Scaffolding and Other Theories

The readings for the third day of class all concerned learning theories.  We discussed them in class, with  the class divided into four groups, each to present one theorist:  Piaget, Dewey, Erickson and Vygotsky.  I was in the Vygotsky group, and typical of these classes so far, I got very jazzed up with what I read.  Basically, what I got out of Vygotsky is how important it is to allow children to work up to things on their own, providing guidance and direction if necessary, but also allowing other children or people to provide the step to get to the next plateau.  In other words, the job of the teacher or docent is to figure out how children can figure it out for themselves, and what do I need to provide in the way of structure ("scaffolding") to get them there.  I loved that this theory can work with any age group and with any level of experience, because no matter how old or smart you are there is always something more to learn, a new "zone of proximal development."

I have a lot to learn about how to talk to small children in appropriate ways, so I listened carefully and enjoyed this class.  It was also very interesting to hear from my classmates, who added and subtracted in lots of different ways.  I'm starting to get to know them.  We have lost two so far, so the class is down to 21.

Our tour this afternoon was in the 19th Century galleries, and as much time as I have spent in the Walters I have not spent enough time here.  Our technique focus today was on The Elements of Art - line, shape, color, texture.  We had a brief stop in front of the portraits of William and Henry Walters, the father and son team who collected most things here, and in front of a portrait of the sculptor Barye, who was a favorite of theirs.  I could give a whole tour to children just showing them the animal sculptures of Barye.

Once in the 19th Century gallerys, we spent a longer time on just a couple of pictures today.  We started with In the Catskills, which I have since learned was one of the first pictures commissioned and purchased by William Walters.

We pointed out lines, straight, wavy, diagonal, etc.  We talked about shapes, triangles,  cylinders, etc., demonstrating how to make these shapes with our hands.  We talked about the colors and how those colors make you feel - cool, comfortable, shady.  We talked about what you could hear if you stood in this spot,  and what might be just outside of this picture.  We talked about textures and how the artist conveyed those in paint.  There is a little chipmunk on a rock in the foreground, and we talked about him.  We also joked about not asking children about their pets, because you are too likely to get caught in a discussion of dead pets.

We moved on to another atmospheric landscape,  still noticing lines, shapes and colors, but this picture also includes animals, people, and action.    Here the shapes are more implied, another terms to move on to, and we could also talk about how the artist conveyed the action in the picture.

Then we sat in front of this lovely little sculpture, trying to figure out all we could about this little girl from the clues in the sculpture.  Is she a farmgirl, a peasant; what is on her head; does she look sad (she does); what is she holding (a bird's nest).  After a lot of theories were thrown around, we were told the name given to this sculpture by the artist:  First Disapppointment.  

This little girl looks just like Meghan Mosmiller.  I should take her there to see it.










Interesting to note that William and Henry did not like impressionism.  They were among the many people who preferred to purchase pictures in the formal salons of Paris.  There is a whole room full of the relatively mediocre works they purchased during the last years of the 19th Century.  

Instead the most visited painting in the museum is this little piece that Henry Walters purchased at the behest of one of his friends, but didn't even exhibit at first because he didn't like it.  

I think I will put together a tour for my friends, based upon the book The Judgment of Paris by Ross King.  We have good examples of this "judgment" in two rooms right next to each other at the Walters.