Blog 3 – Tadhg Crowley, Curator of Education
Is é Tadhg Crowley an Coimeádaí Sinsearach Oideachais ag an Glucksman i gColáiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh. Cuireann an Glucksman clár fadréimseach de thaispeántais shealadacha i láthair, chomh maith le clár fairsing oideachais chun cuairteoirí a bhfuil ábhair spéise agus cúlraí éagsúla acu a mhealladh. Is céimí de chuid Scoil Ealaíne agus Deartha Luimnigh é Tadhg, agus is é an ról atá aige sa Glucksman cabhrú le tuiscint ar na hamharcealaíona a chothú i measc an phobail i gcoitinne. Cheap agus chuir Tadhg an chéad mhodúl Amharc-Ealaíne i láthair go luath in 2015 ar an gcúrsa Teastas sa Mhaireachtáil Chomhaimseartha i gColáiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh. Mhéadaigh Tadhg clár scoileanna an Glucksman le trí bliana anuas agus d’fhreastail níos mó ná 2500 scoláire ar cheardlanna agus turais ag an ngailearaí in 2015. Thug Tadhg an clár Múinteoirí Glucksman isteach in 2014 agus anois, cuimsítear leis an gclár céanna; Máistir-Ranganna do Mhúinteoirí Ealaíne, chomh maith le Tráthnónta Réamhléirithe agus Cúrsa Samhraidh. Rinne Tadhg cur i láthair le gairid ag an bhFóram Oideachais Bhliantúil agus For-Rochtana de chuid Chumann Mhúsaem na hÉireann agus rinne sé an cur i láthair ar an lá a seoladh Lá Náisiúnta Thairseach na nEalaíon san Oideachas in Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann. Thug sé léachtaí ar an MA a leanas: Clár Ealaíne agus Próisis i gColáiste Ealaíne is Deartha Crawford agus ar mhodúl PhD na dTodhchaíochtaí i gColáiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh.
At the time when the Glucksman first began to incorporate projects and events for Primary School Teachers into its programme, there were a number of concepts that we sought to explore and that the teachers we engaged with challenged us to address. These ideas came to form the basis of the programmes that were designed and delivered in the subsequent months and years.
It is widely accepted that the visual arts can play a significant role in creating an innovative learning environment, but a pivotal question for the Glucksman team was, what can be done to improve the quality of arts learning opportunities for children in Ireland today and what is the role of the art museum in any initiative? Art museums provide exceptional art educational mechanisms and opportunities that include access to professional artists, introductions to various art making techniques, and the experience of seeing and understanding significant works of art but how could these resources best be utilized to improve art opportunities for children? At the Glucksman, we consistently see the positive impact that visual art has on young people, the opportunity to view an artwork up close without distraction and to begin to grasp an artist’s motivations can have a significant impression on a child’s mind. However, when children visit museums with their school or with their family it is not always on a frequent basis and this irregular exposure to art can mean that their appreciation and understanding is less than would be achieved through consistent interaction or through an enduring learning curve as can be achieved in a school environment.
The feedback we were getting from Primary School teachers was that increased pressure to allocate more time to the curriculum and in particular to the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy, meant it was becoming increasingly difficult to dedicate time in the classroom to art making activities and art appreciation. Understanding the limited time available for arts in the classroom, we began to look at how the Glucksman could enable teachers to develop projects that combined elements of visual art with other strands of the curriculum such as math, science, language, history or SPHE. By continuing to focus on intrinsic areas of the curriculum, classroom routine and structure would not be negatively affected. Instead students learning could be enhanced through exciting creative processes and exposure to important visual artists and art movements.
This idea for an art integration approach was influenced by the Glucksmans exhibitions model. Exhibitions at the Glucksman draw on the research of University College Cork academic departments and professionals from across the four colleges of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science; Business and Law; Medicine and Health; and Science, Engineering and Food Science. One of the primary goals of the exhibitions is to emphasis the unique role of visual media in communicating knowledge and central to this is the creation of discursive relationships between academic disciplines and art practice. The Glucksman finds itself in a favourable position where, right on its doorstep, it can create dialogues and exchanges with researchers who are leaders in diverse and interesting fields. The value of bringing an extensive and authentic knowledge to particular themes and ideas leads to both comprehensive and sensitive visual investigations.
Leading contemporary artists are constantly using aspects of curriculum strands such as history, science and language studies as the subject matter for their creative practices. Many art movements lend themselves to understanding subjects such as math or science while historical artworks can allow children to better understand the world at a specific period in time. We believed that learning from these artists, artworks and art movements, teachers could begin to develop creative projects that would augment a student’s experience and understanding.
In 2015, the Glucksman ran its first summer course for Primary School Teachers based on the art integration model to overwhelmingly positive feedback. The course followed the three pedagogical approaches of Art Appreciation; Art Interaction; and Art Making. The morning sessions led by the curatorial team investigated artists, their artworks and how their practices could relate to curriculum strands. These sessions took place in the exhibition spaces and included lectures, talks, tours and discussions. The afternoon sessions invited teachers to work with professional artists on practical projects for the classroom.
This coming August will see the third iteration of the art integration summer course at the Glucksman. For more information on the Glucksman Teachers Programme please contact education@glucksman.org or visit glucksman.org
