Teaching Art or Teaching to Think Like an Artist Cindy Foley Transcript

Cindy Foley, Executive Assistant Managing director and Director of Learning and Experience at Columbus Museum of Art, talks on Pedagogy Fine art, or Instruction to Think similar an Creative person? at TEDxColumbus. Beneath is the full transcript.

Heed to the MP3 Sound here: Teaching art or education to think similar an artist past Cindy Foley at TEDxColumbus

TRANSCRIPT:

Okay. We're going to get started with some kindergarten image-word friction match. I would like each of you to determine what is the word that matches the paradigm in number 7. Okay? So starting to come up with some ideas. Proficient. Get them in your head because I want to share with y'all what my daughter Adeline chose.

Adeline chose art and every bit her parent I thought that was awesome. But this is an incorrect answer according to the testing guide. The right answer is mud and I'chiliad sure that's what you all chose. Right, correct.

How tin can something so nebulous be and then concrete? Really I think this quiz is a plumbing equipment analogy for the problem in fine art teaching today. Art education has been impacted by the standards and testing civilisation like all other disciples and in a lot of ways we've been focusing on teaching things that are concrete. Things like elements of art, art history and foundational skills.

In essence, we're instruction things that we tin test and assess. But I believe art instruction needs to focus on developing learners that think similar artists. Learners that are creative, curious, seek questions, develop ideas and play, which means we demand to be much more intentional well-nigh how nosotros communicate art's disquisitional value and how nosotros teach for creativity.

So, creativity. Let's practice a piffling instance making around this. Most of this you know. And then creativity is existence touted by business organization leaders like the folks at IBM, by like educational reformists, by folks in — economists similar even Dan Pinkish as the number one thing we need for students' success, economic growth and general happiness. Nosotros also know the creativity scores in this country are on the decline. The Torrance Creativity Exam, which has been administered for decades, has now shown since the 1990's a decline especially in ages half dozen to 12 in the United States.

We as well know due to Sir Kenneth Robinson's now famous TED talk the schools are fundamentally and foundationally challenged to cultivate inventiveness. Merely I'grand going to share with you some enquiry that the Wallace Foundation did with Harvard's Project Zero in which they plant the number one thing quality art education can exercise is develop the capacity to think creatively and the chapters to make connections.

And then then why is in that location such a disconnect betwixt creativity and art pedagogy? I call back there is actually a couple of reasons why. Only we're going to focus on communication and messaging. At present those of us in the field we have been working to really motion art education out of a defensive place. We've been trying to make a case for our own existence and we're trying to move information technology more towards an offensive message especially around creativity. Simply we're not there withal.

So we're going to place that for another talk at another time. Instead I want to focus on a message that I think is much more problematic and pervasive — and I detest to put you on the spot — they really experience you are to arraign. I mean not you per se merely yous equally a group of people who actually really support fine art education.

So let me give yous some context. As a parent, I oftentimes hear adults saying things to children as well as to other adults and to the educators, things like this: "Oh my goodness! Look how well you've fatigued that horse. Information technology'southward and so realistic. You're then artistic!" You've heard messages like that earlier?

Hither is another one I call back I hear almost daily: "Oh Cindy! I actually support art education. It is very of import. I hateful I'thousand not creative. I don't take a artistic bone in my trunk. I can't even depict a stick effigy." Right? These messages are incredibly problematic and the more than – you may not think they are a big deal — but the more than society pushes them out and gild continues to foster these cliché notions of what is creativity the harder it is for those in the field similar me to begin moving towards education for creativity.

Okay. Teaching for inventiveness. What do I mean by that? I believe didactics for creativity is embodying the habits the artists utilize. Habits, in particular there are 3 that I think are essential to creativity. They are: ane) comfort with ambiguity; two) idea generation; and three) transdisciplinary enquiry. We're going to talk near those in a moment. But get-go nosotros're going to do a little audition participation.

I would like each of y'all to employ something on your person, paper, pencil, your program, phone, glasses – information technology doesn't matter. And I'd like you lot – y'all're just going to get a couple of minutes, to actually create something that represents the idea of metaphor. Become ahead.

[Noises in the audience]

All right. Be honest. How many of you had a surge of panic when I simply asked you lot to do that. I want you to savor that sensation. You actually are off the hook. But I want you to relish that sensation for a moment. What you just experienced is I think the number one obstacle to creative work. That discomfort, that discomfort is ambivalence. It'due south 'not knowing'. I actually learned this from a group of teachers. We'd been working with them and they told us: "You know what, we find it it's really difficult to engage our students in creative work in item open-ended projects. Information technology just makes it really hard."

Ironically enough, later on that afternoon we had that same grouping of teachers and we gave them a challenge similar to the one I just gave you. Interestingly enough, almost immediately, a couple of them announced they needed to leave for the day. Some other group needed a break at that moment and still others stayed in the classroom just refused to participate in the action.

What we realized is students struggle with ambiguity because we all do. Now artists, on the other hand, realize that ambiguity is office of the process. They accept it, they identify it, and they tackle it head on. So if artists are doing this, can't you imagine if art education was a identify where nosotros knew students could get to set for lives of non knowing?

I work at the Columbus Museum of Art and for years at present we provided the kind of art pedagogy that our community requested. And so for case, when we had an exhibition of the work of Claude Monet, we taught nigh his history, we allowed folks to experiment with his materials and his process. And then we finally would create lesson plans and allow others to do the same.

In essence what we were doing was generating content and allowing folks to make mini-Monets. But and then it dawned on us nosotros were non actually engaging them in what fabricated Monet Monet. And that was the way he thought. Monet'southward ideas were revolutionary. He questioned the natural world, the way we see. He questioned the politics of the time. And that's what fabricated his work and so exceptional. It was at this moment we realized we needed to be pedagogy for idea generation.

So I'm going to have yous jump with me now from i artist to some other. The Lego movie gave us such a souvenir when they presented the movie this summer. More than or less, what they said was creativity is non the Lego kid in the direction booklet but creativity is the saucepan of Legos and the potential for ideas within. Legos are just another material like cartoon materials to help u.s. make ideas manifest.

What I loved near this movie was the idea of the master builder or the person who has the courage to have ideas. But it dawned on me in much of education the master builders are the educators. They're the ones who take ideas, great lesson plans. Right? Only students are secondary to that process. Students are often more than of the artist'southward assistant or sometimes fifty-fifty just the factory worker getting the project done.

Visualize a classroom full of master builders. Right? A classroom full of primary builders at play. Yeah, play. Play is essential. Play is a sure burn manner to kick-start ideation Artists play. They play in a number of ways. They either play with materials until ideas begin to manifest or they play with ideas until they realize what media or materials they need to bring that into reality.

Imagine an art educational activity where educators were comfortable with the ambiguous classroom where students' ideas and interests lead the learning. Then I need to be honest with you. Aught in my career, my education, or my educational activity has influenced my thinking every bit much as being married to an creative person. I am married to Sean Foley and what I can tell yous about artists is that they're voracious researchers. They will research anything, baroque things, correct? And what I've learned is that they'll exercise annihilation that furthers their thinking.

Permit me give you lot an example. Nearly 10 years ago, Sean had this idea that if painting were dead what if he were doctor Frankenstein. He immediately rereads Mary Shelley. He rewatches all the classic horror films. He and so devours books at the library on natural history, history of medicine, anomalies of nature. He and then starts purchasing taxidermic animals.

But then he informs me that we demand to go to London. He must go to London in order to study the museums of the pre-Enlightenment and in particular the early operating theaters. And then in essence, his research manifests and Sean ends upwardly making monsters of his ain like this ane. So what Sean was engaged in is transdisplinary enquiry, or research that serves marvel.

Imagine if the future of education was non about discrete disciplines but rather was about disciplines similar maths, art and science beingness in service to ideas. What kind of spaces might nosotros create in order to foster that type of thinking? Could we create centers for creativity where nosotros cultivate and champion and measure this type of thinking?

So I don't want you for a infinitesimal to first championing art education. Only I practise want you to be thoughtful about the challenge. When we say we want inventiveness in our schools we often say 'Don't kill the arts'. But today I desire that boxing cry to address art'southward critical value "Don't kill the ideas". I want my own children to call up like artists no matter what career path they may choose. I believe art education is essential for 21st century learning. And with your assistance we can flip the counterproductive messaging and allow our educators to develop centers for creativity where ideas are king and curiosity reigns.

Thank you.

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