CREATIVE EVALUATIONAs part of a national programme managed by engage: ‘enquire, phase 3’, teachers and learners from six primary schools worked with artists and gallery educators to plan, develop, experiment with and reflect on creative evaluation methods. Originally, we investigated methods to use in capturing evidence of the development of PSE skills but found that those methods can be more widely applied.

This resource includes methods, suggestions and tips which arose from the project which you can apply or adapt to suit your needs.

WHAT IS CREATIVE EVALUATIONWe defined creative evaluation as ‘evaluating the outcomes of the creative process by embedding the evaluation method within the process, so that the method itself is creative.’ The method involves creatively capturing evidence which demonstrates particular learning outcomes.

How can we capture evidence of learning, creatively? Please read on…

METHODS FOR CREATIVE EVALUATION

HOW TO:

RESPONDING TO ART THROUGH DRAWINGAsk learners to draw their response to a question about an art work, for example: ‘Which part of the art work do you like best?’. Add the drawings to a ‘collective brain’, drawn on paper, on an empty wall space or board. Use the drawings in the brain to elicit further responses and to make connections between ideas. Focus your questions to generate responses which help meet your intended learning outcomes. Record the responses by writing key words next to the drawings and photograph the ‘brain’.

Using drawing is a useful way to break down barriers to expressing thought and developing opinions. The method supports individual as well as collective learning.

Top tips:

• Offer learners a choice about which art work they draw in response to and encourage them to choose what interests them.

• Use loose sheets of paper for assemblage later and consider using irregular shaped, circular or long strips of paper to generate fresh approaches.

• Having an open, flexible approach about whether to draw from observation or imagination gives learners the opportunity to respond in different ways. The artist and teacher can give additional help to those who feel more comfortable with more specific instructions.

• Encourage learners to think of drawing as a record of their thoughts and observations, and as a way of taking notes using pictures. It is ok if they make a mistake or change their mind and they can make several attempts at drawing on one sheet of paper. Encourage learners to think about what they are drawing and discourage them from focusing on drawing skills. Removing erasers might help!

EXPRESSING OPINIONS & FEELINGS THROUGH MOVEMENTTell learners that they are going to be visiting an art gallery/looking at art/learning something new and ask them ‘How are you feeling? Can you show us with your body?’. Ask them to use movement to show how they feel at the end of the experience. Photograph or film the ‘before and after’ movements. Use a movement based game to encourage learners to express their opinions about art.

Using movement is an enjoyable way for younger children to express themselves, good for kinaesthetic learners and useful in building confidence in a new or unfamiliar learning experience.

Top tips:

• In order for a movement based game to truly reflect learners’ choices and feelings, it needs to follow a set pattern, offer several choices simultaneously and allow thinking time for making choices. Here’s an example of how to play the game using coloured circles placed on the floor:

1. Explain the game e.g. moving to different coloured circles depending on what you think

2. Give learners a minimum of two options they can choose from e.g. Think about which sculpture you like the most. Move to red if you like the hat sculpture the most, Move to green if you like the ladder sculpture the most.

3. Ask learners to wait and listen – they are not allowed to move until they have listened to each choice they can make.

4. Give learners a set time to think about which choice they are going to make.

5. Ask learners to move to their chosen colour.

• Assess the statements or criteria you give for each choice which a learner can make. Are they clear / unambiguous? Imagine being asked them yourself. Test them on a friend. Is the language appropriate for the age group?

• When children have built up their confidence, ask them to explain the choices they have made.

Ask each learner to take ONE photograph of something in the gallery/learning environment in response to a question ‘In this room, what excites you/do you dislike/puzzles you most?’. Print out the photos and add them to a ‘collective brain’, drawn on a wall, board or on paper. Talk about the photos using a ‘why’ question, such as ‘why do you dislike it?’. Add keywords to the ‘brain’ and photograph it as evidence. The photographs, brain and collected responses become evidence of the skills and knowledge developed in the learning experience.

TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS

Top tips:

• Choose an open question and ask learners to take a photograph which shows their personal response to the question.

• Encourage learners to think carefully about their response to a question by asking them to take ONE photograph only, requiring them to make decisions about what to photograph and what not to photograph.

• When learners are looking at the art work allocate some thinking time for them to consider their experience and make a decision about what they are going to photograph. Only hand out the cameras after this thinking time.

When asking learners to talk about their photograph and their response to the original question, allocate some thinking time before asking them to respond.

For some learners, it might be useful if they could do another task and have something to do with their hands, whilst thinking about how to respond to the question, rather than just sitting and thinking about it.

REFLECTING WITH PHOTOGRAPHS Take photographs of your group working throughout the day/session. During a reflection period at the end of the session, show a slideshow of the photographs and ask learners to describe the actions being carried out in the different images. The method helps learners to understand their own learning and gain a sense of achievement.

Top tips:

• Take a range of photographs during the day/session and don’t be too concerned about whether each photograph demonstrates an identifiable skill or action whilst taking the photographs. It is best to have too many images from which a selection can be made at a later stage.

• During the slideshow, ask learners to put their hand up when they can see an action, skill or behaviour which they can describe. Pause the slideshow on this image and ask the learner to describe what they can see in the photograph.

• Use this method to write a list of the different skills which have been used by learners during the session.

MAKING A VISUAL TIMELINETake photographs of learners working throughout your session. At the end, ask learners to select and order the images to create a timeline of what they have done throughout the day.

Top tips:

1. Take a wide range of photographs during the day/session of learners engaged in different tasks. Download and print out the photographs. If the images are no bigger than A5 less wall space will be required for the whole timeline.

2. During a reflection period at the end of the session, spread out the printed photographs and ask learners to look at them to remind themselves about the different activities they have been involved in.

3. On a board or large sheet of paper draw a timeline. Mark the beginning and end, with time moving from left to right. Mark any other key times during the day, such as lunch time.

4. Ask a learner to select an image which they feel demonstrates an activity or task which took place during the session. Ask them to describe, using a few words, what the image represents. Ask them to consider when it happened in relation to the beginning and end of the session and place it accordingly on the timeline.

5. Ask other learners to select an image which represents a different task or activity and consider whether it happened before or after the image already on the timeline.

6. Continue building the timeline, with the rules that each new image added has to represent a different task or activity which is not already represented, and each new image which is added needs to be placed in the correct order in relation to the images already on the timeline.

• A timeline can be used to create a simple description the session, but to reflect more deeply learners have to be asked to think about what can be seen in the images, by asking questions such as ‘What can you see?’ and ‘What are you doing?’

• Annotate the timeline and photograph it at the end of the session to provide a permanent record of the activity.

USING QUESTION FLAGSAsk learners to write a question relating to a learning experience they are about to begin, on one side of a paper flag. Have the group share their questions before assembling the flags somewhere in the room. At the end of the day/session, return to the questions and discuss possible answers. Write answers on the reverse of the flag or write a second question which has arisen from the first. The flags can be decorated and by having value as objects, give learners a sense of ownership over their learning experience; they are also evidence of the development of thought, ideas or skills.

Top tips:

• Assemble the question flags together on a table, or hang them from a string line using pegs. Pick out one question to discuss in more detail. Stick it to a wipeboard or large sheet of paper, and use it as a staring point for a mind map of further thoughts and questions.

• If recording the learners’ questions will be limited by writing skills for younger learners, the artist or teacher could write down each learner’s question on their flag, or you could use drawing to represent a thought or question.

• Ask learners to put their initial on the corner of their flag so you have a record of individual learner’s thoughts.

• The artist and/or teacher leading the session needs to take a flexible approach and let group discussion be directed by the questions that learners ask.

REFLECTION AND METACOGNITION THROUGH VIDEOThe artist leading the session took video footage of selected elements of learner’s work part way through the activity. Learners were asked to stop half way through the activity, and watch the video footage on the plasma screen. The video footage was used to illustrate and discuss techniques and ideas being used by the learners in the group.

Presenting the footage on a screen really captures learner’s attention and everyone has a clear view of what’s being discussed. The method helps pupils to develop an awareness of their own learning and to learn co-operatively. You can capture evidence of intended learning outcomes as well the development of metacognitive skills.

Top tips:

• Try setting up a video camera on a tripod in the corner of the room and use it to record all or part of the session. During a reflection period at the end of the session play back the video (plug it directly into the plasma screen) and ask learners to look and listen for evidence of learning, for example, ask them to look for evidence of two people working together, or to name the skills which they can see being used.

• Use video footage for group reflection part way through a task to allow learners to share ideas and see different approaches to the same task.

• Ask a pair of learners to use the video camera to go around the room and record a selection of the group’s work which interests them or they feel works well. Plug the video footage in to the plasma screen and play back the footage. Ask the learners to talk about the work they have filmed and what interests them about it.

• Attach the video camera directly to the plasma screen using a long cable which allows a person to walk around the room whilst holding the camera. Whatever the camera person can see through the camera will simultaneously be presented on the plasma screen for the whole group to see. Ask a question, and ask one learner to point the camera at something in the room in response to the question, for example: ‘Has anybody tried anything new? Can you show us?’, or ‘What are the different ways you can see of using the materials?’

ENQUIRE PHASE 3 AT » CREATIVE EVALUATION

Year 3 pupils from Plains Farm Primary using question flagsYear 4 pupils from Marine Park Primary School creating visual timelinesYear 2 pupils from Lemington Riverside Primary using photographs

Year 3 pupils from Falla Park using videoYear 6 pupils from King Edward Primary School using drawingReception pupils from West End First School using movement

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSenquire aboutlearning in galleries

The enquire programme is funded jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Arts Council England as part of the Strategic Commissioning Programme for Museum and Gallery Education. The enquire programme is managed by engage and has been developed in association with Arts Council England.

Written in collaboration with Alison Unsworth