Workshop 2

Developing Students as Artists

Arts teachers help students develop knowledge and fundamental skills while weaving in opportunities for cre-
ativity and independence. The challenge is to achieve a balance between teacher-led instruction and active, self-
directed learning. To achieve mastery, students cannot be passive consumers of knowledge; they must actively
construct and apply what they learn.
How do teachers help students develop as artists?
• Assignments reflect increasing knowledge, skills, and experience
• Instruction is thoughtfully sequenced to support student development
• Artistic roles are age- and level-appropriate
• Students experience increasing mastery and autonomy in the arts

Learning Goals
The goals of this workshop session are for you to:
• Construct a working definition of instructional “scaffolding,” and determine how it can help students
develop as artists
• Identify teaching sequences that effectively scaffold student learning
• Redesign an instructional sequence to better foster students’ development

The Art of Teaching the Arts - 25 - Workshop 2

Workshop Session (On Site)

Getting Ready (15 minutes)

Readiness can be thought of as a student’s pre-existing knowledge, experiences, and attitudes. Discuss how stu-
dent readiness affects the sequence of instruction.
• What are the prerequisites for the various courses in your program?
• What happens if a student doesn’t have the requisite knowledge, experiences, and/or attitudes for a par-
ticular course?
• Assuming that individuals progress at different rates through a course, how do you deal with students who
have not developed the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed with the next phase of the curriculum?

Watching the Program (60 minutes)

The information sheets found at the end of this chapter provide helpful background on the schools, arts pro-
grams, and individual classes featured in each segment.
Consider the following questions as you watch the program. You may stop the video after each segment to dis-
cuss the questions with your colleagues.

Dance: Michael O’Banion [Senior Choreography Project]

• How does Michael support his students as they develop new artistic skills?
• How does your curriculum support the artistic development of your students?

Theatre: Peter Lynch [Stagecraft and Design]

• When did students make independent decisions, and when did Peter step in to offer guidance?
• How do you help your students become more self-reliant?

Visual Art: Dale Zheutlin and Jon Murray [City Silhouettes/Still Life Paintings]
• How does the visual art curriculum used by Dale and Jon support the artistic development of their
students?
• How do you strike a balance between building skills and providing opportunities for creativity?

Music: William Taylor [Beginner Men’s Ensemble/Angelaires]

• We see Will teaching two classes with very different skill levels. What differences in instructional techniques
do you see Will use in these two classes?
• How do you motivate beginning students to continue studying the arts?

Activities and Discussion (45 minutes)

Instructional Sequence and “Scaffolding”
The teachers who appear in this program all say that their ultimate goal is to “step aside” and help students take
responsibility for their own learning and artistic development.
The concept of scaffolding is useful in designing the kind of instruction demonstrated by these teachers, instruc-
tion aimed at fostering students’ creative autonomy.

Workshop 2 - 26 - The Art of Teaching the Arts

Workshop Session (On Site), cont’d.

Scaffolding refers to a particular kind of instructional support: support that encourages students to be active, self-
directed learners.

Part I: Scaffolding (10 minutes)

Read and discuss the following two descriptions of scaffolding.
Scaffolding is an instructional strategy where a more knowledgeable person provides scaffolds or supports to
facilitate students’ development as they build on prior knowledge and internalize new information. Scaffolds
are temporary structures that physically support workers while they complete jobs that would otherwise be
impossible. Scaffolds provide workers with both a place to work and the means to reach work areas that they
could not access on their own. Instructional scaffolding is a teaching strategy that was cleverly named for the
practical resemblance it bears to the physical scaffolds used on construction sites. The strategy consists of
teaching new skills by engaging students collaboratively in tasks that would be too difficult for them to com-
plete on their own. The instructor initially provides extensive instructional support, or scaffolding, to continu-
ally assist the students in building their understanding of new content and process. Once the students
internalize the content and/or process, they assume full responsibility for controlling the progress of a given
task. The temporary scaffolding provided by the instructor is removed to reveal the impressive permanent
structure of student understanding.
Reprinted by permission from H. L. Herber, J. N. Herber, Teaching in Content Areas with Reading, Writing, and
Reasoning. Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Copyright © 1993 by Pearson Education.
Some teachers favor an apprenticeship model of scaffolding, where an expert models an activity, provides
advice and examples, guides the student in practice, and then tapers off support until the student can do the
task alone. Others prefer methods that encourage ongoing consultation with other people, since in life few
people ever work exclusively on their own.
From “Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy” by Linda J. Lawson. Used with permission.
After you have read the descriptions, discuss the following questions:
• How do these two descriptions of scaffolding compare to your own understanding and use of the term?
• As a group, try to agree on a working definition of scaffolding.

Part II: Examples of Scaffolding (15 minutes)

Identify examples of scaffolding used by teachers in Program 2. For each of the teaching segments in the program,
brainstorm examples of scaffolding that you saw:

Dance Senior Choreography Project

Theatre Stagecraft and Design
Visual Art City Silhouettes/Still Life Paintings
Music Beginner Men’s Ensemble/Angelaires

Part III: Identify Scaffolding You Do, or Might Consider (20 minutes)
How do you sequence instruction? What sort of scaffolding techniques do you use? Do you provide students with
the same level of support at all stages? Or do you strive to withdraw supports over time, allowing students more
opportunities for creative autonomy?
Use the Instructional Sequence Worksheet on the following page to sketch a teaching sequence you do, and ana-
lyze the scaffolding and student autonomy it involves.
Afterwards, share with the group your instructional sequences and the ratings you gave the different steps.

The Art of Teaching the Arts - 27 - Workshop 2

 Instructional Sequence Worksheet
Workhop2: Developing Students as Artists

1. Identify an area of artistic knowledge / skill you teach (circle one) in one of the four art forms.
Dance Music Theatre Visual Art
Dancing Solo singing/playing Acting Painting/drawing
Choreography Ensemble Playwriting Sculpture
singing/playing Directing Printmaking
Composing/arranging Designing Videography
Commercial design

2. In the boxes, briefly outline an instructional sequence you teach in this area.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Amount of Level of Scaffolding Autonomy Scaffolding Autonomy Scaffolding Autonomy

scaffolding creative
you provide autonomy
students
have at this
stage
3. Now use the scales above to rate each step in the sequence, according to the amount of scaffolding and
autonomy you think it involves.
As you think about your ratings, consider some of these questions:

• Are students working alone or as part of a group?

• What leadership roles do students take on?
• What experiences do they need to prepare them for their responsibilities?
• How much independence do they have?
• At what point do they become completely self-directed?
• Do advanced students mentor other students?
Workshop Session (On Site), cont’d.

As a group, discuss these questions:

• If the overall goal is student autonomy, what is the relationship between the scaffolding a teacher provides
and the creative autonomy students have?
• What strategies can we use to increase the likelihood that students are making creative choices as artists?

Between Sessions (On Your Own)

Homework
In your journal, describe two recent students—one who displayed great progress in his or her development as an
artist, and one who struggled. For each student, reflect in writing on these questions:
• What qualities as a learner did he or she have? What sorts of classroom behaviors were characteristic?
• What are two or three ways I intervened in her/his development? What did I do? What kinds of support or
scaffolding did I provide?
• Which strategies were most successful? Which least successful?
• How can I incorporate these insights into my instruction?

The Art of Teaching the Arts - 29 - Workshop 2

 Program 2: Developing Students as Artists
Dance
SEGMENT 1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Michael O’Banion
20 years teaching

About the School

Denver School of the Arts Grades: Majors:

Denver, CO 6-12 Creative Writing, Dance, Theatre,
Instrumental Music, Stagecraft & Design,
Type: Students: Video & Cinema Arts, Visual Art, and
Urban/Arts-focused 900
Vocal Music
Very mixed socio-economic status

About the Dance Program

Faculty: Facilities: Required Courses:
2 full-time + resident and guest artists Above Average in the Area Modern, Ballet, Jazz, African & Spanish,
Students: •3 large dance studios Improvisation, Composition, Repertory,
115 •2 theatres (178 seats, 550 seats) Performance Technique, Partnering, and
•Full light grid Senior Seminar
•Dressing rooms
Elective Courses:
Tap, Hip Hop, and Pointe
Audition:
Technique Master Class, individual
choreography showings, and interview

About the Featured Class

Senior Project: Student Motivation: In the Teacher’s Words
Students choreograph other High
advanced students as well as their What motivates your
own solos, and then the graduating Preparations/Prerequisites:
students?
class works as a team to create a • Sixth-graders begin collaborating
full evening of dance in concert on choreographic projects The Senior Project is an honor
form as a culminating • Intermediate students learn and a responsibility. It is part of
choreographic project. partnering skills and group the tradition of the program, and
choreographic techniques and students look forward to the
devices opportunity to complete a Senior
Preparations/Prerequisites: Project. It is not mandatory that a
• Juniors collaborate on an informal
Eligible students are seniors with a student participates, but no
evening of choreography – Junior
B or better grade student has ever elected not to.
Project
• Advanced sophomores and juniors
participate as performers in Senior
Projects
 Program 2: Developing Students as Artists
Theatre
SEGMENT 2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Peter Lynch
11 years teaching

About the School

Denver School of the Arts Grades: Majors:

Denver, CO 6-12 Creative Writing, Dance, Theatre,
Instrumental Music, Stagecraft & Design,
Type: Students: Video & Cinema Arts, Visual Art, and
Urban/Arts-focused 900
Vocal Music
Very mixed socio-economic status

About the Stagecraft & Design Program

Faculty: Required Courses: Elective Courses:
2 design and costume + 1 Skill-level courses on Materials and Lighting, Make-up, Costume, Stage
paraprofessional technical director Construction, Design-Styles Course, 15 Construction, Sound Production, Design,
hours of production, and community work Invention Design, and Historical Periods
Students:
110 majors + 100 taking electives • Ninth-graders design and produce all Audition:
music department productions Portfolio showing and paper-based
Facilities:
Above Average in the area
• Tenth-graders design and produce all design assignment. Returning students
dance department productions must audition annually, at the end of the
• 6 performance venues
• Eleventh-graders design and produce fall semester. The audition accounts for
• Full light grid all theatre department productions one third of their semester grade.
• Sound system with 48-channel board
• Twelfth-graders produce an
• 1 classroom independent senior project and/or
• Costume shop stage manage at least one main stage
• Metal shop (shared with Visual Arts) production
• Construction and paint areas
• Dressing rooms
• Storage for props, costume, and
scenery

About the Featured Class

Sophomore Stagecraft & Student Motivation: In the Teacher’s Words
Design: High
Tenth-graders spend a semester What safety precautions do
working in a specific production Preparations/Prerequisites:
stagecraft and dance
area, mostly lighting and costuming, • Two years spent in the production
department students take for the aerial
as those areas pertain to dance.
• Intermediate students have work?
worked on at least 24 productions Because the individual handling
the aerial line shares a
connection to the person hanging
on the other end, they work
together to make sure each
person feels safe with what he or
she is doing. To reinforce this
relationship, students often
verbalize their responsibilities, for
example, saying: “I will be ready
at this cue.”
 Program 2: Developing Students as Artists
Visual Art
SEGMENT 3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Dale Zheutlin Jon Murray
32 years teaching 26 years teaching

About the School

Mamaroneck High School Grades: Arts Requirement:

Mamaroneck, NY 9-12 New York has a 1-credit art or music
graduation requirement (180 minutes of
Type: Students: instruction per week for one year)
Suburban/Comprehensive 1,400
Middle/High socio-economic status

About the Visual Art Program

Faculty: Facilities: Required Courses:
5 full-time About Average in the Area Art Foundation
Students: •5 specialized art studios
Elective Courses:
425 •1 art gallery/exhibition space
Drawing & Painting, Advanced Drawing
•1 office
& Painting, Sculpture, Introduction to
•1 photo room
Clay, Advanced Clay, Advanced
Placement (AP) Art Studio, Introduction
to Illustration, Advanced Illustration, and
Senior Art Experience

About the Featured Classes

Art Foundation: Preparations/Prerequisites: In the Teacher’s Words
Students learn to recognize and use the Open to all students, but taken by ninth-
elements of art – line, form, space, graders who plan to continue in art
texture, color, and light – while How do you find a balance
Typical Subsequent Courses:
experimenting with a variety of materials Drawing & Painting, Sculpture, or between teaching skills to
and techniques. Introduction to Illustration students, and giving them
The class covers drawing, painting, Student Motivation: the freedom to be creative?
printmaking, sculpture, and computer Mixed. Motivation varies from students
graphics. Dale Zheutlin: The Art
fulfilling state graduation requirements to
students following the AP sequence. Foundation course is structured
so that each project has two
parts. The first part is carefully
Drawing & Painting: Student Motivation:
In this intermediate level studio class, Moderate. Students have already constructed to help the student
students develop drawing skills, a stronger completed one art class, and they've focus on learning a specific skill.
sense of design, and insights into the decided to continue. Students who take The second part encourages
behavior of color. Drawing & Painting in the sophomore year them to use their new
often have their sights set on Advanced understanding of that skill in an
Preparations/Prerequisites:
Placement Art Studio in their senior year. intensely personal and creative
Art Foundation
Student Level: way.
Typical Subsequent Course:
Intermediate, mostly tenth-graders
Advanced Drawing & Painting, Illustration,
and Ceramics
 Program 2: Developing Students as Artists
Music
SEGMENT 4 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
William Taylor
13 years teaching

About the School

East High School Grades: Arts Requirement:

Denver, CO 9-12 None
Type: Students:
Urban/Comprehensive 1,900
Very mixed socio-economic status

About the Music Program

Faculty: Facilities: Required Courses:
2 full-time (1 vocal and 1 instrumental) Above Average in the Area None
Students: •2 classrooms (instrumental and vocal)
Elective Vocal Music Courses:
142 •School auditorium
Beginning Choir, Men's Ensemble,
Seraphim, Honor Choir, Angelaires,
Beginning Music Theory, AP Music
Theory, and Voice

About the Featured Classes

Men’s Ensemble: Preparations/Prerequisites: In the Teacher’s Words
This beginning level ensemble for Any student may choose to take
boys focuses on voice training and this course. Students only need to What does solfege mean?
rudimentary music reading skills. demonstrate the ability to match
pitch (hear a note and sing it back Solfege is a series of syllables
Audition: that are used by singers to
accurately).
None identify and to sing the pitches of
Typical Subsequent Course: a scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti,
Honor Choir do). The word can also refer to
Student Motivation: general singing and ear-training
Mixed. Some students will become instruction.
motivated to stay in the choir
program.
Why do the Angelaires use
Angelaires: Audition Requirements: microphones in class?
Students receive accelerated and Students must demonstrate music Most vocal jazz groups use
demanding instruction in vocal reading ability, vocal ability, aural skill, microphones because they
technique and performance, music and part-singing ability. Rehearsal perform with amplified
theory, music appreciation, ear- discipline, school attendance, and instruments (bass, piano, and
training, vocal improvisation, and dedication to vocal music (particularly drums). Microphones are used
music history, as well as opportunities in other ensembles) are also in class to acclimate the students
to use these advanced musical skills examined. to the sound of amplified voices.
in a vocal ensemble setting. Student Motivation:
This is a hig-level “X” class, which High. Most students are motivated by
means that students receive a higher their love of music or by the quality of
grade point: A=5.2 instead of 4.0. the music that the Angelaires make.
Additional Resources

On the Web
General Sites School and Teacher Sites
The Collaborative Classroom Denver School of the Arts—Dance Major
[Link] [Link]
Search for: collaborative classroom Select: Majors, then Performing Arts Department
Essay describing characteristics of collaborative class- Web page for the dance program that Michael
rooms, including teacher and student roles, interac- O’Banion chairs
tions, challenges and conflicts, and relevant research
Denver School of the Arts—Stagecraft and Design
Constructing Knowledge in the Classroom Major
[Link] [Link]
Search for: scimast constructing Select: Majors, then Fine and Practical Arts Department
An article that introduces teachers to constructivsm Web page for the Stagecraft and Design program
and how it can be employed in the classroom, that Peter Lynch chairs
including a list of six characteristics of the
constructivist classroom Mamaroneck High School—Art Department
[Link]
Instructional Grouping in the Classroom Select: Departments and Class Web Pages, then Art
[Link] Web page for the Visual Art Department where Dale
Search for: ward grouping Zheutlin and Jon Murray teach
An article on reasons and strategies for creating
learning groups in the classroom Boody Fine Arts, Inc.
[Link]
Working Toward Student Self-Direction & Personal Select: Artists, then Artist Listing A-Z, then Zheutlin
Efficacy as Educational Goals Photo gallery of Dale Zheutlin’s ceramic artwork
[Link]
Search for: personal efficacy East High School
Information and strategies enabling students to take [Link]
charge of their own leaning Web site for music teacher William Taylor’s school

Workshop 2 - 34 - The Art of Teaching the Arts

Additional Resources, cont’d.

In Print
Brooks, Jacqueline Grennon, & Brooks, Martin. In Search Manning, Brenda H., & Payne, Beverly. Self-Talk for
of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms. Teachers and Students: Metacognitive Strategies for
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Develop- Personal and Classroom Use. Allyn & Bacon, 1996. ISBN:
ment, Revised edition, 1999. ISBN: 0871203588 0205159486
Presents a case for the development of classrooms in Guides teachers to use metacognition to change the
which students are encouraged to construct deep ways they think and learn so they will become more
understandings of important concepts reflective, autonomous, proactive, and positive

Eisner, Elliot. The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale Meichenbaum, Donald, & Biemiller, Andrew. Nurturing
University Press, 2002. ISBN: 0300095236 Independent Learners. Brookline Books, 1998. ISBN
Examines different approaches to the teaching of the 1571290478
arts A framework for helping students acquire skills and
strategies, and transfer them to increasingly complex,
Hogan, Kathleen, & Pressley, Michael. Scaffolding authentic tasks
Student Learning: Instructional Approaches and Issues.
Brookline Books, 1997. ISBN: 1571290362
Addresses the how-tos of scaffolding for students who
need support to keep up, as well as those working to
master difficult materials

The Art of Teaching the Arts - 35 - Workshop 2

Notes

Workshop 2 - 36 - The Art of Teaching the Arts