DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Name: Olivia Chak

Course: EDC 2200-01

Professor: Sharon Prince

Due: October 10, 2013

 

 

 

            In our class, we were given two articles to read. We had discussions and we summarized the main points of each article. Our class discussed the differences and the similarities of the two articles. One article is called, “Talking to Young Children About Their Art” and the author is Robert Schirrmacher. The other article is called, “Praise in the Classroom” and the author is Randy Hitz and Amy Driscoll.

 In the article “Talking to Young Children About Their Art” written by Robert Schirrmacher, it talks about young children’s art. We all want young children to grow to appreciate and create their own art in a way that it is satisfying to them. Rather than resorting to platitudes, criticism, or interrogations of children’s creative endeavors by commenting on the artistic elements in their work. When used sparingly, this approach will help facilitate children’s artistic and aesthetic development.  Schirrmacher talks about six traditional approaches. The six approaches are the judgmental approach, the complimentary approach, the valuing approach, questioning approach, probing approach and the correction approach.

            The complimentary approach stops conversation, giving no feedback for example, saying “Oh, that’s great!” Where the complimentary approach makes comments like, “That’s a beautiful painting!” or, “Oh, how lovely!” or “Yes, very nice!” (Schirrmacher, 1986, p.3) When using the complimentary approach, there are opportunities that are missed for rich verbal dialogue.

            In the judgmental approach however, the adult tells children whether the artwork is good or great by saying, “That’s great, Susan!” When you rank a child’s work as good, better or best, it simply tells children that any and all their work is good. As a result, the work becomes meaningless to children and we lose our credibility with the child.

            The valuing approach is when we tell children, “I like that a lot” or, “Oh, I just love it”. It is important that we tell children that we appreciate all their time and effort they spend making their art. Schirrmacher states, “However, rewarding and encouraging a child for the process is far different than putting your person stamp of approval on the finished product.” Another example stated by Schirrmacher is that, “Valuing the product over the process is a very limited way of viewing art especially since the process is often much more important to the child than the final product (Francks, 1979).”

            The questioning approach basically asks, “What the artwork is” or “What it’s supposed to be. Schirrmacher made a good point where an older or very verbal child may respond, however many children may not verbalize what they have represented on a personal level. When we want to know what something is the children would shrug their shoulders. “Much of young children’s art is private egocentric and not intending to look like something. Consequently, it is unwise and even hurtful to ask children at this stage, “What is it?” (Smith, 1983)

            Another approach is the probing approach. Within this approach, it does have a value to encourage children to talk about their art and is not like the other approaches, place more value on the product then the process, or on the adult’s judgment rather than the child’s. “Although it is a great approach, it should be used sparingly, since it grows stale with repeated use” said Schirrmacher. (1986, p.5) An example from the article is when first grader, Adrian told the other child in the class not to show their artwork to the new student because “She will make you tell a real life story about it and then you tell a real long story about it and then you have to wait while she writes it across your picture.” (Schirrmacher, 1986, p.4)  This article states that it is best to encourage children instead of mandating children talk about their artwork.

            In the last approach, the correcting approach enables children to improve their art by more closely approximating reality. “Children’s art is not intended as a copy of the real world. Child artists may freely choose to add or omit details,” said Schirrmacher. An example of correcting approach is, “Very good, but next time, remember to draw stripes on your tiger. Tigers have wide stripes.” (Schirrmacher, 1986, p.5)

            The article also talks about the element of art. “The element of art provides good framework for responding to children. You can identify and organize the artistic elements in several ways (Fisher,1978; Lasky & Mukerji, 1980; Hardiman & Zernich, 1981) seems both manageable and developmentally appropriate and developmentally appropriate for talking to young children about their art: color, line, mass or volume, pattern, shape or form, space and texture.” affirms Schirrmacher. (1986, p.5)

            In the article, “Praise in the Classroom” written by Randy Hitz and Amy Driscoll, it talks about the general praises in a classroom. Hitz and Driscoll stated that most educators agree that children need to be in more supportive, friendly environments. However, recent research shows that some teacher challenges to create such environments by using praise may actually be counterproductive.

            Some praises have the potential effects to a child’s self-esteem and autonomy. “It seems that certain kinds of praises may set up even the most capable students for failure. No student can always be “good” or “nice” or “smart”. In order to avoid negative evaluations, students may tend to not take chances and attempt difficult tasks.” (Hitz & Driscoll, p.1).

            When using praise as a motivator, many teachers attempt to use praise as a form of positive reinforcement in order to motivate students to achieve and behave in positive ways. Hitz and Driscoll stated, “Elser (1983) reports that correlations between teacher’s rates of praise and students’ learning gains are not always positive, and even when correlations are positive, they are usually too low to be considered significant.”

            The article states that using praise as a classroom management tool is not the most powerful variable in controlling deviant behavior and maintaining student attention. Instead, the smoothness and maintenance of the momentum of classroom instruction and activities were the most powerful variable in controlling deviant behavior and maintaining student attention. Therefore, it doesn’t contribute to effective classroom management. That’s why using praise as a classroom management tool is not the most powerful.

            However, the terms “effective praise” and encouragement are often used by researchers and other professionals to describe the same approach. The word praise means “to commend the worth of or to express approval or admiration.” (Hitz and Driscoll, p.2)

            Both articles are similar because in the article, “Talking to Young Children About Their Art”, it talks about the different approaches to encourage children about their art and in the article, “Praise in the Classroom”, it explains how praising and encouragement are rather similar. Encouraging a child about their art is important because it helps build their self-esteem and helps motivate children in keeping them positive. In addition, the articles both state the positive and negative aspects of praising and encouragement.

            What stood out to me most is that in the article, “Praise in the Classroom” was that “the smoothness and maintenance of the momentum of classroom instruction and activities were the most powerful variable in controlling deviant behavior and maintaining student attention.” (Hitz and Driscoll, p.2) I agree with that statement because my experience while working with children is that you do have to keep the momentum of the classroom instructions and activities because it keeps the children busy. The children understand what is expected of them because they’re given instructions, while they’re doing their activities. I find that keeping children busy with fun and engaging hands on activities promotes a positive behavior. Clearly, that’s why I agree with the statement above.

           

 

 

 

Citation

 

Driscoll, Amy and Hitz, Randy. "Praise in the Classroom." p.1-3 Print.

 

Schirrmacher, Robert. "Talking With Young Children About Their Art." Young Children July       1986 p.3-7, 13 Print.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.