Development

Project Stephen Protoss 1

High School Development

Ages 14-18

Characteristics
Students used words like bored, uninteresting, and not exciting as descriptions of their daily school experience (Girod, 2005, p. 12).

Implications
Try to understand what interests students on personal levels as well as generally. Provide lessons and ideas that spark students interest. Make school interesting and fun with art. Reward students for exemplary performance and commend them for their achievements. Try not to overlook subtle improvements in every students participation.

Example

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Rewards affect interest and motivation in classrooms, not just traditional achievement (Girod, 2005, p. 16).

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Discard the disrespectful image of the carefree teen and recognize that many teens are working hard and desperately want to be successful both academically and socially (Girod, 2005, p. 16). For teens, adolescence is the real world(Girod, 2005, p.14).

Do not stereotype adolescents. Reward hard work and effort. Practice equal opportunity in the art room. Be open and mindful of every students efforts.
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Understand that the students real world may differ from your own but that does not make it less real. Provide a safe environment where students can express their real world through art. Support students positive decisions in their work and help them adjust their negative decisions to be used in their work. Address their desires by allowing them to express certain desires through artwork. Support individual identity found in their artwork.

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Uncertainty, identity, and desire are important themes in their lives(Graham, 2008, p.12).

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Development Project Stephen Protoss 2

Teens respond well to brainstorming in collaboration with other students. (Bryant, 2010). Allow students to do work in groups either by brainstorming preliminary ideas or working on collaborative pieces of artwork.
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Teens think a lot about adult themes such as loss, memory, longing, and resolve and it reflects in their art (Hafeli, 2008).

Support students if they choose to address these issues. Ask students why theyve created their artwork to inspire more critical thought on what theyve achieved.

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Teens are capable of introducing subject matter that interests them (Graham, 2008).

Provide opportunities for students to incorporate their own ideas in a structured lesson plan.
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It is important to develop a sense of social self as a part of the larger community (Kerlavage, 1998).

Provide lessons that encompass community service such as food drives (empty bowls), habitat for humanities, etc. Inform how the artists audience is the community hence an understanding of place in community is required.

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Subject matter is becoming open-ended with interest in realism and abstraction (Kerlavage, 1998, pp. 5865).

Teach lessons on how to create realistic artwork apposed to abstract artwork. Clearly define the difference between realism and abstraction. Incorporate society, emotion, and technical skill in lessons. Allow students to explore all three issues in different ways such as expressive writing, research, and practice.

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Motivation: social issues, emotional issues, and skill development (Kerlavage, 1998).

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Development Project Stephen Protoss 3

Application of previously learned skills occurs (Kerlavage, 1198). Recognize these skills. Teach students to expand on these previously learned skills regardless of ability level.
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Experimentation with media and techniques to achieve ends, and they discover how to use media and techniques effectively (Kerlavage, 1998).

Maintain the urge to experiment by requiring experimentation and implementation of new materials. Help students hone skills that they are comfortable with.
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Students are able to draw extensively on memory (Kerlavage, 1998).

Provide lessons that force students to draw from observation. Also provide lessons that require them to exercise and work purely from memory recall.

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There is an understanding of interrelationships between space, color, design, composition, etc. (Kerlavage, 1998).

Provide lessons that allow students to practice these interrelationships such as color & value studies or varying composition exercises.
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Development Project Stephen Protoss 4 Resources Bryant,C.(2010). A 21st century art room. The remix of culture and creativity. Art Education,63(2),43-48. Girod, M. Pardales, M.,Cavanaugh,S.,Wadsworth,P. (2005) By teens for teachers: A descriptive study of adolescence. American Secondary Education, 33(2), 4-19. Graham, M. (2008). Graphic novels as contemporary art? The perplexing question of content in the high school art classroom. Art Education, 61(2), 10-16. Hafeli, M. (2008). I know a lot of things that you dont. You wanna hear some? Adolescent themes and contemporary art practice. Art Education, 61(2), 59-69. Kerlavage, M. (1998). Understanding the learner. In J. Simpson, J. Delaney, K. Carroll, C. Hamilton, S. Day, M. Kerlavage and J. Olson (Eds.), Creating meaning through art: Teacher as choice maker. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 58-65.