What I intended my participants to do and learn
I developed a Speed Making session to enable participants to explore one creative practice in a fun and engaging way. The activity included the following learning objectives aligned to UAL’s Creative Attributes Framework:
Primary
- Practice observational and visual literacy skills (Curiosity)
- Develop practice-based skills in a specific medium, e.g. drawing (Self-efficacy)
Secondary
- Develop confidence within a specific creative practice (Self-efficacy)
- Reflect on creative process and communicate ideas (Communication)
A description of the activity
As per my initial plans, my Speed Making activity asked participants to make a piece of creative work about a physical object – a white mug that I had brought with me – in 5 minutes or less.
Following a short introduction of the session, I invited participants to partake in short physical warm-up exercise. This was designed for participants to think about their own physicality in relation to the object; their different embodied practices and their tactile investigation of the object.
I also embedded the idea of chance and choice within the session design, and gave participants the option to:
- Choose from an arts practice listed on screen / or their own (choice)
- Choose from a pile of cards (up-side-down with the writing invisible) that listed a number of arts practices (chance)
Participants then made a succinct piece of work about the object, exploring some of the following practices. (Arts practices in bold were the ones chosen by participants.)
- Curation
- Collage
- Dance
- Découpage
- Drawing
- Film
- Performance
- Photography
- Storytelling
- Writing
- Poetry
- Screenwriting
In the stack, participants could have also found a ‘wild card’ that asked them to make a choice themselves, and a ‘try again’ card, which asked them to choose another arts practice. I added these to create a more playful session and add additional randomisation into the exercise.
Surprisingly, all participants chose an arts practice at random and even though some of them voiced being nervous about some of the art forms, for example performance, none of them chose one from the list displayed on screen.
How and why I thought the activity would enable participants to reach the intended outcomes
I designed the session in a way the felt inclusive to different creative backgrounds and practices – giving participants as much choice as possible. In addition, I integrated elements of play within the session, which were designed to get people’s attention but also for them to relax into the activity.
Not knowing which art form participants would work with, encouraged them to be curious, experiment and ask questions. The session itself was also designed to give participants a lot of freedom to play with different art forms and to experiment, giving them ownership over their process as well as final result.
I also provided participants with lots of space to discuss and communicate, helping them reflect on their creative process.
My interpretation of what took place and what was learned
When participants had chosen their arts practice, the room went a little more quiet. When I checked in with participants, they voiced that they were contemplating on how to solve their individual challenges. It took everyone a moment to get started.
Participants then went on to write a poem, shoot a short film, make a collage, … about the learning object. Participants then had the opportunity to share their work with the rest of the group. I asked everyone to respond to the following questions:
- What did you make?
- How did you make it?
- Why did you make it?
At the end of the session, we openly discussed as a group how participants found the process, what difference it made to them to be able to freely choose an art form, and what benefits the session had.
I thought participants really engaged in their different art forms and applied creative thinking and problem solving to the exercise. Some participants also collaborated. For example, one participant asked for another participant to act in his film. It meant that the process and final work became much richer.
Aside from gaining more confidence in a specific arts practice, participants also learned how to communicate their ideas and express themselves to the group. Participants carefully listened to each other and through sharing with each other, participants were able to learn something new from each other.
Participants seemed to enjoy themselves as well, which I find important in learning.
I adapted the session slightly on the day. Given that the group had 10 additional minutes to discuss, and that I had already accommodated for discussion within the 20 minutes of the microteach, I gave participants additional time to create their artworks. I also removed the part of the session where participants would vote on an artwork that resonated most with them, as I didn’t think the discussion needed additional encouragement – everyone already seemed to actively engaged in the activity. Both of this seemed to work well.
What I’ll do with the feedback I received
I thought it was interesting that participants mentioned that the exercise forced them out of their comfort zone however that they really enjoyed this. Participants also said they very much enjoyed being asked to do something new and take risks, so this is something I am hoping to integrate within future lesson plans.
I would like to investigate this a little further and see if anything else has been written on that line that divides comfort on one side and risk on the other, i.e. how much risk-taking is comfortable.
Looking at the feedback, I also understand that the activity will work differently with different participants. For example, if the group had had similar creative backgrounds and practices, I might want to fine tune the choices of art forms. Participants had also spent much of the day together, making other things, so there was less of a barrier to overcome; participants felt less shy to roll up their sleeves and start making.
I felt somewhat nervous to look at the feedback I had received until the next working day – but the overall exercise gave me confidence that the learning activities I design and deliver is meaningful.
Further reflections and observations
The sheer diversity in academic and creative backgrounds in the room made for a brilliant learning environment, and I underestimated how different everyone’s approaches to teaching and learning would be. I also thought there was such kindness between participants, giving feedback, sharing insights, helping each other through the activities was fantastic. There were also some aspects of other participants’ practices I’m hoping to learn more about. The session on plant-based interactivity, for example, was incredibly inspiring.