Implementation of “Creative Writing Using Van Gogh” (SOI-MT-288)

Author: James Callus, Head of Department Digital Literacy

School/Organization: Directorate for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills

The learning scenarios uploaded in the Europeana portal are very inspiring and offer learners the opportunity to critically engage with cultural heritage by reflecting, researching, evaluating and creating digital content while nurturing 21st century competences.  Initially, I could not decide which learning scenario I was going to implement in class since they are all highly interesting and motivating.  While going through this reflective process my attention always shifted to Creative writing using Van Gogh.  The reason why I chose this learning is two-fold.  I am aware that in their art lessons learners are introduced to a number of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings so primarily knowledge was going to be scaffolded on learners’ prior knowledge of the artist’s paintings.  Secondly, I wanted to focus on the life of Vincent Van Gogh as a person who struggled with mental illness throughout his short life but still believed in his artistic abilities being constantly aware that he was not being understood by his contemporaries.  This is a very strong message I wanted to convey during the implementation of this learning scenario focusing on mindfulness, self-efficacy and communication with family members or other professionals within the school when there are issues which are affecting their personal life.

The implementation context

Implementation of the selected LS

The implementation of this LS was held face to face and targeted Arts, English Language, Computational Thinking and Coding in St Margaret College Senglea Primary School.  The selected school is a state school in Malta.  This LS was implemented in a Year 5 class with a cohort of 12, 8-9 years old learners.  The selected year group is slightly younger than the intended cohort portrayed in this LS. Learners were already familiar with some of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings since they discussed these during Arts lessons.  However, they were not familiar with any of the paintings included in the LS and this contributed to engage leaners in a self-reflective process and understand how Vincent Van Gogh developed as an artist.  Since learners had already carried out work related to Van Gogh during their Art lessons, I decided to take a completely different approach in this LS as outlined below. Learners did not have any previous knowledge about the life Vincent Van Gogh and were not aware about his metal illness.  They were also not familiar with the struggles he endured during his lifetime to make ends meet. 

Discussing the artist with learners

The narrative

Introducing the LS

The implementation of this LS spanned over two lessons of 1 hour each.  To introduce the LS, a portrait of Van Gogh was projected on the Interactive Flat Panel and learners were asked to describe the artist by availing themselves of AnswerGarden on their school tablet.  The feedback posted by learners initiated the discussion about the life of Van Gogh.  Since learners were slightly younger than the cohort identified in the LS, I did not immediately focus on the mental health issues although learners immediately noticed that the artist was very sad and something was troubling him.  After the discussion, learners were familiarized with  a brief video about Van Gogh’s life from the Van Gogh’s museum website.  At this point learners became familiar about the struggles Van Gogh had to deal with throughout his lifetime. 

Feedback by learners using AnswerGarden

Analysis of Van Gogh’s Paintings

A thorough analysis of the paintings included in this LS was conducted and learners started noticing the difference in the artist’s style when compared to those viewed during the video.  Learners were impressed by the painting ‘The Potato Eaters’ and their feedback clearly show that they managed to depict the life of people during Van Gogh’s time.  Moreover, a particular learner had a relative who is familiar with growing crops in the field, and his insights enriched the discussion ensued. At this point, I differed from the LS given the knowledge learners gained during Art lessons.  Feedback from learners was sought in class and instead of engaging in the tasks outlined in the LS, a different approach was adopted.

Learners’ Computational Thinking experience

During the second lesson, learners had to avail themselves of the Intelino train to go through a specific journey to bridge their personal digital experience with the artist’s personal experience.  This activity metaphorically symbolizes the journey the artist had gone through in the quest to become a better artist and to overcome the struggles that affected his life.  Different Van Gogh’s paintings were placed in different part of the track and learners had to code the train to collect as many paintings as possible. Once the activity came to end, they had to talk about the paintings collected.  Although the LS was modified the timeframes conform with the original LS.

The learners using the Intelino train

Learning outcomes

Outcomes of the implementation of this LS

The main aims of this lessons were:

  • To increase learners’ artistic knowledge.
  • To make learners aware about the importance to thrive to consolidate their strengths and overcome their weaknesses.
  • To engage learners in a computational thinking experience by bridging art, the artist’s biography and technology.
  • To seek help when they struggle with certain issues in their lives. 

This LS dealt with mental health which is a very sensitive topic.  Initially I found it challenging to discuss this topic with learners, considering their age.  Throughout the lesson I preferred to focus on mindfulness and self-efficacy since I personally believe these will eventually help learners to overcome their difficulties.  I encourage other educators to try this approach while implementing the LS in class. 

Outcomes for the educator

The Europeana Experience

The resources found in the Europeana portal are thought provoking paving the way to diverse learning methods to promote arts and science digital heritage in the teaching and learning process.  The plethora of resources available in the Europeana portal also provide an enriching learning experience since it engages users in a self-reflective process to find innovative approaches how to implement and promote cultural heritage.  These innovative approaches stem out from past experiences or current thematic issues currently being dealt with across Europe.  Consulting different LS before implementing the one discussed above made me reflect about the rich cultural content found in the resources available in the Europeana portal. While implementing any LS, I encourage Europeana users to make the necessary amendments to the original lesson to familiarise learners with other cultural backgrounds while linking their cultural heritage to the learning context.  In this way learners will gain ownership of the LS and are more motivated to participate in the actual implementation.  

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Creative writing using Van Goch (LS-MT-353) created by Justin Nicholas Micallef

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Public Domain Mark 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Rijksmuseum.

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