Methodology
Inquiry-based learning
Often when we approach a work of art from a different culture or an ancient time we have more questions than answers. We may ask ourselves: Why was this made and for what purpose? Who used this? What or who does it represent? What more can this object tell us about the culture in which it was created? As many educators know, asking questions is an important part of learning. In this Curriculum Resource Unit, we embrace the questions we might have when we approach the object and use these questions as starting points in our further investigation of the work. You will notice that each lesson plan title includes a subtitle that is a question. These are generative questions—in other words, questions that generate more questions and engage students’ interests. We feel these are the best types of questions to encourage learning. Guidelines to good questions when learning from works of art could include:
Center questions on your initial response to the work of art.
Use questions to make connections to a broader perspective of the object by considering its social, political, historical, and cultural contexts.
Ask questions that look for meaning in the work and further reveals the who, what, where, when, and why of the work.
Galef principles
The pedagogical principles underlying the lessons are derived from guidelines promoted by the Galef Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to school improvement. Galef has developed a curriculum called Different Ways of Knowing, which promotes the arts as integral to learning. Several of the Seattle Public elementary schools will be adopting this curriculum and the Galef pedagogy over the next few years. The Museum saw the development of the Egypt, Gift of the Nile Curriculum Resource Unit as an opportune time to apply the Galef principles that integrate best with object-based learning. We asked ourselves the following questions to guide our lesson plan development.
Does the question that initiates the lesson lead to more questions, addressing new possibilities, leading the learner into new realms of exploration?
Does the lesson build on the strengths of the students and take into account their different styles of learning?
Does the lesson enable students to enhance content knowledge as well as skills they need as lifelong learners?
Does the lesson allow the students opportunities for self-evaluation and self-reflection?
Does the lesson provide students the ability to collaborate with others?
Are there opportunities to assess student learning at the completion of each objective?