Gemma Aylward
BA(Hons) Illustration 2017 BA3a: Research and Development Unit Summary This unit has brought me a lot to think over in terms of my practice and the direction I want to take it. I’ve struggled a lot more with developing my practice compared to developing my research report, which I did not expect, however the research report has been a major help for me to discover children’s needs in relation of child development through play. My findings from the report have fed into my thoughts process when I’m tackling idea possibilities for my practice. The publish event was also a defining point in this unit, mainly because it was the only practice I did other than research, but I got to feel what it’s like to work collaboratively again since BA2b, and I’m coming to realise how important it is towards my approach in creating in my practice. With writing the research report, it was very useful to have the reader group seminars because it allowed me to organise the steps leading up to submission. I find it easier explaining my ideas verbally and within a discussion, rather than through writing, because by saying it aloud, I can coherently explain my ideas. The initial ‘Share’ presentation task allowed me to do this and share my ideas for the first time in the unit after researching over the summer. As I had to address my ideas to others on the course, it forced me to collate my ideas for the first time which I discovered as a good first step into how to go about the report’s style and structure. The draft session was also a good opportunity to write down the initial 2,000 words of the report. If I didn’t have these sessions to motivate me, I feel that I would have left the draft even longer to make a start on. Having that 2,000-word draft gave me good taste of what the report would become, and I’m glad I had these sessions to organise my time without leaving the report to a last minute worry. I can’t appreciate these session’s timing across the unit more than I possibly do and I want to take this careful planning for specific writings and projects into the future with me. Gathering research for my practice has caused me a lot of strain on my mind as to how I want to take my career further. I’ve been sceptical the majority of the unit of how can I create work. I had come to university with the prospects of becoming a visual development artist, however after my extensive research, I’ve become more interested in getting interactive and engaging with public, primarily children aged between 5 and 7. The more I’ve researched for my practice, the more I get excited about the possibilities of becoming a designer for playgrounds/play spaces. Two pieces of research that I have a strong feeling for are the Reggio Emilia approach to child development and The Playground Project (2016) book. The two combine my love for how an environment can be interactive, fun and a learning tool for children and I believe that I will refer to them for a long time in the future. Being doubtful on my practice has hindered my progress, because I hadn’t made a specific decision on a context as to why I want to create a space for children and in what cause to do so. I still feel to date that I haven’t made this specific decision. I’ve spent the last part of the unit worried about the lack of producing creative work, in relevance to my individual project, because of this daunting decision of choosing a specific context. In order for me to continue my progress into BA3b, I really do need to select a context immediately, otherwise I will continue to struggle as I already have. As I struggled with a context for my practice, I do consider that the research I had done played an important role in the project task ‘Publish’. I got the opportunity to work in a collaboration again towards an interactive event. When I felt that I wasn’t contributing enough of my time towards the task, I took my own initiative to experiment with my skills to produce designs for the display. Despite feeling that the designs of a poster and a 3D set-up weren’t that useful towards the event itself, they played a significant role in improving my digital skills that I wanted to experiment with based upon my practice research if I were to take the responsibility of a play space designer. Working in a collaborative setting has now started to become an easily approachable task for me, because of doing many beforehand in second year has taught me what to expect. It also feels that way because I technically had been in collaboration with these people throughout the term, exchanging each other’s ideas for critique and improvement upon our research. The event being spread over the two days was very useful as well as a tool for a practice run. By evaluating Thursday’s event, we were able to produce a more fun and engaging experience the following day for the participants based on the different reactions I saw throughout the experience. Overall this unit has taught me where my passion lies within the creative industry, and I believe that is designing space for children to inhabit for their heart’s desire to explore and discover new possibilities. When I’m contemplating how to make possible work, I’m considering the effects and benefits it may have on the children, in order to ensure I’ll be creating work that’s effective. What I’ve learnt though from my experience with the publish event is it may need a trial run in order to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t. My next steps from BA3a I believe are to distinguish my context, and to develop skills required for the playground design industry. Creative/PracticeWhilst speaking with Hannah, I came to a conclusion that an ideal workshop would be to use collage materials in order to ensure that each child would not feel that their drawing skills aren't good enough to create a book cover illustration.
Based on the timetable I was shown, it appeared that they would be in a creative writing workshop beforehand, therefore I suggested that I could allow the children the option of designing a cover for their previous story or I could offer prompts for those that wish to not illustrate their story. As the event is about literature throughout the city, hence the locations of the Castle, Forum and UEA, I thought about bringing along books, from the Millenium Library in the Forum, for inspiration. May even do a 5 minute introduction where a child would choose a book and decipher the target audience to get them thinking about why they choose a particular audience and how they can achieve the same for their book cover illustrations. Hannah seemed pleased with my ideas and we're looking forward to the event. Report ResearchSecret life of 4 year olds original
Observation of 4 year olds interaction within a new social group dealing with rejection, team work and building friendships. Revealing their personalities of being a dominant (or not) member of the group and how that affects how they deal within certain play and tasks. Secret life of 4 year olds episode 1
Beginning to develop an understanding of their peers by attempting to use their peers perspectives on matters. Secret life of 4 year olds episode 2
Seeing how rapidly relationships between each other and emotions change throughout the days/week. Learning to use empathy and ways to convey their emotions to each other. The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds Episode 1
Similar behaviour as 4 year olds, yet are socially quicker due to attending school in an environment of interaction with others. The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds Episode 2
Development of Theory of Mind and their reactions to dealing with how they represent their identity and how others may interpret it. Role playing as adults, learning how would they play out if they were an adult. Enforced socialising boosting confidence of a child who was very introverted. Secret Life of 6 Year Olds Episode 1 -working out themselves by comparing to other people -curiosity of how they’re different from peers -awareness of personal identity -problem solving who’s the leader via strength competitions -then voting ‘democracy’ -Kash refuses to wear clothes he appropriates for girls – eventually joins in with make-up after seeing the fun -girls wear all sorts of clothes -stereotypes of genders, women do cleaning, boys cant wear dresses etc -learning about each others pets and heritage and how others view them based on these statements -winning proves important to them -when Beatrice becomes sad, shes comforted by a friend, but learns she can try and win next time. -eloisa wants to kiss all the boys on the lips – they all become grossed out – girls are disgusting -turn it into a game via kiss chase -eloisa asking kash for marriage – thinking about future of being married – she watches many weddings at the church – influence -topic of opinion on boy and boy marriage and babies in the future. -kash ends marriage after becoming embarrassed. -elvin aware of the trouble and starts problem solving to avoid being in trouble with the teacher – the group helps -elvin worried about disappointment – believes in truth -kash wants to take the punishment for his actions and not blame the others -roleplaying hospital, brain surgery -exploring adult concepts such as love Vast understanding of their personal identity compared to others. Understanding of gender stereotype roles in the world. Their personal influences has an impact on which types of play / roleplay they intend to join in. Voluntary team work to help a peer, problem solving an issue. Secret Life of 6 Year Olds Episode 2 -kush identifies himself king of the gang -painting each others families -parents spend too much time on their phones- punishment via not drawing her arms -interested in adult themes – such as celeb gossip -enacting a sky news tv -inventing story news – such as terrorist type events -tempted by cake given to Eloisa from Beatrice – Beatrice being protective over it -leila breaks temptation when Beatrice is out of the way -creates a girl club, about exclusivity, special if a member of the club, girl exclusive -beatrice becomes close with elouisa and she begins to start defecting from her rules and describes elouisa as a bit crazy -elvin is happy for Beatrice to have more friends -beatrice receives the winning prize of chocolate coins, and shares them with her friends -elvin becomes upset when he hears he is no longer best friends with Beatrice from Beatrice -abandons girl club to include poppy more with what she wants to play -after upsetting Beatrice, Elvin apologises and they begin playing with each other to repair their relationship Become more interested in adult themes and issues they see around them at home eg, TV news. Wanting the need of acceptance eg, exclusivity of a club or highest rank of friendship. I'm hoping to gain an insight into my target audience of young children around these ages to understand how do they behave. Watching this documentary series, I've gained a further understanding how certain children would react in certain situations and why they may occur. I've also seen how some children are developed further than other children at their age. It was a good outlook to understand which age group would be best to target as an audience. 4 year olds are still understanding how to socialise whereas the 6 year olds, who have now harnessed that skill, are beginning to take it further and use play as a route to understanding adulthood.
Practice ResearchSimple 'pizza' making for everyone. Euan instantly took up the role as 'Chef' and we became his 'assistants'. As soon as he felt like he was chef, his leadership skills kicked in. He chose how much ham slices were on each pizza and distributed the cheese and tomato how he wanted it. He'd check on us 'assistants' to make sure we were watching the timer on the ovens so that the pizza would not burn.
He ended being 'chef' whilst tucking into his home-made pizza and made the statement 'If I worked at Dominoes, this is how I'd make the pizza.'. Based on the documentary Secret Life of 4,5,6 year olds, the experts noted that when children enter role-play, it can be them playing out being an adult, which I'm seeing first hand here when Euan became a 'Chef'. He started to talk about how he's imagining himself in the future having a career as a chef for dominoes and stating that this was how he'll make the pizza's. Euan here is 7 years old, a little older than the documentary participants but he's making the same motives of consideration about his adulthood. Creative/PracticePlan 12:30 Introduction to the Workshop Show examples from Library 12:35 hand out slips for those interested in designing without their previous creative story. Genre- Choose 2 random (combine them or work with either one) Gender- Choose 1 random Age Group – Choose 1 random Title – Specifically choose 1 12:40 Begin making small and quick thumbnails 12:50 – 13:00 Start designing their main design 1:25 Finish off their designs 1:30 Finish I was glad that all of the participants took part in the workshop. I ensured that I helped all of them, including the ones who seemed to be struggling. There were even two who decided to work together and they felt more confident in talking with each other about how to design the page, which is a great sign of learning collaboration. Not all managed to finish the covers during the time slot however some wanted to continue working on them once they were home. The fact that each participant got involved and were getting creative with their designs and explaining to me about why they chose certain aspects for their narrative, I felt that my workshop ended on a successful note as they were taking in considerations about their designs. I'm so pleased with the feedback that I received from the day. It gave me assurance and confidence that I made the right options for the workshop and hopefully encouraged the creativity of the children who took part.
Practice ResearchPUPILS are set to ditch the classroom to build with brightly-coloured bricks after the launch of an innovative Lego room at a Clacton school. Lambert, D. (2016) PICTURES: Innovative Lego room set up to inspire students. Available at: <http://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/14590998.PICTURES__Innovative_Lego_room_set_up_to_inspire_students/> (Accessed: 25 July 2016). Lego keeps appearing throughout my research on play in child development. Now my previous school is adapting to include lego into its curriculum to promote creativity within learning, they're subconciously using problem solving to learn how to fulfill the challenges set before them. I think why Lego is so useful for this method is because they're very basic, which allows innovation to take place to convert these seperated little bricks to inhibit something entirely new and unique.
Report ResearchSeverance, A.D. (1919) ‘Play in education’, The Lotus Magazine, 10(3), pp. 116–117. doi: 20544087. "...motivate their own work, originating their own projects, or working out those given them." In context of learning discipline "But playing in friendship with a group of children subject to the laws of justice and kindness is perhaps discipline enough at this stage." "Play furnishes an adequate motive for the practice that brings its own discipline" Tools for playing "There are blocks to build railroads and houses, horses and carts that they may harness exactly as the horses in the street are harnessed, drawing materials that they can use for free expression of whatever stored-up impressions are in their minds, clay to be moulded into the shape of whatever they wish, a bench and tools to make toys. They assist the cooking teacher, help her market, collect the luncheon money, and keep the books. They play store, and thereby learn the fundamental arithmetic processes before they handle large numbers." "The entire play movement seems significant of a growing wisdom of life, the signs of which, as Montaigne has said, are joy, gladness and unconstrained rejoicing." How children learn through play (no date) Available at: http://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/toddler-preschool/learning-play/how-children-learn-through-play/ (Accessed: 24 June 2016). "How do young children learn? Children learn through all their senses by: Tasting, touching, seeing, hearing and smelling. Watching and copying people close to them they learn language and behaviour. Playing." "Anyone who spends any amount of time with pre-school children understands that providing them with opportunities for play provides so much more than a few minutes or hours of ‘fun’. Play also allows children to relax, let off steam, develop social skills such as concentration and co-operation, encourages the development of the imagination, develops motor skills and teaches self expression." Note To Self: Very helpful website detailing the importance of play in child development. Too much relative information to note without losing context. Look at all information on the webpage linked. Aitkenhead, D. (2007) Why We Need to Set Our Kids Free. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/03/familyandrelationships.family5 (Accessed: 21 April 2016). "...overlooking our children's ability to learn responsibility for themselves." "How do they find their way through difficult situations? Only by self-directed learning. Yes, it can be difficult and upsetting, and children are going to make mistakes. But I think they need to be given enough rope." Cocozza, P. (2014) Are iPads and tablets bad for young children? Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/08/are-tablet-computers-bad-young-children (Accessed: 28 May 2016). "...are these devices harmful to their development? Or do they encourage 'technological intelligence'?" "It is the future, and it enhances their learning massively. It has never replaced any more traditional teaching methods we use. It is another toy in the box." "It is the perfect fusion of hi-tech and outdoors, digital and concrete." "Fleet thinks that to deny children access to tablets is to 'risk having one section of society that is growing up with skills and one section that is growing up without. You might think that it doesn't matter because they will develop those skills later. But its not the same. They won't identify with it. Its not the part of who they are ... Children have been born into a world where these things exist,' she says, 'like we were born into a world where there were televisions, cars on the street and packaging on food.'" Sullivan, A. (2013) Reading for fun improves children’s brains, study confirms. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/16/reading-improves-childrens-brains (Accessed: 28 May 2016). "I would suggest that reading also introduces young people to new ideas." Wheway, R. (2015) Children should be free to play, not prisoners in their homes. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2015/oct/15/children-free-play-not-prisoners-homes (Accessed: 28 May 2016). "For countless generations children have played together just outside their own houses, In this way they learned to organise themselves, take turns, reach compromises and, of course, get daily healthy exercise. The rise and domination of the car has changed this and in most roads children cannot now play outside because of the traffic: the obesity epidemic is the result." "In play, children have to make the rules for themselves, reach agreements and make compromises without any adult intervention." Hinsliff, G. (2016) Education needs a Lego moment – more fun and fewer pointless targets. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/06/education-lego-let-our-kids-be-kids-protesters-sats (Accessed: 21 July 2016). "Let Our Kids be Kids protestors" "...that even learning through play is becoming an anxious, grimly regimented process - will resonate nonetheless." "The kids, by all accounts, had a lovely time making dens and pond-dipping and doing all the other charmingly educational things they probably do at weekends already." "For the toy company [Lego] is now actively campaigning for kids to break up their flatpack and invent something new with the pieces." "...creativity sometimes means breaking the rules." "For a start, Nicky Morgan could be crystal clear that proposals for longer school days aren't just about cramming in extra maths but about making school places where kids do sometimes make dens and play sport and draw, of only in after-school clubs." "...by instigating a national day of Learning Through Fun, where schools swap good practice in imaginative teaching." Meng, T.K. (2016) Everyone is born creative, but it is educated out of us at school. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/may/18/born-creative-educated-out-of-us-school-business (Accessed: 20 June 2016). "Businesses urgently need innovative people," "Creativity is the most powerful competitive advantage a business can have." "... empowering people to use their imagination." "I believe everyone is born creative, but it is educated out of us at school, where we are taught literacy and numeracy." "Young children fizz with ideas. But the moment they go to school, they begin to lose the freedom to explore, take risks and experiment." "When it comes to the right and the left brain, they need to be able to use both." Oksman, O. (2016) Are gendered toys harming childhood development? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/28/toys-kids-girls-boys-childhood-development-gender-research (Accessed: 21 July 2016). "While it may seem like a trivial issue, toys help children to learn new skills and develop intellectually, says Dinella. Dolls and pretend kitchens are good at teaching kids cognitive sequencing of events and early language skills. Building blocks like Lego and puzzles teach spatial skills, which help set the groundwork for learning math principals down the line. 'Both genders lose out if we put kids on one track and they can't explore,' says Dinella." Manzoor, S. (2016) Could Steiner schools have a point on children, tablets and tech? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/14/steiner-schools-children-tablets-tech (Accessed: 21 July 2016). "The report noted that 'pupils do not use computers or the internet when in school but staff have ensure that they have learned about internet safety." "... so what appealed to me about Steiner was that it stressed that the work of children was play." "... emphasised the importance of understanding how young children naturally learn to lear, and of providing educational experiences which build on their natural interests and curiosity.' explains David Whitbread, director of the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning at Cambridge University." (NOTE TO SELF - Research this man) "'The needs of our young people are that when they leave school, they become part of a world that is highly likely to include technology ... we should be doing all we can to help them be prepared for that world, just as we would for the physical world that is around them'" "But when used creatively, 'Technology can engage the children because of their experience of what they are doing at home, where they may be watching television or gaming'." "Asma Al-Deraa has a seven-year-old son at the Iona school and a 10-year-old daughter in mainstream state education. “My daughter is being taught inside the box with lots of testing,” she says. “But with my son – he is more creative and trying to dig for the things that are beyond.” When her daughter returns from school she will reach for the iPad, but her son “is not asking for that or the PlayStation – he just wants to draw and play”." "In Kirsty Thompson’s classroom at the Iona school, the children don’t even have any ready-made toys in the room. They have to use their imagination to make what they want. Here boys and girls are playing together, rather than self-segregating, to make towers from wooden blocks and to play dressing up with cotton and woollen sheets." Barnard, J. (2006) The nesting instinct. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/15/familyandrelationships.family3 (Accessed: 28 May 2016). "Building a den is great for encouraging children's imagination and reinforces their sense of self. "New research by academics in the US and Scandinavia is showing both that dens are crucial to children's development" "Kids don't experience a space primarily through visuals. They are interested in what they can do in it. They like bushes. They like hidden corners. As urban planners, for example, we can look at the walk to school, we can look at open spaces in housing blocks and try to make them not only secure, but also challenging." "Sobel, following a successful pilot scheme with Steiner schools, is fighting to get den-building included in the curriculum. He reports that teachers find the dens the children have built themselves prove particularly conducive to meditative activities, such as writing journals. The toy company Mattel has been so struck by the potential of dens to improve creative thinking, that in their US head office they've installed one, complete with a life-sized tree trunk - a place where its (adult) employees are sent to brainstorm." (NOTE TO SELF - Article gives tips on how to create a den) Oldfield, E. (2015) Playtime is crucial for a child’s development – cut it at your peril. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/sep/17/playtime-child-development-learning-cut-at-peril (Accessed: 28 May 2016). "...for me, rushing across the playground at break was the only time my imagination really came alive. It was a moment of freedom, when I could recreate the worlds I had read about in class." "In 2012, a review of more than 40 studies highlighted the relationship between play and creative problem-solving, cooperation and logical thinking. Research by Edward Fisher also found that play can enhance early development by anything from 33% to 67% by increasing adjustment, improving language skills and reducing social and emotional problems. This has positive implications for both educational development and everyday intellectual life." Ward, L. (2016) Children should learn mainly through play until age of eight, says Lego. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/15/children-learn-play-age-eight-lego (Accessed: 21 April 2016). "If parents and governments push children towards numeracy and literacy earlier and earlier, it means they miss out on the early play-based learning that helps to develop creativity, problem-solving and empathy..." "Rasmussen laments that “barriers in systems – school systems, homes, longstanding institutions that run on their own structures and methodologies” make it a “heavy, heavy task” to change things. Here in the UK – with a school starting age some three years earlier than that of our Scandinavian neighbours, “instructional” learning from the outset and external testing of seven-year-olds in literacy and numeracy – the barriers look pretty solid." "Lego identifies five types of play – physical, symbolic, with rules, with objects, and pretence – and points to the variety of skills developed through each. Even tech-driven play – that source of guilt and respite for so many parents – can fit in: not mindless screen-gawping but activities in which children can “engage with the technology”, or what Lego calls “hands-on, minds-on”. Its second definition of play is a playful state of mind in which, Rasmussen says, “you are open and try different things and are in a positive flow”." "A Cambridge University project, funded by the foundation, saw children devise, tell and act out stories with Lego before writing them down, with play shown to boost narrative and writing skills, as well as interaction and cooperation. The Cambridge study centre will now look into how early play relates to other aspects of young children’s development, explore what happens to the brain during play and conduct a longitudinal study examining what promotes children’s playfulness and how it helps learning and wellbeing." This compilation is of articles found relating to my research report. A lot of this involve the topic of schooling and education as it's such an important role in a child's life as they develop. It's good to see an outlook of how different schoolings can affect a child's cognitive and physical skills, as well as seeing personal opinions of they're own children behaviours or their childhood to help gather a further understanding how schooling may affect a childs development for my research report. I gathered up majority of the quotes I feel were most defining in the articles in relevance to my research for later use when writing the report.
Practice ResearchIntroducing Project Bloks
https://projectbloks.withgoogle.com
Inspired by the idea of the use of Lego to help children learn, I discovered ProjectBloks by Google to simplify coding to a childs understanding. I agree with their statement that children learn through '...experiences that are playful, tactile and collaborative.' because not only does it improve their motor skills but it's also a very memorable way of learning through kinesthetic and tactile handling.
Interaction is important to my design for projects. I like to have the audience use my work as it feels that I've been able to convey a useful piece that is of either help or enjoyment to someone, and thats when I feel accomplished. Practice ResearchWeller, C. (2016) There are no classrooms at this Swedish elementary school. Available at: <http://www.thisisinsider.com/swedish-school-teaches-kids-on-mountains-2016-7> (Accessed: 25 July 2016). At the bilingual Vittra Telefonplan school, which opened near Stockholm in 2012, there are no classrooms. Instead, Danish designer Rosan Bosch created a colorful open floor plan where kids can scale a mountain, duck into a cave, and chat by the tree. From my research for my report I've discovered that Scandinavian schooling system differs from the British's. I found this Swedish school's environment designed by a Dane inspiring because it was an adaptable space for what the child wished it for. I feel that I can relate to the space because compared to our studio space at University, they feed the same concept. There's room for adaption and inhibiting a creative space. I like this concept because it allows the child to take control of how they want to learn. I can also see they have accessibility to laptops which allows free-roam to choose the location of the learning.
I'd love to be able to create a piece that allows a child to take control of how to learn from it because I feel its important to allow a child to take control as it gives them the chance to use their independance and learn through interaction. Practice Research
Due to boredom, Euan takes his initiative to use his imagination and rule-making skills to invent a new game using purely a ball and ourselves. He shows his rules through enacting and performing the positions before initiating the game.
Despite being the inventor of the game and having the power to change the rules, he doesn't try to amend the rules so that he can win. From what I've learnt this could be him exhibiting fairness withing a team environment. I think it's fortunate to have Euan for seeing first-hand approach to a child, in my target audience range, use play to exhibit skills. However I feel that it's a bit biased to look at only one child first-hand as all children are different and inhibit different mind-sets and skills. Although seeing children on the 4,5,6 year old documentary was a good secondary resource, I feel that I need to see other children use an environment to play/learn first hand to see what the documentary may have left/edit out. |
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