Object Based Learning

Museum and study collection – Video Notes: 

Object based learning can be used to encourage deeper more experimental object engagement.

19th century – a notion that aesthetic appreciation was a learned experience 

Arts schools began gathering objects they felt would inspire a generation of makers – inspire students to behave in a different way

The idea was to engage with objects in a studio environment and unpick the making techniques or materials = core part of teaching practice

{It is interesting to learn how societal and current events like world war 2 impacted the development of these collections.}

The collections continued to grow up until the Second World War – it was then put into a basement room for safety and was largely forgotten – increased student numbers and changes in the curriculum meant working and teaching with objects became less common place

1970’s  – rise in art history and cultural studies 

1980’s – they started to catalogue the collection, ordering it, making sense of it and applying it to be a registered museum

Rather than to carry on collecting, the collection should tell the story of CSM, its staff, alumni and students – They did this by buying work from the student degree show – have a collection dating back 30 years

This collection showcases how the acquisition of new technology drives the design language

{Interesting to see how technology drives and influences the work that students create – many are pushing to explore new and emerging tech and the innovative work created every year is a reflection of the advancement in technology and how it can be used in as a creative tool.}

E.g – garments that have been digitally printed, laser cut textiles 

How types of audiences impact how we engage with an object:

• Sees one person as the expert and wants to hear and learn from them – They want to hear your expertise on the subject

VS

• Art school students who can be proactive, challenging and what to change the status quo or how something is seen// used – subvert the traditional ways of seeing, using or doing something. They want to learn actively through doing and making rather than passively looking and listening

How can you better support teaching and learning using object based learning/ the heart of curriculum development?

• Think about the way in which you engage with the public. Think about where you are situated and how that can engage and interest more students – light, space and ambience played an important role in getting more art students to engage with the work. A way to reposition and display something that is considered old and irrelevant in a new and bright setting
• Jean Piaget – learning is a communal and democratic process
• Lev Vygotsky – learning is being constructed by the learner
• Bruner – interest and curiosity as key motivation 

Looking into the process of experimental learning within art and design – we process so much more of what we make and do vs what we read and hear

Scott G Paris coined the phrase ‘object-centred learning’ – to address the issue of object engagement within a museum  setting

• The meaning of an object is not held inherently with the object itself – the transaction between the learner and the object allows a space for meaningful construction

• Stopped showing textiles to textile students = started thinking about showing objects in a more interdisciplinary way – understanding an object isn’t discipline specific but rooted in the students own experience

Object based learning encourages students to use a variety of skills: communication, teamwork, research and analysis. The multi sensory aspect of object based learning led to richer and deeper learning experiences

Team teaching: means having 2 people in the classroom teaching > can be a difficult and exposing experience to share a classroom with a collage, there is something about the challenge and compromise of having to deliver a workshop together

QUESTION: how can we use objects as a focal point for helping students improve their own learning awareness, meaning making and self reflection?

An  example of the session:

Students work individually.

An object is front of them – students are asked to note down all the questions that arise in their mind.

The questions are then categorised and analysed – does it focus on material? Theoretical concerns? Any assumption can then lead the other questions you have. Your culture and experience can shape and influence the way you interact and drive the way you think about the object

A second tool: a framework that encourages a really deep forensic examination of objects. So create a staged or stepped examination of objects through: description, deduction and hypotheses.

1. Ask the students to list the material qualities of the object
2. Ask them what they can deduce by having a close examination of the object
   • Move on the hypothesising and storytelling around the object – students work in groups to think about the object, what it means and what’s its position within wider society might mean
3. There is a focus on making space for difference and opening up a space so students recognise how their peers see and understand objects differently, there are no right or wrong answers and everyone brings something to the table

A challenge – decolonising how white and western the collection is- needs to be improved. They have a proactive collecting policy – try and acquire objects which speak to issues of race or gender. Staffing also is really white which also impacts the way the objects are catalogued. 

We are at a stage where material culture is seen as important in teaching practice

Emotional response to objects video:

As soon as you look at an object, you tend to form an emotional response (drawn to it, dismiss it, feel a sense of recognition…) Might even have difficulty reading the object or trying to find a way in.

This immediate reaction is an instinctive reaction. It can also be considered an emotional or extra-rational (something that lies beyond rationality). What we think is instinct is actually based on a complicated set of memories and experiences from the human psyche.

We also hold unconscious biases about things like race, gender, culture, religion and identity that we pick up from interacting with other people, the media and society in general. Everyone has biases, it is about gaining an awareness of it and how it impacts and could negatively effect other people. This becomes even more important for those in positions of power and influence. 

Asking the following questions will allow you to build a great understanding of how you approach an object and what helps you form those instinctive responses:

• We are more comfortable around things we recognise or feel familiar as we can immediately understand it. 
• What does this object remind you of?
• What else does it make you think of?
• Does it evoke a positive or negative memories?
• And how does that effect the way you encounter the object?
• Explore what is going on in your body when you look at the object – do you feel calm? Heart rate increasing? What does your bodily reaction reveal about what is going on in your mind?
• If you have had a strong reaction to the object, what do you think is driving that response?
• Dig into all the pre-conception you might have around race, gender and identity and try see how that changes the way you see things.

{These questions are a great tool to help you build a more critical understanding for an object. In sharing these answers or working them out in a group, they would also help you see how other people interact, understand and perceive things based on their instinctive reactions and why.}