Art as a communicative tool

¶ … Competence in AASEC Outcomes

Autobiography

Pesonal Educational Philosophy

AASEC-1 Knowledge Base (CE299-1)

AASEC-2 Child, Family, and Community Relationships (CE299-2).

AASEC-3 Observation and Assessment (CE299-3).

AASEC-4 Learning Environments (CE299-4)

AASEC-5 Ethics and Professionalism (CE299-5)

AASEC-6 Individuality and Cultural Diversity (CE299-6).

Autobiography

Use your Unit 1 Project

I am 47-year-old individual who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in the public school setting. I grew up in the projects and my mother was a teen mother since she was 14-years old when my twin brother and I were born. In addition to loving basketball, my twin brother and I generally grew up in a rough neighborhood or environment.

The educational setting in which I participated was

The educational setting or context in which I participated was similar to normal educational settings. This setting was known as PAL, an afterschool program that assisted me with my school work and playing sports, especially basketball. However, my beliefs on education and its significance were formed when I joined middle school and the afterschool program. This educational setting played a crucial role in my personal development because it helped me to learn and gain new knowledge and engage in my favorite sporting activities. Generally, early educational settings or contexts place considerable significance on determining the educational needs of a child and help them as quick as possible ("What Can Early Education Settings and Schools Do to Help," n.d.).

Here are some examples

Here are some examples of how PAL helped my personal growth and development through its various opportunities. First, the program changed my beliefs on education, especially during the middle school stage. This was an important period in my development since I did not have much belief on education until then. Secondly, the educational environment helped me to develop necessary skills for effective living in the modern world. I learnt the important individual characteristics that enable a person to deal with different aspects of life. Third, the afterschool program provided me with an opportunity to fulfill my intrinsic desire of participating in sports. Through this program, I could participate in playing basketball on a regular basis as I wanted.

These events influenced my beliefs and values concerning education

My beliefs and values concerning education were influenced by various events including participation in the afterschool program during middle school. As previously mentioned, I did not have much beliefs on education until I went to middle school and joined PAL for my school work and playing sports. Secondly, my beliefs and values regarding education were influenced by the fact that I became a father while still a teenager. Since I had no father figure to assist me understand where I was going, I became a father at the age of 19 and didn't really know what to do. I left the child and his mother and moved on with my life after impregnating the mother again. This really affected by values and beliefs concerning education to an extent that I no longer considered education as an important facet of life.

This mentor was important in shaping my education and future goals

However, these values, perception, and beliefs regarding education were soon changed after I found a mentor who was important in shaping my education and future goals. In most cases, teachers have always acted as mentors and experts who help students through their education and future goals (Barber & Mourshed, 2009). In my case, my mentor was my boys who even influenced my decision to go back to school. My two boys have acted as significant mentors in my educational journey and shaped my future goals. These children played this role after I reunited with them 20 years later when their mother was married. They influenced my decision to go back to school and my beliefs and value concerning education by their academic achievements. I was able to watch them obtain their college degrees, which made me become determined. Since then, I am about to achieve my goal through their help and that of their mother.

Personal Educational Philosophy

Use your Unit 3 Proejct

Characteristics I value in an educated person are

As individuals entrusted with the learning and growth of young minds, teachers need to promote the personal, academic, and ethical learning and growth of these young minds. This process not only involves developing and providing necessary educational skills but possessing valuable characteristics. The characteristics I value in an educated person include good judgment, ability to learn, ability to think independently and clearly, ability to speak with clarity, and critical and analytical thinking. The other valuable characteristics trust and respect for others, ability to work with others effectively, ability to persuade others, and effective problem-solving

I believe I have developed some of these characteristics during my education at Kaplan University. For example,

I believe I have developed some of the valuable characteristics during my education at Kaplan University. This has mainly occurred through the classes I have undertaken at the university and my experiences in the classroom. From these experiences, I have learnt how to work with students in the classroom, solve problems effectively, exercise good judgment, and think clearly and independently. Kaplan University has enabled to develop these characteristics by providing intensive and comprehensive instruction, relevant academic programs, necessary facilities, and help in developing professional values, skills, and attitudes for success in future life ("About Kaplan University," n.d.). For instance, the university provided an on-site training on classroom teaching, which helped me understand teamwork in a class, exercising judgment, and problem-solving techniques. These experiences have enabled me to learn how to read and understand, listen, communicate effectively, understand how things work, and practice respect and tolerance.

I think these characteristics are important because

I think these characteristics are important because of the expectation that an educated person should be able to carry out several activities or do certain things. An educated person is not only expected to be able to read but also expected to make informed decisions and solve various issues or problems. This implies that an educated person is expected to have the ability to conduct required tasks, make informed and competent decisions, and arrive at rational conclusions (Mohanan, n.d.). The significance of these characteristics is also attributed to their role in enabling an individual to deal rationally with differences, select from varying beliefs and courses of action, and determine when information is inadequate to make rational decisions from contending alternatives. Therefore, the important characteristics of an educated person are vital in relation to developing necessary skills and abilities to function effectively and successfully in the contemporary world.

I would like to pursue additional training in I would like to pursue additional training in problem-solving techniques that is demonstrated through thinking and learning abilities. In this case, thinking abilities refer to mastery of general thinking capabilities that contribute to ability to make informed intelligent conjectures, evaluations, projections, and decisions. Learning abilities refers to ability to appropriate knowledge in a manner that enables a person to cope with and adapt to the changing environment. The development and enhancement of thinking and learning abilities would play a crucial role in improving my problem-solving techniques for effective functioning in the modern world. These abilities are important in problem-solving because they are linked to the ability to think critically, independently, and embrace new knowledge that promotes effective learning. In essence, Kaplan University should strive to develop and establish programs that help an individual to enhance his/her problem-solving skills.

AASEC-1 Knowledge Base/CE299-1: Demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge of child development and learning theory in early childhood settings

My artifact demonstrating this outcome. Discuss why you chose the artifact (What?)

The artifact that I used to demonstrate this outcome was still the easel and canvas. I selected this artifact because it allowed young learners a greater amount of leeway and ability when expressing themselves. For children that were reluctant to verbalize their opinions or sense of understanding, they would become very expressive and alive when given a paintbrush. They were able to aptly use the paintbrush to demonstrate that they had in fact understood basic concepts and that they were able to show specific instances of comprehension in regard to concept-checking questions.

My Reflection on meeting this outcome. Discuss what you learned (So What?)

I learned that there are a variety of ways to communicate with young learners. As an educator, one shouldn't restrict oneself to more textbook approachs for concept checking questions. Exposing oneself to a variety of effective ways of teaching and communicating with young learners, means that one will allow these learners to process information and to foster understanding in a variety of ways.

My Future Learning Goals related to this outcome. Discuss what you would still like to learn (Now What?)

In the future, I would like to better acquaint myself with a wider range of ways that I can learn how to use art and alternative educational tools in order to more effectively engage with my students. Giving these young learners a paintbrush and an easel with which to express themselves turned out to be so incredibly effective, it was remarkable. It made me wonder what other mediums in the realm of art would also have that amount of effectiveness. For example, I wondered if getting a pottery wheel or if getting a professional level puppet theatre would also be effective in this manner. My primary goals are to continue to explore other tools in art and how I can adapt them to better teach and communicate with young learners.

AASEC-2 Child, Family, and Community Relationships/CE299-2: Demonstrate an understanding of the development and implementation of strategies for building family and community relationships

Use your Unit 5 Project to meet this outcome.

My artifact demonstrating this outcome. Discuss why you chose the artifact (What?)

The artifact that I have chosen is the easel. During my coursework it was discovered that the easel (and canvas) is a really powerful tool when it comes to building family and community relationships. The easel was able to help families to better connect and to communicate in ways and to express feelings that they have difficult expressing using words. An easel and canvas also assists individuals in creative expression, because these tools feel more special and important than markers and construction paper. The tools in and of themselves help to elicit more specific feelings and emotions from the users. By eliciting more authenticity from family and community members, there are more meaningful connections that are uncovered.

When using this activity, I found that it was most important to not censor the user who was painting. Letting them know that they had all the freedom in the world was important and it helped to draw more genuine responses out of the individual painting. Sometimes users would act like they had to create fine works of art when they were asked to paint their fears, hopes and dreams. Thus, sometimes giving the user permission to make mistakes or to make art that wasn't perfect was precisely what the users needed to hear: this type of permission was able to give the user a greater sense of freedom and would often help in unleashing the most creative and interesting representations. The truths and level of honesty that were reached helped to illuminate subsequent paths for community and familiar bonds to later evolve to.

The effectiveness of the canvas and easel is connected to the effectiveness of imagery in general. "Imagery taps into a person's earliest way of knowing and reacting to the world; therefore, it is not foreign to the experience of learning. Art as a language of therapy, combined with verbal dialogue, uses all of our capacities to find a more successful resolution to our difficulties" (Riley, 2001). Art therapy helps in illustrating the negative behavior and then making it external to the individual, so the individual is not the problem anymore, but this external behavior. This can be truly monumentally helpful in families or communities where there is a problem of some sort: as it allows the problem to be better addressed. Thus, in our case, family and community members have to use metaphors and narratives to better describe the problem, allowing clients to distance themselves from their own dilemmas, individually and collectively and to work towards a solution to the problem (Riley, 2001). Thus, in this case, I found that the individual and the community were both served and that diversity was preserved.

My Reflection on meeting this outcome. Discuss what you learned (So What?)

I learned that the entire process of painting one's feelings and fears was incredibly helpful for the individual, and that it forced me to engage with them in ways that was gentler and more specific. I also learned that people don't just become good communicators when they become adults. For many adults, communication is still difficult: children teens and adults can all lack the confidence or social skills to communicate verbally. Other family or communicate members can tend to over-verbalize and thus, block their feelings from being expressed (sjcshk.com, 2007). I learned that there was an increased impetus for me to offer validation to clients about their feelings and about the images that they expressed. Receiving validation helped them to share more and made everyone feel as if their contributions were important

My Future Learning Goals related to this outcome. Discuss what you would still like to learn (Now What?)

This experience was so valuable that it demonstrated to me the power of art in building communication skills and making communities and families stronger. It has made me want to explore other alternative tools in community and family building. I want to spend more time doing research about how different forms of art have different capabilities in solving and soothing conflict. After this positive experience, I did more research into art as a therapeutic tool and found that "It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight."

AASEC-3 Observation and Assessment/CE299-3: Identify developmentally appropriate observational and assessment techniques for informing instructional planning for children and their families

My artifact demonstrating this outcome. Discuss why you chose the artifact (What?)

The artifact I used to demonstrate this outcome was a simple iPhone camera. This allowed me to help record interactions between parents and children and to better observe them repeatedly and with reflection. I was able to best engage them by watching these videos over and over again, which helped me to ultimately refine my instructional techniques.

My Reflection on meeting this outcome. Discuss what you learned (So What?)

I learned that the simpler that I was able to pose questions, the better. The more direct the questions were, I found that the more direct the answers and reflections from students and their parents were. I learned that I should use metaphors to a minimum and that if I do use them, they need to be as relevant as possible.

My Future Learning Goals related to this outcome. Discuss what you would still like to learn (Now What?)

I would like to further explore how using some sort of recording device could be effective at furthering and improving my instructional abilities. I did find that recording made some of these client self-conscious, but if there's a direct way to counteract that, I would absolutely like to discover it. The ability to replay these interactions, as is possible with a recording device, is something that one cannot put a price on. Thus, finding more ways to use these devices effectively is absolutely essential for the process as a whole.

AASEC-4 Learning Environments/CE299-4: Demonstrate the ability to use developmentally appropriate principles, tools and practices to create effective learning environments for young children

My artifact demonstrating this outcome. Discuss why you chose the artifact (What?)

The artifact that I chose to demonstrate this principle was the doll's house. The doll's house was something that I used with learners from the age of five to nine, and was something which aptly illustrated just how important it was to use imagination in the learning environment. The doll's house was a tool which rapidly evoked a lot of feelings and thoughts from learners of all ages, and which helped them to better verbalize and demonstrate their hopes and fears regarding a specific subject.