Week 10 Reading

Which of Rath's thinking operations are supported by VTS?

Stage One, gathering data through observations,  is supported by VTS. The VTS questions of "What do you see happening in this artwork?", and "What do you observe that makes you say that?" encourage students to gather visual information through their senses. 

Stage Two, processing the data gathered, is also supported by VTS. This is done when  VTS questioning asks students to provide evidence for their interpretations. Also, higher level viewers  may me classifying artwork and comparing a particular piece to another.

VTS vs. Wasserman's new curriculum model

I interpreted Wasserman's article as suggesting that teachers shouldn't teach at the bottom of Blooms, define, identify, and recall. Teachers should use questioning techniques that allow students to process and apply knowledge, as well as evaluate ones own work. As in other articles we have read, the teacher should function as a facilitator that helps students build their own meaning and become better at evaluating themselves and their work. Wasserman also echoed reading from our class text that also suggested that curriculum should revolve around big ideas that students can study.

VTS correlates with Wasserman’s curriculum model in that higher order thinking skills are being taught through a questioning strategy. Wassermann’s curriculum goes through all the steps of Blooms, but VTS, as it is practiced with my kinders, does not flow past analysis, and that is me being generous. I can see, however, how a level 4 viewer is engaged in the highest levels of critical thinking. Creating a curriculum unit that includes VTS as part of the art experience is  a good strategy for developing analytical thinking.

Has VTS had an impact on classroom management in your classroom? Has VTS had an impact on the maladaptive behaviors in your classroom?

I don’t think VTS has had an impact on management and maladaptive behaviors. My gut feeling is that the students would need to be engaged in thinking skills curriculum daily for quantitative change to appear. Discipline in my school is still status quo – positive rewards for being good sometimes, and punishments for poor choices. It would be neat if the classroom teachers and counselors could implement this information.  I have been playing with the idea integrating P.E.T.S lessons in to my art lessons in order to encourage thinking skills for about a year. I think this article has given me the nudge to put the P.E.T.S. books into my summer To Do pile.