Ms Dom began her journey as an art educator in 1999. It was an accidental path and she was made an art coordinator in her first year of teaching. She truly believes that as an educator, she is morally obliged to enter her classroom with the highest of expectations for all her pupils. She tries her best to maximize the opportunities that exist within and beyond the classroom and hopes that with dedication and hard work, her pupils will rise to the occasion.

 

 

Beyond just classroom teaching and finding meaning through art with her pupils, she shares this passion and belief with her fellow colleagues so that together they can promote more vibrant artistic classrooms and even more vibrant, enthusiastic, skillful and responsible young artistes. Therefore, as a mentor and partner in the arts fraternity, she hopes to continue to be a role model who cultivate in her pupils and colleagues, open minds, a positive attitude, the artistic knowledge and ability to look at the world critically as well as the belief in one’s ability to make positive contributions to society.

 

 

 

Learning Journey to National Design Centre (NDC)

27th February 2015

 

It was an eye-opener looking at the various facilities avaialble during our LJ to NDC. Formerly the homeground for aspiring artists, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and St. Anthony's Convent and Chinese Opera Institute, NDC has successfully ushered the premises into this new era but still retaining the old charm and history of its predecessors; creating functional spaces elegantly.

 

Mr Mahendran Reddy, the Senior Assistant Director for Centre Programming gave us an interesting overview of the NDC's objectives, activities and facilities that it has to offer to educators.

 

One of the most interesting feature/facilities in NDC is the Prototyping Lab@NDC by OneMakerGroup (OMG). OMG has tools for common people like us to try and err our creations that may not materialise due to lack of funds, facilties, training, etc.. Their labs boast of laser printing and cutting machines, heavy duty machinery with supervision and basic training on all the equipment there, raw materials at a nominal fee and very affordable training and membership. It's a creator's haven. Though it may not be suitable for primary school pupils, the lab is great for us to test those untested ideas under our beds;)

 

Where's that journal of mine;)

 

 

New Orleans, Here we come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Privileged and excited.

That was what I felt when I was chosen to be part of this Dream Team. Consisting of art educators from primary schools to junior college, the team boasts of more than a hundred years of arts education experience combined! Imagine that! I was looking forward to a wealth of learning, ideas and inspiration. Although the 24 hour journey did not really excites me but the thought of being amongst the best in Arts Education overcome the  multiple flights.

 

The journey was uneventful. Delays, missed connections and random violence that escaped us at the New Orleans Airport had us totally exhausted. We finally arrived at Hilton Riverside near midnight and the only thing on our mind was just sleep...

 

We begin the next day with a visit to Young Audiences Charter School at Kate Middleton at Gretna. Followed by pre-conference at the New Orleans Museum of Arts and visit to NOCCA two days later. I had to take a sick day off due to bronchitis. Quite a damper; to have missed the visit to Isadore Newman School on the second day.

 

 

New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts (NOCCA)

 

We visited New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) which is a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. Quite a similar setting to School of the Arts (SOTA) in Singapore, NOCCA provides intensive instruction in classical music, creative writing, culinary arts, dance, drama, jazz, media arts, musical theatre, theatre design, visual arts, vocal music, and academics to students from public, private, and parochial schools across New Louisiana. Uniquely, admission to NOCCA is strictly by audition. Students, regardless of background, are given opportunities to showcase their talents and conviction in their artistic endeavours during the audition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nocca also has a unique curriculum. Their students will attend their academic lesson for the first half of the day and arts classes in the afternoon. Thriving on a project-based environment, most students spend the whole day at NOCCA. It’s a long day for them but their passion for the arts truly shows in their commitment to see through each long day. The teachers’ commitment is also reflected through the time, effort and rapport that they have with their students. NOCCA is a family, not just an institution. I believe that that is their recipe for success, commitment to and believe in each other.

 

Our tour around NOCCA is a heartwarming experience. I could feel the inclusivity in the classes that I visited. For the first time, I experienced a dance class whereby the dancers are of different shapes and sizes! That struck me as really unique; passion comes first before norms and standards. Their classrooms and studio are brimming with evidences of learning. Various spaces are used to showcase their thoughts, processes and outcomes of their learning; not exhibited but proudly presented by the students themselves. The commitment and passion to deliver quality arts education to the students is clearly visible at NOCCA.

 

 

Young Audiences Charter School at Kate Middleton (YACS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What struck me most at YACS was how passionate the school leaders and teachers are on arts integration. Housed in a modest cluster of one-storey buildings, the classrooms and corridors are filled with evidences of students’ learning. They were not ‘specially selected’ for showcase but rather a representation of the whole class effort and learning. Teachers, some who are artists themselves show clear ownership and pride in their classrooms. Classrooms are personalized with the teacher’s chosen artist, painted doors with BFG and personal interpretations of Van Gogh and Matisse. Clustered tables and chairs promote opportunities for teamwork and great discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first lesson that we observed was Mrs Rooney’s. She started with one of the Artful Thinking routines of See, Think, Wonder, with her class. Linked to a Math’s objective (to be taught later in the day), Mrs Rooney used an artwork to make connections to the concept of shapes and angles. Another Math lesson involves the teaching of addition through music. The Artist-Teacher (a musician) discussed and worked with the Math teacher to include drums and other musical instruments in the lesson. Beating the drums definitely ease the stress of counting. That set the mood for the day; what a fun way to learn Math through the arts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At YACS, there are no forced collaborations. Teachers make concerted effort to integrate their various subjects with arts and believe that the arts is not just a bystander but part of everything. The arts has to be legitimate and the integration must have strong academic components. Professional development time is essential and sacred for all teachers. They come together once a week as a level to discuss and give feedback on their students and their lessons. The integrated tasks are authentic and linked to their social and environmental concerns in New Orleans.

 

Lastly, their passionate and hands-on principal, Mr Folwell Dunbar, reinforces these values and belief. An artist himself, he is also experienced in designing and delivering professional development modules, modeled research-based practices, evaluated schools, programmes and personnel amongst others. His wealth of experience is evident as he leads and serves his team in spearheading the arts integration programme at YACS; truly a servant leader.

 

 

NAEA Conference 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next three days were filled with sessions of meaningful learning experiences. The discussions and sharings as well as the questions posed and answered brought my understanding of the arts education to a deeper and more meaningful level. Although I have been teaching visual arts for the past fifteen years, I am humbled during this trip by the vast amount of experiences, ideas and inspiration by my fellow delegates as well as the presenters during the conference. I saw passionate art educators who fight for what they believe in; that arts education is not a ‘sideline’ or ‘feel good’ subject but a discipline that promotes the 21CC and an enabler for holistic learning experience.