Creative connections 1: Visual arts

This unit introduces and extends your understanding of creativity and its role in art-making within pre-school, early years and early primary contexts. You will engage in a range of practical workshops and lectures, while also participating in embedded art experiences with children. You will explore a range of art-based materials, processes, events and pedagogical strategies that support the creative potential of the young child through the visual arts. You examine how the visual arts offer diverse and meaningful ways for children to creatively connect with their world while also fostering ecological connections with the environment, sustainability, and community and cultural contexts (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Asia and Pacific perspectives). In the process, you will develop competencies as teachers, artists and researchers while also nurturing your own awareness of art in contemporary society, creativity, ecological awareness and critical thinking skills. By undertaking visual art experiences you creatively explore given themes and practical approaches that extend your knowledge of materials, technologies and techniques appropriate for young children. Through theory and practice, you investigate and critique models of art pedagogy, strategies for inclusive teaching and the planning and evaluation of quality art experiences. A focus of the unit is the embedded ‘Arts Reach’ experience that sees you engaging with school or kindergarten contexts to facilitate guided visual art experiences with children.

You will develop a repertoire of visual arts strategies and pedagogical approaches for young children as informed by experiences across art-practice, teaching and research. In turn, these experiences are utilised to make creative connections with the environment, sustainability, community and cultural contexts. This unit provides the foundation for EDF1064 Creative connections 2: Music and performing arts.