Hilary M. Frambes Independent Project Supplemental Paper to www.artofswing.

com ARE 6049, Summer A June 21, 2011 Natalie Robinson Coles The Arts in the Classroom Introduction Natalie Robinson Coles book, The Arts in the Classroom was written as a series of guidelines for including arts related instruction in the classroom. The book is divided up into five chapters, each of which describe Robinson Coles method for teaching each subject: Creative Painting, Creative Clay Work, Design and Block Print, Free Rhythmic Dancing, and Creative Writing. Each chapter documents how she taught each subject and includes examples of student work. She describes the goals, challenges, inspiration in each lesson. She has an obvious love and respect for each of her students. She felt that there is an inner artist within each child and it was the job of the teacher bring it out of him. Encouragement and praise were big parts of Robinson Coles teaching method. She interacted with the students frequently, pointing out positive things in their work. Even if a childs work was less than stellar, she would look for something positive in it and praise it (p. 13). Natalie Robinson Cole was born in 1901, and died in 1984. She taught at California Street School in Los Angeles to mostly Mexican, Chinese and Japanese fourth grade and the first half of fifth grade students (p. 1). Although she is not considered an art educator, her methods are indeed important to art educators. Creative Painting In the first chapter, Creative Painting, Robinson Cole describes her method for encouraging children to paint dynamic lively paintings. She insists that they use large sheets of paper, measuring 18 x 24 (p. 12). She states that painting on small surfaces

results in an unsatisfactory emotional experience. She encourages her students to fill the entire page and have their composition bump the sides (p. 12) of the paper. Robinson Cole has her students start with an outline of their composition before moving on to other colors (p. 13). By filling out the composition in the beginning, she feels that children will avoid falling into the trap of tight, fussy pictures. Once this stage is complete, she has them move on to other colors. Colors should be strong (p. 15) and she gives them the freedom to paint things they way they want. She makes other suggestions, such as distributing color and weaving in other elements into their compositions, in order to create depth. She has a way of encouraging children to keep on going with their paintings even if they feel they are finished by making suggestions to include other elements (p. 17). Robinson Cole feels that the child has the innate ability to create art. Therefore, she feels that a hands off approach is necessary in order for children to create uninhibited and with confidence. She states that the teacher should never show a student how to draw something and she should never, ever take the brush from a childs hand to show him how to draw either. Doing so, imposes adult ideas on a childs innate ability to create art (p. 8) It is in the painting chapter, that the reader first comes across the phrase Make it swing. Swing, is rhythm, pull, repetition, and pattern (p 16). Its what makes a picture work. Its what we in the twenty-first century would call, a good composition. The term swing is repeated throughout other chapters as Robinson Cole makes a connection between different art modalities. Robinson Cole uses painting as a way to reach difficult students and build a rapport with them. She states that even the problem child likes to paint. (p 21.) By reaching the childs inner artist, Robinson Cole makes a deep connection with her students. As she says, once you make this connection everything else will follow (p. 23)

Displaying paintings is an important last step and is described as a way for children to show pride in their work. Children like to see their work on display, as it gives them confidence and proves they are a worthwhile person (p. 21). Creative Clay Work The Creative Clay Work chapter follows with a similar philosophy, of connecting with the child. She describes this connection as learning his language (p. 25). She begins by having all of her students create a cow out of clay as described on page 27. She shows no photographic or visual reference for her students. Instead, they create their sculptures from their own imaginations, making it their own way. She wants them to break away from the imitative (p. 31). The child-like quality in her students sculpture is exactly what Robinson Cole is looking for, as far as a successful outcome. It doesnt necessarily have to look exactly like a cow, but it should feel like one. She only chooses two cows from the first round of sculptures to fire in the kiln. The rest go back to the clay pile for the children to try again during the next class. Once most of them have mastered the first simple object of a cow, she looks to her students for inspiration on what to create next. After some discussion, she finds that her students want to create religious-themed sculptures relevant to their culture, such as the Madonna and angels. Again, no examples are shown and the creativity springs the minds eye of the child. Design and Block Print The chapter on Design and Block Print covers pattern and design in different medium. Robinson Coles first lesson, involves drawing cow patterns on paper plates with black crayon. She notes how children will naturally curve their drawings unconsciously around the plate to fill the space (p. 46). After students master paper plates, Robinson Cole has them make real plates (p. 54). This is something that would obviously be difficult to do during todays time constrained art classes, but it is interesting to read about the process. She creates a mold using a bowl

and casting plaster. Children take the same techniques they learned with crayon and paper and create their designs on real plates. Linoleum printmaking is something else that you dont often see in todays elementary level classrooms. The use of sharp tools for cutting makes it a safety challenge for our larger classrooms as well. Once again, designs are created from the childs own imagination. Robinson Cole has students design their prints on paper first, then they transfer them onto linoleum using carbon paper (p. 62). From there they trace the outline again and receive explicit instructions on how to carve the linoleum safely. When blocks are ready for printing, the children are excited to see how their designs turn out on cloth. As Robinson Cole says, Children love block-printing. They love the smell of the ink, the act of rolling and pressing the blocks, the act of cutting and the surprise and magic of the finished piece (p. 67). Free Rhythmic Dancing The chapter on Free Rhythmic Dancing tells the reader how to coax the inner artist and dancer out of the child. As Robinson Cole states, The beautiful dancing is in the child already (p. 69). Robinson Cole implores us to forget what we know about dancing. She also shares an embarrassing experience involving dancing from her past. She confronts this experience in order to move past it and free herself from preconceived notions about what dance should be. To her, dance should be free expression and instinctual movement to the rhythm and mood of the music. It comes from within the child, moving from the body center (p. 72). She encourages movement by introducing simple moves like rocking back and forth on the feet and bouncing up and down to the music. Once children get the idea, she lets them move from the circle and dance more freely. She encourages them by using lots of praise and recognition. She also mentions the fact that silly business will occur, and that it shouldnt be stifled as its part of the process. The students are encouraged to leap

and jump during appropriate times in the music, as they bodies feel the need. Robinson Cole uses creative writing to connect to her students on a very personal and deep level. In the process, she also teaches proper grammar and spelling. In the beginning, she states that grammar and spelling could take a vacation if need be, as content is more important to start with (p. 99). They write about their lives, their own experiences. The Creative Writing chapter contains many heartfelt and personal stories. Its evident that Robinson Cole has built a strong level of trust between herself and her students. Just as she does with other art projects, she displays these creative writing efforts as a Wall Newspaper (p. 99) for all to read. Students write their stories on large pieces of paper, and later illustrate them as well. Spelling words are learned as the children ask for them (p. 108). This way, the words are relevant to the child and they can write as far as their imagination will take them. Teaching punctuation works in much the same way, with children learning as they write with guidance from the teacher. As stated previously, content was much more important to Robinson Cole than the grammar or punctuation. She felt that getting children to express themselves led them to have self-respect and a feeling of importance (p. 110). Robinson Cole also felt that creative writing could be used as an outlet if something was bothering a child. Conclusion Todays art educators could learn much from Natalie Robinson Coles book The Arts in the Classroom as way to introduce freedom, artistic expression, and creativity in the classroom. Obviously, some of her lesson plans would be difficult to implement in todays larger and time constrained class periods. However, I think the essence of what she is teaching could be applicable to any classroom: Making children feel valued by building a rapport of trust. Encouraging individuality by telling children to do it their own way. Praising students often to give them a feeling of self-confidence.

Teaching children to reach inside and fully express themselves.

Robinson Cole outlines the tools for making connections with students in her book and even offers words of encouragement to the reader. These simple techniques will lift children up and help them reach their potential, which should be the ultimate goal for any teacher. References Robinson Cole, N. (1940). The arts in the classroom. New York, NY: The John Day Company Smith, P., (1991, July). Working with art education history: Natalie Robinson Cole as a "living document". Art Education, 44(4), 6-15. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193279 (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Robinson_Cole