LESSON STUDY CYCLE 3

In this third lesson study cycle I pushed myself to get out of my teacher comfort zone. While I am a Humanities teacher who focuses on History, for this cycle I volunteered to work with some of the Art teachers in my cohort. Their hope was to identify ways in which we can incorporate art and visual thinking strategies in the art and history classroom. History lends itself well to the incorporation of art into the content covered in the 10th grade humanities classroom.

The Research

Cycle 3 of this year was the one that provided me the greatest opportunity to expand my teaching practices, and introduced me to new ways to incorporate art into the humanities classroom. Our Equity Theme as a group this cycle was focused on developing student visual literacy. Specifically we hoped that students will grow into critical consumers by learning to identify and infer social themes and messages in artwork. They will use visual thinking strategies and their own lived experiences to think critically about the world around them and the messages that are delivered and received both explicitly and through subliminal/targeted messaging. The way we went about reaching this goal was through the introduction of Visual Thinking Strategies. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) are presented as “a program that enables teachers to use specific strategies as part of their existing curriculum to develop students’ skills of observation, social interaction, and language development (Yenawine, 2019, p. 23).” The article also makes the argument that the classroom is one of the best places to introduce students to art, as a result of the ease with which it can be applied to multiple disciplines.

Problem of Practice: How can we better equip students to be critical consumers capable of navigating the digital world we live in? Students are not always capable of identifying underlying messages in, leaving them vulnerable to visual manipulation that harms their health and wellbeing. This also causes them to be ignorant of social justice and activism in visual artworks and resist both calls to action or working with these themes into their own artwork.

Equity Goal: Students will grow into critical consumers by learning to identify and infer social themes and messages in artwork. They will use visual thinking strategies and their own lived experiences to think critically about the world around them and the messages that are delivered and received both explicitly and through subliminal/targeted messaging.

Lesson Hypothesis: If we employ use of VTS discussions and concepts related to media literacy while students are consume and process visual imagery, then students will be more likely to notice the hidden messages in art as evidenced by their reflections on the graphic organizer, verbal observations, and their own art pieces.

Goal of the Unit: Understand and challenge marketing that supports dominant culture (white supremacy) and convinces individuals to adopt dominant culture values, beauty standards, financial, and social status.

Full Lesson Plan

Cycle 3 - Annotated Bibliography

Andrabi, Syed Gowhar. (2013). Critical Pedagogy and Artist-Teacher. This article examines the concept of critical pedagogy and its...

Cycle 2 - Literature Synthesis

Lesson Study Cycle 2 - Student Voice and Autonomy Students will understand the significance of exercising their agency and stepping...

Cycle 2 - Annotated Bibliography

Lesson Study Cycle 2 - Student Voice Annotated Bibliography Annotated Bibliography Cohen, E. G., & Lotan, R. A. (2014). Designing...

KNOW Your Students

These Focal Student summaries come from one on one Empathy Interviews conducted by the host teacher, as well as observations made during the implementation of the Research Lesson

Focus Student S

FS"S" is a very high performing student and is very eager to move on to high school. He has great relationships with his teachers and can occasionally struggle to connect with his peers. He has had a recent falling out with his friend group that has caused him to isolate himself from his peers.

Focus Student A

FS"A "is a quiet, patient, kind hearted student. She is always tries her best on assignments even though she struggles with believing in her abilities as an artist. Recently she has had some issues within her friend group that have caused her to feel uncomfortable sharing her ideas with others.

Focus Student E

FS"E" is a very social and creative student. He has many friends and is always enthusiastic about coming to art class. He has had negative experiences in previous art classes that have left him feeling insecure about his artistic abilities. His unique personality and interests come through in his artwork and helps him create really unique art pieces. FS"E's" creative thinking can occasionally cause him to get off task and miss important assignment instructions.

Research Lesson
Plan

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Lesson Flow:

On entering, students flipped through the magazines on their desks and ripped out magazines that sparked a feeling in them. They were instructed to find 3 ads. After 7 minutes of looking and choosing, students separated their magazines and chosen ads, setting both to the side.
Students' attention was directed to the board, where our first image was projected. The teacher guided a Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) discussion about the image.
1. "What is happening/going on in this image?"
2. "What do you see that makes you say that?"
3. "What else can you find?"
VTS is repeated with two to three more images from the slide deck.
Teacher explains how ads send messages and get you to feel something to get you to buy their products. For example, the Coca Cola ad we will look at during the VTS discussion is trying to tell you that if you drink Coca Cola, your family will be happy. "There is always a hidden meaning to get you to buy their products." Usually ads make you feel something. "If you want your family to feel and look like this, buy Coca Cola."
Pass out list of emotions to all students.
Project new ad (Maybelline) to walk students through how ads communicate feelings and send hidden messages. Teacher explains how camera angles and styling impact how you think about the image (ex: the camera is pointing up, so I feel like I should be looking up to her; her hair covers half of her face, making her mysterious). Teacher talks about the feelings that the ad brings up in her (frustration, because it's telling me if I buy this I'll look like this, and I know that's not true; distance/discomfort, because I'm not like this person; agitated, because they're telling women that if they buy this ad they'll be sexier, more bold, or more attractive). Things that the artist did in this ad to impact my feelings were to focus on her face and remove any imperfections from her face.
Project new ad (Nike) while passing out a graphic organizer. Walk through the first row of the graphic organizer as a "we do" activity.
1. Have students fill in the boxes alone, then talk it through as a class. Teacher will circulate during this time to check in with students.
  1. Box 1: "How does this image make you feel?"
  2. Box 2: "What decisions did the artist make to make you feel this way?"
  3. Box 3: "What is the hidden message in the advertisement?"
After talking through the Nike ad as a class, release students to complete the same graphic organizer questions with their own ad, selected at the beginning of class.
Once students have considered their own feelings and the hidden messages of their own ads, direct them to use the advertisement they chose to create a collage. This collage must do one of the following:
1. Create a better message.
2. Make the hidden message clear.
3. Made an ad that responds to the advertisement.
Show models of collages that do the above, then release students to create their own collages.

Reflections

Overall, I thought that this lesson study cycles was a great opportunity to expand my arsenal of teaching tools, and Visual Thinking Strategies were a great addition. However, in reflecting on the lesson implementation, our group identified some ways to improve the lesson if we were to teach it again. The Host teacher was surprised by the students confusion in differentiating an advertisement from regular photos. As a result, future iterations of this lesson would be accompanied with a lesson about advertising specifically. We had planned for students to begin working on the creation of their own ads during the lesson, but time did not allow for that. Students, instead used the next class period to complete their collages.

The implementation of an art strategy, Visual Thinking Strategies, in my own classroom was interesting. Art has a place in every subject and discipline, wether it be as part of the content or a way for students to express themselves and show their work. In my opinion, the humanities classroom is uniquely suited for the inclusion of not just creating art, but the study of art history. Art has played a huge role throughout history in shaping our cultures and views. By introducing students to art and visual thinking strategies, we equip them with yet another tool to be critical consumers of the world around them.