Art Criticism – Getting Students to Dialogue about Artwork

I have always encourgaed students to talk and share ideas about artwork.  However, somewhere between open, talkative primary level students to the junior high level, the students become more self-conscience and scared to discuss ideas about artwork.  Last year at the junior high level, it was difficult to get students to talk about artwork.  The students waited for me to tell them what to think… so what was I to do.

I attended a session in Minneapolis at the 2009 NAEA convention featuring secondary student critiques in the art classroom presented by Gaylund Stone.  Mr. Stone called his method Dialogic Critiques, and he discussed the ways he uses the dialogic critique with his classes at the secondary level. The premise is to get the students to self-assess and assess each other through writing and then through oral conversation. The four areas students are to focus their comments or questions about student work are: Expression, Content, Form, and Technique.  Students post their artwork on a wall – higher on the wall if they feel the work is going well, lower on the wall if the student feels the artwork needs work (the firt part of assessment in this method).  Then, students give comments on the artworks.  Each artwork should have at least three comments.  Then after gathering and viewing comments on their own works and others, students comment on comments and questions on their work and others.  After hearing the ideas from this session – I thought, well, I can do this and it gives students who do not want to talk an opportunity to share and still participate.

I reserved a space in our school each Wednesday of the first semester so my art classes can have our dialogic critiques.  I wish that I could have these sessions in my art room, but there just is not enough wall space for five classes.  Luckily, we have a large group room with lots of wall space.

This past Wednesday was our first dialogic critque, so it took a little time to set up guidelines and discuss what is appropriate as a comment/question and what is not.  After that was out of the way, the students commented, questioned, and discussed.  We used the entire 50 minutes of class time.  What I loved was the fact that students were talking to each other while viewing artwork, comments, and making comments.  My ninth grade classes are further along as far as using art vocabulary in their comments, while my eighth grade classes will get there through more practice and crtical assessment.  I was extremely pleased with my classes’ progress on the first day and I am looking forward to more of these critiques all year.  Thank you, Gaylund Stone!!!!!!!!

What kinds of student or peer critique methods do you use?

~ Nikki F. Kalcevic