(picture 1)
A reflection and appropriation of Slöjd, a Swedish arts and craft delivery approach, that I was fortunate enough to experience in my primary and secondary teaching in Sweden in the 1980s and 90s (see my metal work result in picture 1). Slöjd is further described by Lars Lindstrom (2012):
‘Teaching of sloyd [English approximation] takes place within a design process (Swedish slöjdprocessen) proceeding from idea to object… The students should design a product of their own choice. They are expected to make sketches, choose materials, find solutions to problems and train in the specific skills that are required. On a number of occasions throughout the process the student has to stop and reflect as a result of obstacles or problems that have to be solved.’
Lindstrom further investigates the application of the ‘four ways of learning in art’ (Lindstrom, 2012) (Table 1).
The fundament of this piece is focused on the synthesis of two different ways of learning:
‘Convergent learning is goal-directed, focused and rational, while divergent learning is explorative, open-ended and intuitive.’
(Lindstrom, 2012)
He continues by investigating the coherence of a medium-specific model and a medium-neutral model and their implementation:
‘Medium-specific learning emphasises the forms of representation, for example words, pictures, algebra, dance. Medium-neutral learning emphasises instrumental aspects of learning, such as academic achievement or personal development.’
(Lindstrom, 2012)
Reflection
Lindstrom claims that all aspects of his model should be looked upon as complementary to a comprehensive curriculum design. Therefore, I aim to examine a unit briefing where I’ve located teaching strategies informed by this approach in action. The process of the design of unit-brief is also informed by the model of Slöjd as freedom in process and medium is at the heart of how I formed the introduction.
Appropriation
In this unit-briefing session photography students are introduced to a medium that they have previously not worked in: virtual generation on a 3D software. Having previously encountered issues with students not understanding how this may be relevant to analogue photography (what they signed up for) it has been a challenging task to demonstrate utility (which industry now demands). In a more recent session, I applied a more divergent approach by asking them if they take a picture or make a picture. Taking a picture is medium specific and the goal is reached at the press of a shutter, whilst making/constructing a picture is an open-ended process: more medium neutral. Relevant practitioners could be Henri Cartier Bresson and Jeff Wall, to illustrate further. Fashion Photography, including an applied art can be seen as belonging to the ‘picture-making’ camp, where even documentary-style photographs are constructed images.
To further avoid ‘medium alienation’ the unit session design encourages students to apply their tacit data and knowledge (Davenport, 1997) of their previous image making processes to include in their image constructions. Their outcomes are often realistic, and stills-based but also experimental from a cross-medium perspective. In this approach they often take to ‘Learning Through Art’ (Lindstrom, 2012) and apply ‘studio habits of the mind’ (Hetland et al, 2007) in the process of conceptualising aesthetics that may be more familiar to them and their own practice.
The question of the medium has long been under scrutiny in academic dialogue in art and design. To conclude, I’d like to introduce two quotes from a seminal text by Rosalind Krauss on the subject as it underpins my delivery design in this unit and will continue to play in an important part in future development:
“…I thought I could simply draw a line under the word medium, bury it like so much critical toxic waste and walk away from it into a world of lexical freedom.”
“Medium seemed too contaminated, too ideologically, to dogmatically, too discursively loaded.”
(Krauss, 1999)
References
Lindstrom, L. (2012) ‘Aesthetic Learning About, In,With and Through the Arts: A Curriculum Study’, NSEAD/Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Davenport, T. H. (1997) ’10 Principles of knowledge management and four case studies’ Knowledge and Process Management, 4, 187–208.
Krauss, R. E. (1999) ‘A voyage on the North Sea’: Art in the Age of Post-medium Condition’ Thames and Hudson
Hetland, L. Winner, E. Veenema, S. & Sheridan, K. M. (2007) ‘Studio Thinking: The Real Benefits of Visual Arts Education.’ New York: Teachers College Press