resonate with one or the other student.

I will take the opportunity to talk about 'how recycling materials is a sustainable art practice and economically feasible’, especially at this Rehab. I’ll also point out that this creative practice (recycling materials) is something which wont cost much and they can create great presents or teach their children how to do it etc. so there is also an element of social extension or inclusion.

Of course it is all about art & creativity so it is my industry.

As to # 8:

Reflecting on the two years I have been working in this environment, ‘forcing’ people to experiment with something (e.g. a project or material) they do not have an affinity with is absolutely futile, not sustainable socially or economically as most of them will ‘mess up’ that exercise and waste the materials as a consequence (e.g. throw the project in the rubbish at the end of class).

The hope is that some will ‘get it’, others might notice and think about it (or even try ‘it’ out when I’m not there) or remember their art & creativity experience working with recycled materials or someone who did (social experience) sometimes in the future in a situation which might ‘fall into place’ for them easier.

Summary:

Planning activities for everyone as a group is socially and individually not sustainable in my teaching context.

Making the most of opportunities arising on the spot in the context of sustainability is sustainable.

‘Forcing’ someone to ‘do something’ or ‘be interested’ in something they have no affinity with is socially definitely not sustainable.

Grouping likeminded people together is socially sustainable.

Hoping that one person who uses recycled materials might inspire another one to ‘give it a go’ is socially sustainable.

Having pretty much no funding does encourage creative thinking, which is sustainable economically and socially.

Reflecting on two years of teaching art at an Addiction Rehab, this is about ‘as good as it gets’.

# 3: Given my teaching context, I considered this blog a kind of learning journal even so it is not exactly ‘according to the plan’.

As to what a ‘sustainable practitioner’ would look like, I gather I probably would consider myself a sustainable practitioner, because of how I choose to teach with openness to ‘what is needed’, flexibility, having a personalized approach and taking into consideration the unusual teaching context, I am guiding my students in what I consider to be the best sustainable teaching / learning environment within the given circumstances.