Every group of students has their own special charm. About six years ago in Shanghai there was a Year Twelve (IB Year One) Art class that were very quiet. When it came time for the first critique, where students were asked to talk about their own work and the work of others in the class, it was painful. No one wanted to jump in and talk about their month-long art process. No one was ready to speak about the work of classmates either. This was really unusual. Sometimes groups are a little quiet during the start of the first critique but soon they get their footing and are ready to speak. But not this group. The students were producing some great work and really investing in the art-making process and they seemed to really like one another and the vibe in the art room but they just didn't want to speak about art. The second critique was as painful as the first.
What to do? The teacher (me) was becoming frustrated & feeling like a failure.
She started questioning herself.
Hadn't she fostered a safe environment?
Hadn't the class successfully built a community together?
What was the teacher doing wrong?
Why couldn't she help make the dialogue happen?
Talking about one's own work is essential for students in the IB Visual Art class. After all, the final assessment takes the shape of an interview where students speak about the work they have created for about forty minutes. How would these students ever feel comfortable talking about their own work?
How would they find their own voices?
After the third month and third painful critique, it was time to take a new approach. By the eve of the fourth critique, the teacher felt helpless, she had nothing...no great brain waves to focus this new approach. Then, while out shopping in a little toy store in the Shanghai neighbourhood (in Gubei) she stumbled across a wonderous object. It was an old fashioned wind-up monkey made of tin.
The attendant in the store took the monkey out of a glass case and wound it up. And to the teacher's joy, when the monkey was wound up, he rode his bicycles around in circles. Perfection. The monkey was purchased and the next day at the start of class, a big space was cleared in the classroom and students were asked to stand in a circle. They were reluctant but somewhat curious. When the circle was successfully created, the monkey appeared in the centre.
Before the monkey was wound up the question was asked if anyone wanted to speak about their work . There was no reply and so: "If the monkey stops at your feet, you are up first." The students started to laugh and the monkey circled and circled until he ran out of power and landed at a student's feet. Mr Monkey lightened the tension in the room. Students were relieved to be chosen randomly by the monkey rather than volunteering or being asked to speak by the teacher. Mr Monkey became the class mascot and each month, he was brought out and wound up to start the critique action. The monkey was wound up, over and over, circling madly until the last student was chosen.
It would be exaggerating to say that the wind-up monkey magically transformed a quiet class into an outgoing group but somehow for this particular class the sound of the wind-up key and the sight of the tin monkey helped to curb anxiety. The monkey isn't required to get the discussion going in most classes these days, but he can be used to break up the routine.
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