Assessing Student Engagement & Learning
Now that my group has become exposed to VTS, I can see them becoming
more interested in the discussions. I think this is because they have become
more comfortable with participating; there was a big difference between this
last discussion and the first. Since my group consists of primarily art majors,
they were able to identify something about the painting. One of them made the
connection that the painting looked like the work of Vermeer, and one of the others
students confirmed their conjecture. The student who brought up Vermeer started
talking about Vermeer’s work and made connections between the painting we were
observing and his other works. This deeper thinking on her part I think
prompted the others to make other interpretations that a stage 3 or 4 thinker
would. I think my participants realized more in this discussion than in past ones
that they are allowed to assume whatever they think is happening in the image.
Their interpretations became more detailed but each participant had a different
interpretation of the image. I think in past discussions they were a little
uncomfortable saying what they were really thinking, or providing a different
interpretation.
Reflecting on Practice
This discussion was better than the week before because as I said the
engagement was better than it ever has been. I felt alright facilitating the
discussion. I am still learning that it is hard to paraphrase. I noticed this
time that I tried to make sure that when I was done paraphrasing; it made sense
to the person who I was paraphrasing. In the past discussions, I would change
the way I asked (what do you see that
makes you say that?) but I didn’t do that this time. In a way it was easier
for me because it is such a straight forward question that is easy for the
participants to answer.
Planning
What I want to work on more than anything is paraphrasing. For each of
the VTS discussions so far, I have used an image that I am not familiar with or
have seen but never studied. For this week, I want to take the time to study
the image I will use so that when my group is talking, I know a little more
about the image. Also, if I know what they are referring to, it will be easier
for me to quickly point to the area on the image. When I study the next image,
I am going to practice VTS by myself and possibly with a person who isn’t in my
usual VTS group just so that I can work on my paraphrasing.
Wow, Dionne, as a person who wasn't an art major, I would be intimidated in this group. Or I would learn a lot about art! :) It was interesting reading your post about Stage 4 viewers because it's so different from the observations my students made. My students seemed to be working toward forming the narrative as a group, but I hope they progress to making their own individual meanings like your students are doing. Like you, I would like familiarize myself with the image prior to the session, but I'm afraid I might be more tempted to interject throughout the discussion. I'm eager to see how it works for you, then I may give it a try!
ReplyDeleteREALLY insightful comments, Dionne, and very reflective. I am constantly amazed at how VTS makes you as the facilitator reflect on your teaching in the moment. I've never had this happen with other teaching strategies, but I do it constantly with VTS. Paraphrasing is a challenge with any group, but particularly with those that have art experience. Trying to think of new words to use is a steep hill to climb because the level of vocabulary and thinking is already high. As you get even more familiar with the questions, it will free up brain space for you to really be "in the moment" with your paraphrasing. Sounds like you are already on your way. Please be sure to watch how the Vermeer expert impacts the thinking and discussion of the others. She may raise the bar for everyone (Vygotsky would be proud!)
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ReplyDeleteDionne -
I am glad to hear that your group is becoming more comfortable with VTS and engaging on a deeper level. I am interested in your insights with adults which will be different than the experience I am having with 2nd and 3rd graders. For me, I envision working in a community arts setting and if that is true, I should become comfortable using VTS with many different age groups and levels of art viewers. How does having advanced viewers effect your performance? I would think that the discussion would move on a faster and deeper level maybe requiring some more familiarity with the artwork. Like you said if one is more familiar with the work then one could plan and anticipate areas of probable discussion and themes. This would seem to me to help with keeping the VTS discussion flowing and responding quicker to the speakers especially at pointing out areas and paraphrasing. I know paraphrasing is challenging to me too and I want to improve, so I will try this approach that you mentioned. I like the idea of a dry run with another person to get some feedback. I also can relate to what you said about using the standard phrase “What do you see that makes you say that?” You said that it seemed to help when you did not change it around too much. I think I can see your point. It may help with flow of the discussion (especially at the beginning of our training) and not sound too disjointed. Sounds like you had a good experience. Keep up the good work!
Kaj
Yes, it is very important at these early stages of your practice to stick to the questions as written. Once you've committed them to memory and see how smoothly the discussion flows as a result, you can spend more mental energy on really listening and paraphrasing.
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