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INCLUSIVE ART CLASSES: NEVER ASK, "WHAT IS IT?"December 18, 1999It is a rule of thumb that teachers of art to any child should follow, Carol Russell says, but it is particularly important for special ed students. "Take an oath to never ask the child 'What is it?'" Russell said earlier this month at the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood conference in Washington. A professor of early childhood special education at Emporia State University in Kansas, Russell argues creative art activities give children with disabilities a chance to express themselves and their unique experiences, and those expressions may not be recognizable to people who do not come from the same perspective. "We are talking about all children, some children who have not seen or heard or smelled or touched or tasted in the same way as their peers," Russell notes. Therefore, adults must be careful not to apply their own expectations or interpretation to the child's work. Similarly, activities that involve too much adult interaction or too much regimentation, which she calls "masquerading art," are less effective than letting the child create freely. Though they are useful for developing certain coordination skills and the ability to follow directions, Russell argues art time should not consist of activities such as cut-and-paste projects, tracing, color by numbers, dot-to-dot pictures and coloring books. In general, she said, "If it looks like an adult did it, it's beyond the development level of the child."
"Children with special needs are often at risk of not having enough success," Russell noted. "Art is an area where you can't have anything but success. Anything they do is considered success." Communicating to the child that his or her actions created something beautiful is the critical factor in instilling that sense of success, she added. Russell advocates using a technique called "mirrored feedback," in which the adult comments on specific elements of the art work, reflecting the child's work as a way to start conversation. For example, complimenting the child's use of color or lines shows the child that what he or she did is valuable. Feedback can also focus on the child, rather than the artwork. An adult can use comments such as "I like the way you are working so hard" to reinforce the child's effort. These comments invite the child to discuss the work further, promoting social skills, she said. In fact, a simple adjustment of the "What is it?" question will prompt conversation that may reveal what the child thinks the artwork is. Asking the child instead, "Would you tell me about your picture?" gives the child an opportunity to explain it if he or she wants to. "It may not be 'something.' It may just be a design," Russell warns. "Forcing children to label their products may convey that it is not good enough" because it cannot be labeled as something specific. As with most teaching techniques designed to help young children with special needs develop basic skills, the value and "success" of creativity must also be reinforced at home, Russell said. Art teachers need to make a special effort to explain to the families what the children are doing in art class and why, such as to develop certain basic skills. They must also show family members how to give positive feedback and avoid stifling a child's creative impulses. Russell also gave some suggestions for adapting art projects and art rooms for different disabilities. The best first step, however, is to ask the parents for ideas. Often parents have already figured out ways to help their children do things, she noted. As another general rule of thumb, Russell said, art teachers should give all the students in an inclusive classroom a chance to use the adaptive devices the students with special needs use. This will not only help the typically developing children better understand what their classmates are experiencing, she said, but it will also help them experience art in a different way. When making adaptations for motor and physical disabilities, Russell said teachers need to remember the different perspective and reach limitations devices such as wheelchairs give students. Those children need to be able to work facing forward, not sideways, so an adjustable or table-top easel that the chair can roll under is a must. In addition, there is more than one way to hold a paintbrush or pencil, she noted. Children with limited use of their arms or hands can use head gear, and those with weak hand muscles can use a paintbrush attached with velcro to a glove or a brush stuck through a foam ball to create a larger surface area to grasp. For children with limited sight, teachers should use black-on-white or white-on-black materials to create strong contrasts the children can distinguish. Students who are blind need their art materials placed closer to them so they can find them by touch, and the materials should be labeled in Braille. Tactile projects are also better than two-dimensional ones, she noted. Addressing social, emotional and behavioral disabilities centers on letting the child feel comfortable in the art room, even if it means bending some standard rules. Teachers should "be ready for messes," Russell said, noting working with children with impulse control problems or oppositional behavior can often be unpredictable. While smocks help protect a child's clothes, for example, it is better to risk messing up a child's clothes than to force a smock onto a child who is adamantly opposed to it, she said. Teachers may want to warn parents in advance when potentially messy projects are coming up, so the parents can avoid dressing the child in good clothes. Particularly for children with these disabilities, Russell argues art must not be used as a reward for good behavior or completing other tasks. Often, she said, the reason they are not completing the other tasks is because they have not felt much success in those activities. Withholding participation in art preempts another chance the child has at feeling successful.8 |
