Productive Pedagogies:

This unit addresses the following productive pedagogies:

Recognition of Difference:

·  Cultural knowledges

·  Inclusivity

·  Narrative

The philosophical attributes associated with the contemporary art practice of appropriation and the postmodern climate of the world we live in today caters for diversity, inclusivity and challenges inequality. The art practice of appropriation is a reflection of a globalised society which seems to simultaneously sustain homogeneity and difference by promoting diversity. Therefore, recognition of difference is embedded in the curriculum of this unit. All teaching and learning activities have been designed with this philosophy in mind.

Intellectual Quality:

·  Higher-order thinking

·  Deep knowledge

·  Deep understanding

·  Substantive conversation

·  Knowledge as problematic

·  Metalanguage

Intellectual quality is assimilated in all teaching and learning experiences associated with this unit. Higher-order thinking, deep knowledge and understanding are embedded through a sustained focus on appropriation in art – including the students’ own art, and how this practice reflects the students’ own personal experiences within the world. Substantive conservation is entrenched in all making, display and appraising tasks. For example, informal/formal dialogue and sustained exchanges are expected to be ongoing with teacher-student/student–student interactions about concepts and development of etchings and artists’ books. The visual arts promote a metalanguage that has been incorporated in all tasks in a formal and informal manner. For example, the appraising tasks require the use of the Four ‘Frames’ to critically analyse artworks. This allows students to actively seek the meaning of artworks in conjunction with their own thinking and experiences of the world, and to determine that postmodern art is part of a sceptical period where art is seen as a site for struggle and flux.

Connectedness:

·  Knowledge integration

·  Background knowledge

·  Connectedness to the world

·  Problem-based curriculum

With the concept of appropriation as the focal point of this unit, connectedness is fundamental to all teaching and learning experiences. As stated previously, appropriation is a reflection of the postmodern climate in which we live. Within this context, postmodernism should be identified as evading a single definition and understood as a mindset that critically reviews the status quo, asserts that facts are interpretations and truths are constructions and transitions of cultures and individuals. Therefore, students challenge how their own personal youth culture assumes meaning in their art and the world they live in. As a consequence, students use their prior knowledge to discover and explore alternative ‘truths’ about the world through their artists’ books.

Supportive Classroom Environment:

·  Student direction

·  Social support

·  Academic engagement

·  Explicit quality performance criteria

·  Self-regulation

Overall, the visual arts support interactive teaching and learning strategies, such as the cognitive paradigm of constructivism. Student-centred activities are the foundation of this unit. For example, students determine the design of their etching plate, the characteristics of their artists’ books and the context in which it will be “read” by spectators. These determinations may require deliberation/negotiation between teacher and student, but are not necessary. With the appraising tasks, despite the teacher–directed activity, students have a choice of how the task will be submitted. Therefore, academic engagement and self-regulation in the classroom succeeds as a result of student-centred activities which enable students to be active participants in their contemporary world. Explicit quality performance criteria are outlined an all student task sheets for this unit. Furthermore, the continued engagement in substantive conversation and metalanguage between teacher–student and student–student should reinforce performance criteria for students.