Demanding children to plan their artwork in writing
An architect plans a home.
He creates a rough sketch of his idea, then plans ahead the details.
As an adult, he already owns the 3D abilities, imagination, and experience to transform a 2D drawing into a building. He can plan his images.
When this adult architect was in elementary school – how did he naturally create and think?
Perhaps he built a lot of lego structures or building blocks?
Perhaps he constructed a town with boxes using a hot-gun?
Perhaps he made stone towers in nature?
Does a child NEED to plan?
Children have an idea, a feeling, an urge to do – and they go for it. They desire and are urged to express that “something.” They are full of life here and now.
They glue boxes together, draw a huge castle, or hide under a table they have covered with blankets as they create a dark cave to hide from a dinosaur.
It is a bodily intuitive imaginary trial and error process between the craving and reality of objects and materials.
It is mostly an unfolding process in the here and now.
It is not yet an upfront cognitive process as the architect they will become.
The brain is not there yet.
They are children!
Moreover, I do not see many of my artists’ friends planning their artwork.
Most artists do not plan too much. Instead, they mostly choose a medium, size, and basic theme and trust the process.
So what do artists do?
They respect and take good care of their materials and tools. They are courageous and persistent in delving into a process, being determined to look at a dead end many times and creatively trying to do something with it.
So, why are we demanding children to write – verbalize their artistic plans?
Why are we imposing an adult cognitive process on an intuitive process of a child?
Pushing a child to plan and write their intuitive, artistic process is forcing an adult cognitive mode on them much too early. It is being blind to natural childhood development.
It creates resentment and anger, and rightly so.
Upper image: Malka-Hass-Painting-Pavilion-Maayan-10-years-old
This has always baffled me. As a teacher who teaches children to express themselves through visual media, it makes me wonder why an adult would stop the expressive action in order to meet an abstract standard or to document an invisible process. Children plan in their minds just before the act of creation. I suppose it helps those who cannot see the beauty of child art.
I believe it has to do with capitalism and competition and measuring all through “science.”
I feel that sometimes art teachers will not feel like they are teaching if they just allow the kids to jump right into the process. Or they feel it will look academically good for the program. I am a firm believer that art needs to be in the schools for its own merits and does not have to mimic other subjects. Provide the space where kids are able to let loose and jump into the process is enough.
I agree! Please read the comment I left for Clark – it is the same issue: academic=measuring and competition. So sad…