How do past experiences in the Arts impact on your prospective teaching of the Arts?

Arts Education

Assignment 2: Folio

Word limit: 2400 words (+/- 10%)

Weighting: 50%

After you have read this information, head over to the Assignment 2 Q&A discussion board to ask any questions and see what your peers are saying about this assignment.

Assignment overview

In order to demonstrate your learning from this unit, you are required to collect appropriate resources related to each of the Arts’ key learning areas/subjects (Drama, Dance, Music, Media and Visual Arts). The purpose of this assignment task is to develop a folio of suitable resources that you can utilise in your teaching in the future. Additionally, you are required to engage and reflect upon your role, as both artist and audience, within the context of the Arts and this unit.

This assignment supports unit learning outcomes 4 and 5.

Assignment details

Part A: Folio – Arts resources (approximately 1800 words)

Throughout this unit, you have been exposed to a variety of ideas within the creative arts. In this assignment task, you are asked to select one resource for each of the Arts’ learning areas/subjects (Drama, Dance, Music, Media, Visual Arts) for a total of five resources.

A resource might be a painting, a piece of music, a book or a plastic bottle. For each of your resources, you will need to describe the following points:

  • The resource, artefact and/or stimuli that you have chosen.
  • The appropriate Australian Curriculum level, or your own state or territory curriculum year level, and/or age level for each specific resource.
  • The rationale (big picture) of why you have chosen this resource.
  • How the resource enables students to learn as ‘artist and/or as audience’, and ‘make and respond’. With this in mind, consider the teaching strategies that can support creativity, imagination, self-expression and aesthetic awareness in children.
  • The Arts elements, languages or conventions that will be developed.
  • The learning outcomes (within or across domains) that you as a teacher will assess.
  • How the resource may be used to connect or inform other aspects of curriculum and/or cross-curriculum priorities (e.g. Literacy, History, Science, Physical Education, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, Sustainability, Social Capabilities, and Critical and Creative Thinking).
  • Provide insight into how a teacher would take children’s interests and skills into account and demonstrate inclusive practices.

You must use academic referencing as required (APA 6th Edition).

Part B: Reflection (approximately 600 words)

You are to write a reflective piece of writing that draws upon your personal experiences and beliefs towards Arts education.

Writing in the first person, discuss with reference to some of the activities that you have undertaken during the course of the unit, as well as your own experiences in education as a student and a pre-service teacher.

In your reflection, you may wish to consider some of the following points:

  • All teachers have a role in supporting the rights of children to a quality Arts education.
  • Making and responding in the Arts.
  • The importance of reflection, constructive feedback, and reflective learning in the creative process.
  • The value of making ‘mistakes’.
  • The role of the teacher as an advocate for the Arts in an increasingly prescriptive education system.
  • How knowledge and sensitivity to other cultures can be used productively in order to make a successful creative environment.
  • Creating learning environments supportive of creativity.
  • What would an education look like without the Arts?
  • How do past experiences in the Arts impact on your prospective teaching of the Arts?
  • Which readings, learning materials and activities challenged your ideas?
  • What strategies might you need to adopt in order to overcome any trepidation that you have in teaching these learning areas in the classroom?

Note: you do not have to cover all these points, only those that support your personal experience and reflection.

Throughout your teaching journey, you will be required to use your relevant national and/or state or territory curriculum. To help you build capability in this area, and to help further prepare you for placements, we allow you to choose whether you would like to use the relevant national and/or state or territory curriculum in your assignments. For more information specific to your assignments for this unit, please seek advice from your eLAs and/or your Unit Coordinator.

Supporting resources

The following Student Hub resources will support you in completing this assignment:

  • Review the Referencingsection of the Student Hub for tips on ‘Referencing the Australian Curriculum’