STAR-POST (Art) January 2020 FINAL_STAR Post Art Jan 2020 | Page 54

takeaway. In my own classroom, I give
students some choices, e.g. decisions
on subject and content of the work,
but the inquiry process is still more
guided so as to cater to the younger
students I teach in the primary school.
I also find the idea of him displaying
the students’ process work (sketches,
prototypes) around the art classroom
useful as it encourages students to
continually think about their work
whenever they can. This display is like
a form of journaling where teachers
are able to see the progression in
the students’ thinking as the lessons
progress.
Wee San, Master Teacher (Art) from
STAR also shared her experiences in
using formative assessment in the
art classroom. She emphasised that
reflections are important components
to guiding students to the set of
learning objectives or success criteria
that teachers want to achieve. The
reflections also inform our own
teaching and allow us to better help
learners if we are given insights on
their struggles or eureka moments
during lessons. As a teacher, I also
need to reflect on which tool could
be relevant at different learning
junctures to develop self-directed
learning amongst students. For
example, I would like to implement
simpler checklists for the lower primary
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students so as to help them gauge their
own learning and progress for their
artwork.
The book -- Softening the Edges by
Katie White, was given to participants as
a resource at the end of the workshop.
This allowed us to read and learn more
about various assessment strategies after
the workshop so that we could continue
to design appropriate assessments to
address students’ needs and promote
artistic growth.
Thank you STAR and all the art teachers
who shared generously at the workshop!
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