Vision and Verse – Inspiring Creative Writing
Vision and Verse – Inspiring Creative Writing
March 19, 2018 at 3:38 PM
Experiences that weave together real world texts with learning opportunities, offer students the most enriching and engaging connection with their studies. With this in mind, our Year 9 English students visited Auckland Art Gallery to take part in Vision and Verse; a programme that works to encourage students to create their own written work using original works of art as a starting point.
The outing was part of the Middle College English programme, which works to challenge students to use their creative and critical thinking to make sense of the world around them in a range of forms, from the written and oral texts they typically meet in the classroom, as well as, in this instance, visual texts such as those found in the gallery environment.
The students spent time in the galleries exploring visual language through the guided exploration of artworks. Starting with the paintings in the Mezzanine Gallery, moving on to interactive art in the Obliteration Room and then viewing the modern sculptures downstairs, the students used the artworks as inspiration. They were encouraged to experiment and craft written work independently, with guided tasks to support their efforts.
One student commented that ‘the day was so different and varied, I really felt involved with the art and the writing process’ while another said she loved visiting the Obliteration Room and ‘the way we could become part of the art creation.’ ‘A different and exciting way to develop a description’ summed it up for another student.
EOTC (Education outside the classroom) opportunities such as this help bring student learning into context, adding another rich layer to their classroom studies.
