At this time of the year, graduating class Art pupils are having individual consultation sessions with me to clarify their approach to finish up their coursework. To my surprise, one of the weakest pupils told me last week that she has the intention of dropping the subject. Perhaps in the environment which I have built around the value of candor and transparency in feedback, she has found the regular comparisons of work to her peers who are performing much better, to be a bitter and painful reality to swallow.
Comparisons in the standards of work (using visual references) are critical in understanding differentiation, for without it, pupils will be even more lost in this seemingly impressionistic subject where benchmarks are difficult to comprehend. So how do you carry out comparisons without letting those who are not at the glorified end to be accepting of the feedback? This would require an earnest and effective communication with the intention of the exercise rationalised, that knowing the differences in performance would benefit the group collectively. In fact, it would benefit those who are not scoring well with a better idea of what their friends did that made a difference.
Well, those are the intentions and I still feel that it is the right thing to do. The focus now is to sharpen my persuasive ability to not let those who are doing poorly feel dejected. This is a skill which I need to continually build up. If an educator is able to sustainably let his pupils feel the hunger for success and be always positive in living their lives, much can be achieved.
After having a lengthy talk with that pupil of mine, she told me that she will let me know if she is still keen on continuing with her coursework this week. Doing Art in 'O' Level, or not, is just a small step in one's education, deciding to quit and just exit when times get tough is the attitude one cannot afford to adopt in life.
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