Inspiring Writing in Art and Design: Taking a Line for a Write - Brossura

Francis, Pat

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1841502561 ISBN 13: 9781841502564

Casa editrice: Intellect L & D E F A E, 2009

Riassunto

When art and design students are asked for statements to accompany their work, reflective journals, or critiques, reviews and essays, they often freeze up because they have to put their thoughts in writing. Although these students are comfortable expressing themselves visually, they lack confidence working with words. Inspiring Writing in Art and Design is a practical aid for those students who are disheartened or overwhelmed by having to write. Pat Francis provides short writing exercises and creative writing techniques for tutors to use and which will help art and design students develop their ability to verbally articulate the concepts and aesthetics behind their art. Using Francis’s examples, students will build confidence and skills that can help them succeed in presenting their work and themselves in, and beyond, the studio world.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

Pat Francis is a specialist writing and dyslexia tutor at the University for the Creative Arts in the United Kingdom.

Estratto. © Ristampato con autorizzazione. Tutti i diritti riservati.

Inspiring Writing in Art and Design

Taking a Line for a Write

By Pat Francis

Intellect Ltd

Copyright © 2009 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84150-256-4

Contents

Acknowledgements, 
Résumé of the Book, 
Introduction, 
Connecting Inspiration, Theory and Practice, 
The Process Visual, 
1 Principles, 
2 Practicals, 
3 Examples, 
Appendix, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Principles

Introduction

This section is about the principles behind this book, and explanations of the writing approach that I take, as my work involves one-to-one tutorials with students as well as running workshops for large groups.

So, firstly, there is a section of pieces under the heading of Methods. This details the background to the workshops where writing skills are developed, and the forms and formats of work, such as journals, which are mentioned throughout the book.

Secondly, there is a short section on Reading, and how this relates to writing.

The third section is about Practice and Process, which underlines the constant theme that practice in one area will help work in another area.

Finally there is a section entitled The Writer: Self and Others, with ideas about becoming aware of the process of being a writer, and finding your writing voice.

Methods

Workshops

This is just a broad outline to give the flavour of the workshops. These are referred to in many of the Practicals so I need to give the context.

I give writing workshops for Further and Higher Education students and also for tutors in subject areas such as fashion, design, jewellery, model making, illustration, graphics, photography and fine art.

Sometimes I only work with a group once. However, more often there might be a sequence of workshops – perhaps four or five spread over a period of time and paralleling particular activities: preparation for essays and dissertations; starting journals; writing summaries; statements for application to other courses, work experience or employment; and producing creative text for a personal project.

The point of the workshop is to generate ideas, give tips, or develop particular themes – so I try to make them fun. Many participants have a block about writing so I aim to present material in a non-threatening way.

One of the first things I say at the start of a workshop, and have repeated in this book, is that I present a range of materials and it is important for the participant, as with the reader, to 'do a pick and mix': select some activities, discard others, adapt some, develop some, and think about others. I encourage participants to keep an open mind and make connections, so that something which feels really simple has the potential to be complex in its development.

I usually start with quick warm-up activities: setting the mood, relaxing the brain, opening up ideas. Usually there is a lot of laughter here, and noise.

Then the specific activities are geared to what the students/tutors are doing at that time, or need to do.

A lot of material is prepared in advance, as is shown with some of the exercises in this book. Often a pack is given out, consisting of handouts and samples of papers and materials to write on or about. The workshop is planned carefully so that it runs smoothly and the atmosphere that has been created is not broken, with long gaps while things are handed out. Inevitably there is some of this, but it can be turned into a bit of a rest.

Some ideas might work instantly, or an hour later; that evening, next day, week, month; or it might be several years later when the light bulb comes on. Openness to those moments is all that can be asked.

I try to allow time during the workshop, and have encouraged it throughout this book, for reflection: the pause, the thought, the making of links, forming questions, the dwelling on, the sparking off, the going off at a tangent.

The vital key is to take what is offered and then make it your own.

Reflection and Reflective Writing

Donald Schon (1991) writes of reflection in action and reflection on action, and these threads are woven through the approach to reflective journals taken in this book.

Jennifer Moon has contributed a wide range of writings about journals and reflection, and although these were never originally focused on the arts subjects, much of her work does relate quite closely. Many writers and practitioners have used her work as a starting point, and this book is no exception. She created a diagram to visualize the stages of development in reflection (Moon 1999: 35), and later (2004) developed a series of pieces of writing to show stages in reflective writing. This is a very useful principle and can be adapted to the arts. These are particularly useful for tutors new to teaching reflective practice as they show the stages clearly, and this underpins a key principle of this book: that reflective writing is not instant and has to be given time to mature. It does not spring fully formed from the page.

Reflection while doing, and on how and what you are working on, helps the journey progress and encourages exploration of alternative routes that may be tried.

Reflection after action, explaining (to self and others) through writing, writing in different voices, and considering a range of perspectives and viewpoints are the key constituents of secondary reflection. This enables us to learn from the past and to develop skills and techniques that we call on in the future.

Writing as a way of crystallizing thoughts is the attempt to make physical the random flitting thoughts in our head. Practise in trying to capture these flutters is what helps us grow as people and practitioners.

However, reflective writing doesn't happen instantly.

For some people to whom writing comes relatively easily, exploration of thoughts will come naturally, although even some of these may need help with going deeper. But for most – it has to be developed slowly and incrementally.

Many of the exercises in this book help the early stages: moving from the initial:

'I like ...' 'I love ...', 'first thought is ...'

to

'maybe ...', 'what is it about this? ...'

to

'what if? ...', 'could it? ...', 'can I? ...', 'will I? ...'

and towards

'I will ...'

and

'if I do ... what happens? ...'

Writing Stages Schema

The reflective process detailed previously suggests the development of a possible basic schema for writing that can be split into three stages and summarized in key words:

first stage: explore, experiment, evaluate

second stage: define, develop, detail

third stage: personalize, professionalize, polish

This is not meant to be an exclusive or inflexible scheme – there is much more movement backwards and forwards. But perhaps this relates to the sorts of practical exercises suggested in this book, and which can be tried at particular points in a curriculum.

It must be emphasized that in addition to movement there are other constant strands:

Reinforce reflective )
) throughout all stages
Reinforce creative )

Another feature is that all the words used in the stages are used as verbs, thus they are active.

Writing must be active and live.

The Reflective Journal

The reflective journal underpins most of the practical ideas offered in this book. It is an infinitely variable tool to help all writers. It is personal, even though some parts might be offered, at times, for public perusal.

Titles for journals change from one institution to another, but the following text will describe and evaluate the key characteristics and potentialities. As Moon (1999) revealed, journals have been a significant part of practice in subjects from social work and health, and science to education, but they have been less well documented and evaluated in arts subjects. This is changing, and this book also seeks to offer ideas for these developments.

The Rationale

The aim of the Reflective Learning Journal, as its name implies, is to aid students in their own learning development, and it can be geared towards their individual professional practice.

The purpose of the journal is that, from the early stages of the course, students are logging their thought processes, developing skills of analysis of these processes, and linking these to the range of influences and subjects to which they are introduced, and from this, developing the skills of contextualization. The journal encourages the practice of articulation through writing, starting from their feelings about the material they are researching, by exploring primary and secondary resources, and by responding to advice from tutors and peers.

There is no set pattern or model for the journal; however, it is primarily a written book or folder of writings. It is cross-referenced to the visual sketchbook in that it will attempt to analyse design sketches. It also will refer to research folders and explore concepts and theories from the range of reading undertaken. Visits to exhibitions, fashion shows, viewing of television programmes and attendance at lectures, both internal and external, will be written up – using descriptive writing in the first instance, but developing into analysis of what these events contribute to the student's own project work. In this respect, the journal is not instantly deep or analytical. The student has to progress from a recording and describing of events and will respond to questions initially set by tutors.

The journal is not being judged in language terms regarding grammar and structure. It is being considered for its content. However, another purpose of the journal is to provide practice in writing and therefore, as the journal progresses, improvements in vocabulary and structure should emerge.

The journal provides the chance to experiment with writing – therefore a student may decide, for example, to write a press release. Evidence of the preparation for this is the gathering of several press releases placed in research folders, and analyses of style, vocabulary and tone. A press release is then written, accompanied by a self evaluation of the work, showing the reflection on others' comments on the piece. This will prove invaluable practice for the work in the final stages of a course.

The journal's outward manifestation may vary from student to student, but it can be brought to a tutorial and will be a tool to aid communication for students to demonstrate at what stage their work is located. For instance it could include brainstorming or mind-mapping, flow charts, lists of intended explorations, links to bibliographies and breakdowns of research folders. Combined with these are analyses of outcomes from these activities, responses to feedback, and evidence of self-motivation. The journal could aid visiting tutors, clarifying the directions in which students are going, and enabling more specific advice on their work.

In terms of relating to a possible schema of writing:

* In the early stages, the journal will aid contextualization and a student's growing skills in communication and developing understanding.

* Secondly, it will display growing independence, skills of evaluation and locating work in terms of the structure of possible thoughts for future employment.

* In the final stage it will evidence the depth of learning and development and demonstrate how the student is evolving an individual professional practice.

The journal could act as a central spine to the student's experience of the course. In this, it can be closely linked to Personal Development Planning which, under a variety of names, now exists in all colleges.

Assessment of Journals

In the same way that the sketchbook is not always directly assessed and yet is a vital part of the process which leads to final work, so too the journal is not always assessed in that format. However it is the means by which goals are achieved and it is a vital component of overall work. In order to add a layer of deep reflective thought about theoretical research, interviews, market research, exhibitions, publication analysis, etc., a final report may be written about the progress of the project. This is reflective, analytical and proactive in terms of locating a student's work.

Therefore it is this Report or Summary, in its role as an evaluation, which is assessed, not the journal itself.

For assessment purposes, what will be seen is a development from early responses to later, more analytical and exploratory writing: the transition from passive to active. Assessment criteria will focus on evidence of improving vocabulary through writing, connections between theory and practice, development of ideas, growing independence of thought, generation of questions and setting of targets. The journal will display attempts to organize work, and reflections on the success of this and the strategies followed. Ability to determine and create an individual methodology should be evident in the journal.

The assessment criteria of that final report are more easily written and understood than criteria for a journal itself can ever be. Moon (2004: 151) confirms that in the setting of the assessment criteria it is vital that they match the aims of the specific project, or the course overall, and relate to growth and development. For the student it is important to see these criteria in two ways: the requirements of the unit or course overall, but also the personal journey and the decisions they have made.

Some Specific Forms of the Journal

Work Based Learning Journal

For a work placement, students might be asked to keep a range of records of work and experiences:

* a personal daily log in the form of the Reflective Learning Journal

* specific tasks undertaken in the placement

* an analytical account of what the work entailed, how it was approached and what elements of the tasks could be applied to college work

* analysis of the structure of the company and the range of work undertaken and a profile of the job titles

* personal approaches to work, time keeping, preparedness, etc.

* a short case study of the company attended

* conducting an interview, and then producing an article or report based on that interview

* CV with this work experience included

* any letters sent applying for the work, and any thank-you letters written after the experience, with annotations showing what is learnt from how to do the letters, and the responses given.

All these are to evidence the professional approach to the work.

Effectively this is a folder of written work. However it would not be in the form of essays or academic writing. It would more likely be in the form of a file.

This file could contain: letters, a series of reports, or analyses, a flow diagram explaining structures, etc. and also a file of examples of written instructions and notes. It would also contain the personal reflections on the experience, in whatever format is suited to the placement and the course. Essentially it is evidence of the work placement and evidence of what has been learnt and the changes to be made to personal working practice. A list of what is to be contained would be provided by staff, but if extra material is included, then this would be encouraged. Thus a minimum is set, but not a maximum. The key is that it is a tool for providing evidence. Therefore if it is long, rambling and disorganized, that would be seen as evidence of lack of objectivity. It is necessary to learn the skills of taking a step back from work, and understanding what is good evidence and what is extraneous to requirements.

A summary of the experience could be a useful task, even if not required, just as in other projects.

The visual nature of this work placement file could also link into other areas of work e.g. linking to the portfolio.

Reflective Research Journals

These could be folders of research material which are annotated and written about and should be encouraged with a range of projects. Although they can be strongly linked with essays and dissertations, they have enormous value in other projects where significant research is required, or where the skills of visual analysis are being encouraged.

The journal or folder is not just a collection of photocopies, as often happens, nor pages of a sketchbook, but a more organized accumulation of material. Some pages copied from sketchbooks, could be included. The emphasis is on the engagement with the research and reading: the reflective thoughts.

Brainstorms of initial ideas are useful to return to at stages in the essay/dissertation development. There may be strands which are discarded early on but come back into focus later.

Time lines are important ways of contextualizing ideas. Starting quite skeletally, they can be broadened and deepened as the research continues.

Book reviews (not on the lines of '8/10 – good read on the beach!') can begin the process of compiling literature reviews. Analysing the blurbs, the introductions and the conclusions and summarizing key themes could all be noted in the journal. Extracting possible key quotations and exploring these aids the writing of the final piece, but in the journal, writing can be free in style and personal.

Annotations on photocopies can lead to more extensive reflections and the linking with other pieces of work.

Reflective Research Journals may need, in form, to be loose-leafed, rather than bound, in order to aid organization of material. Some people may keep a folder that can be constantly added to and the order changed, but they can also keep a chronological log of reflection that mirrors the process of thoughts, researches and stages towards the final writing/work.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Inspiring Writing in Art and Design by Pat Francis. Copyright © 2009 Intellect Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Intellect L & D E F A E
• Data di pubblicazione: 2009
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1841502561
• ISBN 13: 9781841502564
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 294
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile