It’s the ThoughtThat Counts!

fostering student thinkingin the art classroom

craig rolanduniversity of florida

© copyright 2001

1. Students determine or select their own art problems to solve.

2. Students examine their own ideas about art and howothers may view art differently from themselves.

3. Students work on art projects which require sustainedeffort over a period of time.

4. Students identify, acquire and organize the materialsand information they need to complete art assignments.

5. Students explore problems and issues that "real" artprofessionals face in the world outside the school.

6. Students are encouraged to take conceptual risks in theirart work.

7. Students are encouraged to make connections betweenlearning in art class and other situations, in and out of school.

8. Students work with partners or in small groups oncollaborative art projects or assignments.

9. Students engage in critical dialogue and debate with eachother about art.

10. Students reflect on and defend the decisions they make asproducers and consumers of art.

11. Students assess their own progress and performance in art.

12. Students work on art projects that include both novel andfamiliar elements.

13. Students generate and explore alternative solutions to artproblems assigned in class.

14. Students explore alternative explanations for issues andquestions raised during art class.

15. Students are given the criteria for successful performancebefore they begin work on an art project or assignment.

16. Students are given opportunities to rethink and reviseearlier projects and ideas.

17. Students are encouraged to listen to others with empathy andunderstanding.

18. Students examine “big ideas” and essential questions that lieat the heart of the disciplines of art and that reach beyondparticular artists, works of art, or art periods.

RO SO OO VFO

How "mindful" is your classroom?Directions: Indicate the frequency with which the following behaviors occur in your classroom by circlingthe appropriate response at the right of each statement.

RO--rarely occurs, SO--sometime occurs, OO--often occurs, VFO--very frequently occurs

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

19. Students are encouraged to pose questions about art andabout works of art presented in class.

20. Students drawn on past knowledge and apply it to newsituations and problems raised in class.

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO1

RO SO OO VFO

RO SO OO VFO

In an era when imagery is becoming our most prominent means of disseminatinginformation, and thinking and learning have received national recognition as "bridgesto the future," the arts can be envisioned as central to the life-learning process, allowingindividuals to develop as thinking, contributing members of the 21st century.

Although the filling of students' minds with the facts is continually important, the teachingof and emphasis on developing their thinking skills has become imperative. Studentstoday need skills that adapt not to isolated islands of information or content but tosituations in new, more global contexts. Learning experiences must be provided thatallow and encourage connections. The increasing knowledge bases of all learningareas challenge teachers to see content not as material to cover, but as ideas to relateand transform.

Art, a universal language, provides a natural means for thinking to become visible--forgiving visible form to internal perceptions and making possible the valuing of uniqueperceptions of the mind's eye. The quality of one's thinking becomes both importantand significant, whether related to making or responding to works of art. The processof creative forming yields a product previously unknown or thought, resulting from aunique interaction of hand, eye, mind and medium. The process of aesthetic inquiry,yields meaning and judgment about an art work's value and purpose resulting from thefocused attention of the discriminating viewer.

Art is thinking in action involving insight and vision. Wisdom results when visions aremaximized and internalized. Thinking skills are shortcuts to discriminations anddeterminations that edit decisions in our information-cluttered world. A verification ofthe essential role of the arts in education is appropriate. A verification of the cognitivebasis for the arts is essential.

As art is taught and various learning strategies are employed, involvements emphasizingcognitive thinking skills reinforce and emphasize the commonality and existance ofsimilarities of learning in all content areas. Since thinking is essential in all areas oflearning, teachers of all content areas must infuse existing curricula and instructionwith strategies that more fully develop students' intellectual potentials.

from Amster, S. & Roland, C. (1987), "Art: Thinking in Action," Viewpoints: Dialogue inArt Education, Normal, IL: Illinois State University. Spring 1987, 2-9.

Why Teach Thinking in Art?

We must become a nation of peoplewho think for a living.

• Jaime Escalante

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How do we learn to think?Many teachers equate thinking with higher order thinking, critical thinking, or creative thinking. It is recommended,however, that thinking initially be viewed in its broadest sense--as an unbrella under which various kinds of thinkingoccur. Consider, for example, the following definitions.

Thinking is the delinerate exploration of experience for a purpose. • Edward de Bono

Thinking in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning. • Barry Beyer

Both of these authors characterize thinking as intentional, purposeful, and goal-oriented. From this perspective,thinking involves controlled processes and conscious attention. The amount of attention required depends upon theindividual’s experiences with a given task and its degree of novelty. The more novel or unfamiliar a task, the moreattention it requires to complete it.

There is also thinking that is automatic and which requires little, if any, conscious control or attention (Anderson,1984; Glaser, 1988). An individual employs automatic thinking when engaged in activities that are very familiar andwell practiced such as walking, reading, or driving a car. The relationship between controlled and automattic thinkingis important to consider in the classroom for two reasons.

First, it helps to clarify the type of learning structure that students need in order to actively engage in thinking. Taskswhich have a certain degree of novelty, but which are not totally outside the students' experiences seem to foster thebest results (Kuhn, 1986). Too much novelty in a task renders it ineffective because students have no relevant pastexperience to draw upon as a frame of reference. On the other hand, tasks which are relatively familiar to studentsare generally processed automatically without much cognitive energy expended. Hence, learning activities intendedto encourage thinking in students should involve some blend of controlled and automatic behaviors. Good teachersknow this from experience. The introduction of elements of novelty into a learning situation tends to add to theintellectual excitement among students.

Second, if students are to develop proficiency in any newly introduced thinking skill they must do it often enough forit to become automatic and a part of their cognitive repertoire. A major goal of teaching thinking is to produceindividuals who know when to use a particular thinking operation and who do so on their own to generate knowledge(Beyer, 1987). Such a desired outcome is likely to occur by providing students with instruction in how to execute athinking skill or strategy effectively and with multiple opportunities to practice using it--both under the guidance of theteacher and on their own initiative.

CONTROLLEDTHINKING

NOVELINFORMATION

UNFAMILAIRTASKS

CONSCIOUSATTENTIONREQUIRED.

LEARNING TO THINKREQUIRES:

BOTH CONTROLLED ANDAUTOMATIC BEHAVIORS.

AN ELEMENT OFNOVELTY

ANDA CERTAIN DEGREE

OF FAMILIARTY.

LOTS OF PRACTICE.

AUTOMATICTHINKING

FAMILIARINFORMATION

WELL PRACTICEDTASKS

NO CONSCIOUSATTENTIONREQUIRED.

As teachers begin the process of infusing thinking skill instruction into their classroompractices, they often begin by selecting and defining a set of thinking skills to focus on.This process often leads to a rather narrow list of cognitive skills such as classifying,inferring, categorizing, and so on.

A precise definition of thinking as well as detailed descriptions of thinking skills areuseful to accomodate the forces of accountability which dictate that teachers be explicitin writing specified learning objectives for schooling. Moreover, experts suggest thatstudents can benefit from direct instruction and practice designed to improve specificthinking skills. Nonetheless, we need to consider that good thinking often engages avariety of mental operations, dispositions, and tactics that are interdependent andwhich can not be easily separated in distinct, easily identifiable categories.Consequently, a concern for fostering thinking means that we must address the totalityof thinking if the goal of improving student thinking is to become a reality. This meansnot only teaching thinking skills per se, but also fostering a willingness or tendency touse those skills in productive and probing ways. Consider, for example, the followinglist of intelligent behaviors compiled by Arthur Costa (1991):

Intelligent Behaviorspersistence

decreased impulsivityempathic listening

cooperative thinkingflexible thinkingmetacognition

checking for accuracydrawing on past knowledge and applying it to new situations

question and problem posingrisk taking

a sense of humorprecision of language

use of all sensesingenuity, originality, insightfulness, creativity

a sense wonder, inquisitiveness, curiosity and efficacy as a thinker

These 14 characteristics of intelligent behavior are not meant to be complete, ratherthey are suggestive of the skills and dispositions that teachers should strive to developin the thinking classroom.

What are thinking skills?

Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan, Cast Bronze, 1997, National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

Time and energy devoted toclarifying defnitions of thinkingskills and abilities are well spent.

• Arthur L. Costa

Thinking Skills are thinkingpatterns or forms employedefficiently in accordance withcircumstances.

• The Branco Weiss Institute forthe Development of Thinking

Good thinkers can be characterizedby their thinking dispositions--theiradibing tendencies to explore, toinquire and probe into new areas,to seek clarity, to think criticallyand carefully, to be organized intheir thinking, and so on.

• The Thinking Classroom1995

The most basic premise in thecurrent thinking skills movement isthe notion that students CAN learnto think better if schools concentrateon teaching them HOW to do so.

• Barbara Presseisen

Practice with a particular kind ofintellectual task should strengthenspecific abilities that serve that task.

• Raymond Nickerson

It requires at least 100 hours oflearning and practice to acquire anysignificant cognitive skill to areasonable degree of proficiency.

• John Anderson

Practice Makes PerfectApproaches to teaching thinking can differ in many significant ways; however, they allare based upon a common assumption--that thinking is a form of skilled behavior thatone can develop and improve through practice.

The importance of practice in terms of developing children's thinking has beenrecognized by experts for quite some time (Dewey, 1933). Khun (1986) notes that,even though there is no empirical evidence to support such a belief, there has beenunusual consistency among theorists over the years regarding the view that the onlyeffective way to teach students to think better is to engage them in thinking. Implicit inthis philosophy is the assumption that the development of students' thinking requiresmore than teaching them the strategies and principles associated with it. Rather, itrequires providing them with repeated opportunities to exercise their minds in the contextof learning new subject matter with the thinking skills and knowledge they have at theircurrent level of development. With long-term practice, comes the potential forimprovement of thinking; in that, the cognitive processes employed becomestrengthened and a part of students' knowledge structures. This enables students toprocess information within a domain more effectively and with less mental energy (Khun,1986; Glaser, 1984).

How can the art curriculum be structured to allow students to practice using the skillsand knowledge they have on the content we want them to learn? Several alternativesare possible:

• Provide frequent opportunities for class dialogue and debate about various"contingent" matters in art that allow students to: (1) relate the topic to their ownknowledge and beliefs; (2) rethink their initial ideas and assumptions in light of possiblecontradictions; (3) explore alternative views and explanations for the same situation;and (4) refute views expressed in class (including their own) by means of availableevidence (Eisner, 1983). It is through such planned encounters, that ordinary thinkingbecomes critical thinking (Khun, 1986).

• Present new art content in the form of problems to be solved with the use of artmaterials or resources available in the home, the art room, the school and thecommunity. Dewey (1933) first promoted the idea that thinking occurs when anindividual is faced with a problem that is ambiguous and that proposes alternatives.Likewise, Bruner (1968) recognized the importance of problem-solving as a vehiclefor stimulating thinking in the classroom. From a motivational standpoint, childrenare often willing to devote considerable effort to solving a problem for no reasonother than the enjoyment of meeting the intellectual challenge it poses.

• Infuse opportunities for reflection into virtually every art activity. As often as possible,ask students to consider how they arrive at their conclusions, decisions and solutions.Reflection, in this case, means thinking about past learning and thinking. Its purposeis to make students more aware of what they know and don't know; what's going oninside their head; how one mental activity relates to another; and, how their thinkingrelates to their learning.

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One thing that all experts concerned with thinking in education agree on is that any organized program designed tofoster thinking in students must address the problem of transfer (Tishman, et al., 1995; Fogarty, et al., 1992; Glaser,1988; Nickerson et al., 1985). Studies have shown that skills or knowledge learned in one context do not automaticallytransfer to contexts that differ from the setting in which they were initially developed. For transfer to happen,research suggests, an individual must recognize the wide applicability of a particular skill, principle or concept andwhen a particular situation calls for the use of them (Khun, 1986). Researchers refer to this as conditional knowledgeor "knowing when" and where to access certain facts, apply particular rules and use specific cognitive strategies(Alexander & Judy, 1988).

There is general concern today that we need to do a better job of helping children "conditionalize" their knowledge byteaching them how to transfer their learning from one subject area to another and from inside the classroom tooutside the school. In order to maximize the possibility that transfer will occur, a variety of tactics should be employed(Beyer, 1987; Sternberg, 1987; Nickerson et al., 1985).

First, ensure that a high degree of correspondence exists between the context within which students learn and thesituations which they will eventually encounter outside of the classroom. This means that teachers should selectcontent and skills for students to study and practice with an eye toward application outside of school. For example,it is questionable how much of the knowledge that students acquire in learning to analyze classical works of artwould transfer automatically to analyzing contemporary works of art. Prior experiences with both may exert a morepowerful influence on students' thinking.

Second, help students apply their thinking and knowledge to the widest variety of contexts possible. To illustrate, arthistorians and art critics typically classify (i.e., categorize or group) works of art according to similar characteristics.Classifying things helps us to make sense of a very complex world. It is an important cognitive skill that studentscould practice doing in a variety of ways in art. Students could be given a pile of art postcards and asked: Put workstogether that you think ought to go together based on a good reason. Following the sorting activity, each group isgiven a chance to share the strategies they used and to compare their tactics with those used by other groups. Onother occasions, students could practice grouping art reproductions according to various standard classificationschemes (e.g., subject matter, style, period, media and so on) and sorting other kinds of data into categories (e.g.,words related to the art elements and principles). In order to generalize this skill beyond the classroom, studentscould also be asked to identify ways the things they encounter in their daily lives are classified (e.g., names in atelephone book, baseball cards, clothes in a bedroom, sections of a supermarket, and so on).

Third, stress the importance of transfer and offer specific guidance and encouragement with respect to it. In art, forexample, students could be shown how the principles of design permeate the arts and the world around them. Tomake this learning more long lasting, students should be encouraged to find these relationships themselves (e.g., inmagazine pictures, in natural forms, in architecture, and so on). What else is this like? Can you find an example ofthis? How is this like something you've seen before? As often as possible, students need to be encouraged to makeconnections between what they learn in art class and what they experience in other settings.

Lastly, encourage students to think about their own thinking and how they go about doing it. Experts agree that oneof the best ways to facilitate transfer of learning is by increasing students' awareness of their own cognitive processesand of their own performance as thinkers. Asking children to step back and look at what they are doing engagesthem at a metacognitive level, thereby increasing the chances that they will develop self control of their intellectualprocesses and recognize when to use them later on.

What students are asked to relate to in school [is] increasingly artificial, cut off from the human experiences subject matter is supposed to reflect. • John Goodlad

Teaching for Transfer

A central theme of cognitive research focuses upon the interdependence of thinkingand knowledge. There is considerable evidence to show that the amount of knowledgeone possesses in a domain has a substantial impact on how one thinks in that domain.Studies involving individuals with varying levels of expertise consistently reveal thatexperts and novices solve problems in fundamentally different ways (Anderson, 1984;Glaser, 1988, 1984; Khun, 1986; Kitchener, 1983). Compared with novices, expertsinterpret and structure the demands of a problem more effectively because they bringa well-developed knowledge base to bear on that task. Experts usually encounterfamiliar problems, and consequently, they often rely on automized thinking. This allowsthem to spend more time dealing with the novel aspects presented by the problem.Along this line, reports on individuals known for their creative achievements show thatthey are not only great thinkers, they also know alot about their fields (John-Steiner,1985). Thus, it seems that as knowledge in a domain develops, the context in whicheffective thinking can function becomes available (Resnick & Klopfer, 1989).

Preparing students to think like experts in the four disciplines of art appears to be animportant mission of art education today (Clark, et al. 1987). To accomplish this goal,teachers need to consider how to best approach the chasm that exists between whatchildren know about art on the one side and what trained adults know about art on theother. It might be assumed that when working with children, we should begin by ensuringthey acquire an adequate knowledge base in art. But, art instruction that is highlydidactical in nature will not serve our purpose well. When the emphasis is on givingout information and instructions rather than on discussion and challenge, children havelittle chance to make sense of it all. Instead, children shoulld be enabled to createknowledge and meaning themselves as they experience new information. "To knowsomething is not just to have received information but also to have interpreted it andrelated it to other knowledge" (Resnick & Klopfer, 1989 p. 4). Accordingly, a primarychallenge facing teachers is to determine how the content of art can be taught in waysthat foster and stimulate children's mental elaborations of their own emerging knowledgestructures. One thing is certain--thinking takes time.

Cognitive researchers concur that teachers should spend more time having studentsactively using knowledge and less time having them simply acquiring more facts andconcepts. This means that an art curriculum designed to foster thinking will cover fewtopics in depth rather than many in a fleeting fashion (Mattil et al., 1961). Such coveragemakes it possible for teachers to help students gain access to new information; examineits structure; question it; link it to other ideas; and relate it to their own present knowledge,beliefs and experience. The underlying assumption being that by providing more timefor students to explore a subject more deeply they will build better knowledge structureswhich can be used to interpret new experiences; to solve new problems; to think and toreason; and to learn independently later on (Resnick & Klopfer, 1989). In this respect,an art curriculum organized around conceptual clusters involving students in theessential ideas, problems, questions and values which illuminate art as a field of inquirymight greatly facilitate their development as thinkers.

The Role of

Knowledge in Thinking

The more knowledge one has--themore food one has for thought--thericher one’s mental life.

• Raymond Nickerson

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How My Mind Works

The role of questioning has long been recognized as an essential part of structuringeducational experiences. Socrates believed that educational interactions between ateacher and student(s) should be built on the assumption that all knowledge is knownor knowable if one can ask the right questions. In Socratic dialogue, a teacher posesquestions designed to help the student realize what he or she already knows about thesubject at hand. In the deliberative process, both the teacher and student explore,discover and inquire together.

Over the years, many educators have acknowledged the importance of teacherquestioning in the educational process. In 1908, Charles DeGarmo stated:

"In the skillful use of the question more than anything else, lies the fine art ofteaching; for in such use we have the guide to clear and vivid ideas, the quickspur to imagination, the stimulus to thought, the incentive to action (p. 179).”

There can be little doubt that questioning is one of the most popular of all instructionaltechniques used by teachers in classrooms. According to Kerry (1982), a teachertypically asks 1000 questions per week. These questions serve a variety of purposes,including:

1. To encourage students to participate.2. To determine what students know and don't know.3. To engage students in discussion.4. To attract students' attention.5. To provide students with an opportunity to shine in the eyes of their peers.6. To assess students' level of understanding.7. To provide a review of content.8. To develop critical and creative thinking skills.

While each of these purposes may be important, they don't all satisfy DeGarmo's intentthat questions be used "skillfully" to foster student thinking in the classroom. Gall(1984) found that about 60 percent of teacher's questions require factual recall, about20 percent are procedural in nature, while only about 20 percent require students toactually think. In short, most teacher questions are "lower order" in that they requireonly recall or comprehension on the part of students.

What can teachers do to improve their questioning skills?

Educational literature offers a potpourri of approaches and strategies for teacherswishing to use questions as opportunities for students to practice thinking. For example,Taba (1967) encourages teachers to consider the levels and the sequencing of questionsthey ask of students. She suggests that teachers begin with questions that requirerecall of information, followed by questions that require processing that information(e.g. by classifying, comparing, or evaluating), and then ask questions that require

?The Importance of Questions

Questions may be the most powerfultechnology we have ever created.Questions and questioning allow usto make sense of a confusing world.They are the tools that lead toinsight and understanding.

• Jamie McKenzie

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students to apply what they are learning to develop generalizations or new kinds ofknowledge.

Beyer (1987) suggests that teachers can do at least three things to ensure that questionsserve to engage students in thinking. They can: (1) respond to student answers inways that direct and encourage thinking; (2) employ questions that target specific typesof thinking skills; and (3) teach students how to ask their own questions. Costa (1985)recommends that teachers paraphrase student responses (or have other students doso) in order to stimulate further student processing or reasoning. According toWassermann (1992), teachers may benefit most by simply listening to themselves asthey use questions in the classroom. This self-monitoring activity might revolve aroundsuch questions as:

• What kinds of questions do I seem to be asking the most?• Do students feel safe to respond to my questions?• Do I usually end up answering my own questions?• Do my questions require students to consider "big ideas" or issues of substance?• Do my questions require students to generate their own ideas? To consider

alternative points-of-view?

If teachers open themselves to this type of self-scrutiny, then the discussions in theirclassrooms have a chance of moving from the mundane and trivial to becoming moremeaningful and powerful forums for learning and thinking about substantial contentand ideas.

Jacobs (1997) recommends that teachers map their curriculum plans around essentialquestions that frame student learning in the classroom around meaningful and thoughtfulinquiry into important ideas at the heart of a discipline. Similarly, Wiggins and McTighe(1998) suggest that since there is typically more content that can be reasonablyaddressed in a curriculum, teachers are obliged to make choices about what studentsare to learn. In establishing curriculum priorities, these authors recommend that teachersidentify the enduring ideas worth knowing in a subject area and then frame these “bigideas” into essential questions that offer the most potential for involving students in“doing” the subject in ways that lead to deeper understandings.

The Role of Questioning in Art Classrooms

Several authors have brought attention to the important role that teacher questioningplays in promoting student thinking in art classrooms, While these authors focus onteaching art criticism and aesthetics, the basic ideas and strategies presented areconsistent with those found in general educational literature on the topic.

According to Taunton (1983), Feldman’s well-known art criticism model (i.e., description,analysis, interpretation, and judgment) offers an appropriate structure for engagingyoung children in talk about art. She describes the kinds of questions and the types ofresponses that might prove most beneficial in structuring interactions between youngchildren, adults and works of art. Questions that can encourage critical thinking aboutart among children include: cognitive memory questions (e.g., What are some wordsthat you can use to describe this painting?); convergent questions (e.g., What is thedifference between these two paintings?); divergent questions (e.g., What do you thinkwas the reason the artist painting this picture?); and evaluative questions (e.g., Did theartist who painted this do a good or bad job? What makes you think so?) Recognizingthat a teacher’s response to a child’s initial answer can profoundly affect the continuingdiscussion, Taunton recommends that teachers employ four “probing” techniques inorder to get more in-depth answers. These include: (1) seeking clarification; (2) lookingfor justification; (3) refocusing the student’s attention; and (4) providing prompts forchildren in need of assistance.

What one learns and how onelearns is determined in part by thekinds of questions asked.

• Barry Beyer

Artful questioning creates thedifference between students wholearn to make intelligent meaningsfrom data and those who learnmerely to remember the facts.

• Selma Wassermann

The best questions are those thatlead to new questions.

• Author Unknown

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suggestions offered by Hamblen for improving teacher-student dialogue are examplesof ineffective and effective types of questions as well as appropriate and inappropriateteacher responses to student answers. For instance, an ineffective question like “Isthis a painting by Picasso?” can be made more effective by changing it to “Why do youthink this painting might be by Picasso?” Also, instead of focusing on the most capableor verbal students, Hamblen recommends that teachers elicit responses for severalstudents in order to demonstrate the multiple interpretations are possible.

More recently, Bolin (1996) discussed how exploring essential questions can connectlearning in the classroom to the world of art. He considers a number of significantquestions that have been raised by artists, art educators and writers about art, including:

• Why have there been no great women artists?• What does it mean to be a “successful” artist working today?• What is art for? Is art necessary?

Such question provide opportunities for continued thinking and searching for answers.They are rarely rooted in certainty and wrestling with them frequently brings to thesurface other puzzling questions. Yet, as Bolin affirms, such engagements are “worthyof our most earnest struggle” (p. 10).

Summary

One of the most important instructional techniques that teachers make daily use of inclassrooms is that of questioning. It is generally recognized that effective questioningby a teacher can profoundly affect the quality of student learning and thinking. Forteachers interested in improving their questioning skills, a review of the literature offersa number of guidelines to follow:

1. Generate and sequence your questions before engaging students in discussions(e.g., begin with questions that call for factual information followed by questionsthat require students to generate ideas.)

2. Incorporate questions that target specific types of thinking (e.g., analyzing,comparing, classifying, and judging).

3. Monitor yourself as you ask question of students and respond to their answers.4. Respond to students’ answers in ways that acknowledge and/or probe their

thinking.5. Identify the “big ideas” to be examined in a lesson. Formulate questions that

will enable students to consider and reflect upon that ideas of substance.6. Create and maintain an open atmosphere in the classroom that encourages

respect for all contributions and the exploration of alternative points-of-view.

Art educators must help people tounderstand that it is with theformulation of questions andpursuit of answers that we shouldinitiate and carry out our essentialinvestigations into the visual arts.

• Paul E. Bolin

The important thing is not to stopquestioning.

• Albert Einstein

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When engaging students in thinking and talking about works of art, teachers should:

1. avoid questions that simply elicit yes/no answers.Example: Do you know who did this painting?

2. avoid asking questions with the answer contained in the question.Example: Don't you think the artist did a good job on this painting?

3. avoid asking questions that have a particular answer that one has in mind.Example: How did the artist use color to create the mood of this painting?

4. elicit multiple responses to the same question.Example: What words would you use to describe this painting? What other words couldwe use?

5. incorporate other sensory modes when possible.Example: What sounds would this painting make (if it could)?

6. integrate relevant factual information about the work when available.Example: What is it about this painting that tells us it was made by Picasso?

7. ask questions of varying levels of difficulty.Example: What do you think about when you look at this painting? How is it like thepainting we just saw? How is it different? Why do you think the artist made thispainting? What do you think is good about this painting? Why do you think that?

8. elicit personal interpretations of the ideas and feelings communicated by the work.Example: What do you think this painting is about?

9. wait three to five seconds after asking a question.Example: I want you to all look at this picture for a moment and consider this question,"What do you think the artist is trying to tell us?"

10. ask follow-up questions that require students to explain (and think further about)their answers.

Example: How did you arrive at that idea? What makes you think that?

11. encourage conversation among students about possible responses to questions.Example: Talk this over with your neighbor before you respond.

12. encourage students to generate their own questions about the work.Example: What questions would you ask the artist who did this work?

Developing an Effective Questioning Strategy

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• What do you see in this picture? What else do you see?• What words would you use to describe this painting? What other words might we use?• What does this painting show?• How would you describe the lines in this picture? The colors?• How would you describe this painting to a person who hasn’t seen it?• How would you describe the people in this picture? How are they like you? How are they

different from you?

When looking at a work of art, students might be asked to:

relate it.

analyze it.

interpret it.

evaluate it.

describe it.

• What things do you recognize in this work of art?• What does this painting remind you of?• How is this painting like the one we just saw? How is it different?• What do they two paintings have in common?• How is this picture different from real life?• What interests you most about this work of art?

• What is the largest and the smallest thing you see in this picture?• What objects seem closest to you? Further away?• What can you tell me about the colors in this painting?• What can you tell me about the person in this painting? What can you tell me about how this

person lived? What makes you say that?• Which colors seem closer to you? Further away? Why?• What color is used the most in this painting?• What do you think is the most important part of this picture? Why?• How do you think the artist made this work of art?• What questions would you ask the artist about this work, if s/he were here?

• What title would you give to this painting? What made you decide on that title? What othertitles could we give it?

• What do you think is happening in this painting? What else could be happening?• What do you think is going on in this picture? How did you arrive at that idea?• Pretend you are inside this painting? What does it feel like?• What sounds would this painting make (if it could)?• What do you think this painting is about? Why do you think that?• Pretend you are inside this painting. What does it feel like?• Why do you suppose the artist made this painting? What makes you think that?

• Why do you think other people should see this work of art?• What would you do with this work of art if you owned it?• What do you think is worth remembering about this painting?• What do you think is good about this painting? What is not so good?• What do you think other people would say about this work? Why do you think that?• What grade would you give the artist who made this work? How did you arrive at that grade?

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A teacher’s response to a student’s answer can profoundly affect student thinkingand the continuing discussion. A proper response serves to stimulate further studentthinking and encourages others to participate. An improper response may stop thediscussion “cold.”

Some constructive ways to respond to student answers include:

• A simple acknowledgment that the student has contributedsomething.

“Thank you Jerry for that answer.”

• Show that you value the student’s contribution by writing it on theboard.

• Paraphrase the student’s answer or ask another student do so.

“What I hear you saying is . . .”

• Ask for clarification.

“Can you tell me more about that?”“What do you mean?”

• Raise critical awareness.

“How do you think others would respond to this work?”

• Refocus the student’s thinking.

“How does this relate to . .?”

• Summarize the discussion or ask the group to do so.

“What have we learned about this work (or artist) today?”

Teacher Responses to Student Answers

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Some “BIG IDEAS” in Art:

• The act of creating art is sometimes more important than the art object itself.

• One of the ways that artists communicate is with lines.

• A painting is a flat surface with paint on it.

• Space can be defined, created and manipulated by artists in a variety of ways.

• Art comes in many forms and is made for many purposes.

• Artists have tried out a variety of ways to show feelings in their work.

• Art is a reflection of the time period and the culture in which it was made.

• The faces an artist work from are often those of his or her family.

• One way of telling stories is through art.

• Many of the stories in art come from the religions of the world.

• Art is sometimes made by a group of people under the artist’s direction.

• Artists often reframe ideas and experiences in order to generate new perspectives.

• Art makes us look at our world in new and different ways.

• Some artists today invite the viewer to physically participate in their work.

• An art element such as color or even a physical gesture can be the subject of awork of art.

• The invention of the camera encouraged artists to experiment freely with pointsof view in their work, rather than rely on conventional frontal views.

• Artists have many ways by which they organize and form their work.

• Artists today are constantly reinventing art.

• Artists often get ideas from other artists.

What’s theBIG idea?

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