I love working with the XP class, year after year, partly because I have known most of the children since their first arrival to school as toddlers and partly because the XP teachers are amazing (Bekke we miss you as XP wunderkind but we are thrilled that you are now our brilliant head of school!). Last week, Vida invited me to join the class on a nature observation walk and we decided to end the walk with an introduction to observational drawing.
Not only do the teachers lead the children around the neighborhood with the intent of experiencing nature in their own back yard, but they are also experts at modeling a spirit of wonder, discovery and enthusiasm. Children will respond to our level of engagement. The joy displayed by the teachers invites everyone to slow down, delight in the details and observe the wide world all around.
Once back at school, the children collected their science journals and we set to work observing and drawing the trees in front of the school.
Observational drawing differs from free drawing. We slow down and really look at the subject, noticing its shape, lines, texture, size, color, dimension and more. We then use our drawing tools and paper to carefully record our observations on paper. We continue looking at the subject and avoid resorting to the easy route of drawing from a preexisting idea of a tree. This deep looking is a mindful practice that slows down the drawing process and facilitates learning and discovery. As we draw in this way our ideas about a subject are challenged by our experience of it. This results in what Piaget called disequilibrium and learning inevitably follows.
It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
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