Gifted and Talented Art and Design Mr Chris Phillips Leader of the Art Network (HOD Roundhay) A Practical session exploring : 1. How we know someone is Gifted and Talented in Art and Design 2. How can we challenge these students in the lessons we teach – sharing of good practice and ideas

What do you do?  What do you do to challenge your Talented students?  How to you create Challenge in your classroom?  Do you know who is Talented in your classroom? hcollege.co.uk/image s/Art%20girls.JPG

The Theory  Artists, parents and educators often disagree on the characteristics of such children.  Artistic talent does not normally reveal itself as early as musical talent, and there are still no reliable tests for identifying the artistically gifted.  We rely largely on the subjective arguments of artists and art teachers.

Gifted famous artists  Da Vinci excelled at everything. He took up art at the age of fifteen, but all his great work was done after the age of forty.  Matisse and van Gogh had no idea they had talent as children. They didn’t start painting till they were in their twenties.  Picasso was extraordinary. He was painting like an adult artist while still in his teens but then, his father was an art teacher.

What can we use to identify Talented students 1. Artistically gifted children show fluency of imagination and expression. These children can’t get their ideas down fast enough. They don’t need stimulation. One idea leads to another. 2. They might have a highly developed sensibility in certain areas. For example, movement, space, rhythm, colour. (One small boy I taught was only interested in tempera paints and lost interest if other media were used. Another child drew only figures showing a lot of movement or action.) 3. They show integration of thinking, perceiving and feeling. 4. There is a distinctive quality to their imagination. These children have faith in their ideas and don’t find the need to copy. 5. There’s a directness of expression. The gifted child can be very expressive but only if the experience motivating him or her to paint, has been personally meaningful. Such a child rarely responds well to classroom activities where the teacher sets the topic 6. There is a high degree of self identification with the subject and the medium. Artistically gifted children live their art. They are in their work. It is part of them. Even the medium is often like an extension of the fingers. Their work is intensely personal and shows an inner need for visual expression.

Do You Agree !! 7. Most of these children draw well before the age of two – usually by fifteen months if given the chance. 8. They are always above average in intelligence. While studies indicate that all those gifted in art score well in IQ tests, the reverse is not always true. Many with high IQs are below average in art! 9. All show extraordinary skill with the medium. 10. There is usually a sensibility for design. 11. Each child is highly individual and inventive. 12. The artistically gifted child works frequently on a favorite art form. No encouragement is needed.

Recommendations for parents and teachers  1. Regard your child’s art as a record of his or her personality.  2. Don’t put too much emphasis on the end product.  3. Display the work of all of your children – not just the one best at art.  4. Teach your child to respect the work of others.  5. Don’t correct wrong proportions.  6. Don’t encourage competitiveness in art.  7. Provide your child with an appropriate space for work, and suitable materials.  8. Send your child to art classes.  9. Don’t show children how to paint

Challenge in the classroom Nation Strategies Guidance 1.Focus the teaching 2. Providing challenge 3. Making concepts and Conventions Explicit 4. Structure the Learning 5. Make Learning Active 6. Make Learning Engaging and Motivating 7. Develop well paced lessons with high levels of interaction 8. Independent learning 9. Build Reflection

My teaching  Examples of sculpture, sketchbooks and books which have been outstanding in quality and standard.  Working A2 size has challenged my gifted Artist and looking at Teesha Moore has Inspired them all.

Now its your turn If we get time?  In groups of two or three work as a team to create a small abstract sculpture using STIXX as your material.