_Reflecting on Finger Masks and teaching folk art in a J/I classroom.
_ As I expressed in my rationale, my primary motivation in exploring Inuit art and using a traditional art making practice as the basis for this project was to familiarize myself with a specific type of art practiced by Canadian First Nations People. Considering my own lacking knowledge in that particular area, and my desire to be able to comfortably include this kind of content in the courses I will teach.
I use the term comfort to express that I feel that we have a responsibility as educators to research and understand the content of our lessons (particularly when we take on the daunting task of speaking on behalf of another culture, ethnic or religious group... additionally so, when said cultural, ethnic or religious groups have been disenfranchised and marginalized by our government...) For that reason it was paramount for me to include links to various other websites that were helpful in terms of understanding the context and practice of making and using Finger Masks as well as the informal information I was able to include here. And while I am by no means a Finger Mask expert, I feel I have taught myself enough about the tradition of dancing with finger masks as a historical and contemporary practice (boys and men perform in contemporary Finger Mask dances) to be able to lead a well rounded lesson on the topic. And more importantly, to be able to provide enough contextualizing historical and anthropological information about the tradition for my students to really be able to connect with the roots of this practice.
Amanda Shallall's assertion that this activity would be enriched with the inclusion of a narrative that students could engage with (and that could serve as a source of inspiration for students finding it difficult to get started) was in my opinion the last element missing when I presented my findings to my peers. I believe that creating a cross curricular plan; one that includes Language Arts, Dance and Drama in addition Visual Arts, offers a more holistic experience through which students can truly begin to develop more meaningful and nuanced knowledge.
Learning about Inuit Finger Masks was a really positive experience for me. I feel motivated to learn about more First Nation Art traditions practiced in Canada so that I can include these kinds of lessons in all of the classes I will teach.
I use the term comfort to express that I feel that we have a responsibility as educators to research and understand the content of our lessons (particularly when we take on the daunting task of speaking on behalf of another culture, ethnic or religious group... additionally so, when said cultural, ethnic or religious groups have been disenfranchised and marginalized by our government...) For that reason it was paramount for me to include links to various other websites that were helpful in terms of understanding the context and practice of making and using Finger Masks as well as the informal information I was able to include here. And while I am by no means a Finger Mask expert, I feel I have taught myself enough about the tradition of dancing with finger masks as a historical and contemporary practice (boys and men perform in contemporary Finger Mask dances) to be able to lead a well rounded lesson on the topic. And more importantly, to be able to provide enough contextualizing historical and anthropological information about the tradition for my students to really be able to connect with the roots of this practice.
Amanda Shallall's assertion that this activity would be enriched with the inclusion of a narrative that students could engage with (and that could serve as a source of inspiration for students finding it difficult to get started) was in my opinion the last element missing when I presented my findings to my peers. I believe that creating a cross curricular plan; one that includes Language Arts, Dance and Drama in addition Visual Arts, offers a more holistic experience through which students can truly begin to develop more meaningful and nuanced knowledge.
Learning about Inuit Finger Masks was a really positive experience for me. I feel motivated to learn about more First Nation Art traditions practiced in Canada so that I can include these kinds of lessons in all of the classes I will teach.