Art, Craft, and Design Vs Visual Art

Art, Craft, and Design (exiting curriculum) Vs Visual Art (new curriculum)

I have had the rare opportunity in the first year of my PME Art and Design degree to teach the current third year’s the exiting curriculum, Art, Craft, and Design, and the new Visual Art curriculum with the current second years. Whilst the basic principles of art, craft, and design remain at the core of the subject, many changes have been made.

The first, most obvious difference is the observational exam, which is comprised of two parts: life drawing and object drawing. The pupils are given instructions on how the model will pose for their exam, along with a list of man-made and natural objects, of which they select one. The exam is timed: allowing 30 minutes for the posed life drawing and one hour for object drawing. For the latter, the pupils must draw they whole object and complete a close up as well. From  next year the current second years (going to third years 2020) will only have to complete two artefacts in third year. This brings me to the other difference between the two, and this on the work load, where what pupils must learn and produce is spread out across second and third year.

The current third years must produce:  

This must have be completed by latest 08/05/19.  In the meantime, the second years completed outputs in one of the three strands (art, craft, and design) this year and to complete the remaining two next year.

The other noticeable difference is that the new Visual Art curriculum consists of Classroom Based Assessments (CBA’s), instead of the list given by the state exam department (see above for list). The first CBA strand was completed in the second semester of second year. The pupils are given three themes to choose from. In a sketchbook of their choosing they must record the process from start to finish, resulting in a finished piece. This must be done so in conjunction with the learning outcomes  and by selecting a strand. 

The remaining two strands will be completed in third year. The pupils also receive feedback once completing the two CBA’s. This allows the pupils to compare their work and see what they have done well and what can be improved upon and how, this was not done before. The second CBA will commence in September 2019, however this time the pupils will work on their ideas for the two remaining strands. This sketchpad will be assessed and feedback revived by the pupils teacher and marked in a SLAR. SLAR’s are meetings were teachers in the same local meet with their pupils CBA work and assess the standards of the pupils, thus leading them to designate their descriptors to the pupils instead of a letter grade or percentage. This is an interesting aspect of the new course as the pupils are struggling to let go of a numerical or alphabetical grades. I like the fact that it allows teacher to compare their pupils work against the standard of their peers within the same community context.

In January 2020 the CBA’s will shift to the state exam, this means the that the pupils will receive a workbook, similar to that of the current Leaving Cert, where the pupils will further their ideas using the feedback received before Christmas and execute their two designs. Whilst there is potential that the new curriculum might fall into the habits of the old curriculum were teachers pick three disciplines one for each strand and the whole class produces the same or similar work, the new curriculum opens its doors for the pupils to express themselves through different mediums and disciplines. To me, as a teacher, the biggest change is the sketchbook as it allows me to monitor how  pupils explain their thought process and input so enhancing their overall development. In terms of their own teaching, examining and marking their pupils work, has up as a concern when I attend service days, but the SLARS should eliminate some bias’s. I do see the overall changes to be positive ones, but this is the first year it has rolled out and like anything new must be understood and properly implemented, and we must be prepared for any possible changes may be made.