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For Teachers

Big Idea

 “What’s the Big Idea?” journal page by Christine Miller

Big Ideas Lead to Big Thinking

Education is changing in some ways to adapt to the 21st c., but has been and continues to be grounded in an ancient practice of asking questions.  Socrates is the first guy that got credit for it, and now (in the beginning of the 21st century) we are strongly reaching back to these fundamental questioning activities.  Though there are articles and books to help teachers select the best Essential Questions to give their students, the questions that our students generate themselves are the most meaningful, relevant, powerful and essential.  Reconnecting our students with the joys of questioning (& thinking – remember, they all asked tons of questions when they were 4) is a big part of the goal of teaching today.  Thank goodness we are making our way back to more autonomy for our students; we are teaching them how to take charge of their learning; we are letting them explore a little slice of life and encouraging them to ask as many questions about it as possible.

How questioning factors into our online fiber lessons

Explore Fiber lessons are designed to:

  • provide you with detailed steps about fiber projects and processes
  • include video tutorials to support your learning for these objectives
  • build your confidence in Exploring new materials, processes and techniques
  • get you excited about including more fiber in your art education curriculum
  • focus on using fibers as a fine art material – though some of the manipulation processes could lead to a craft emphasis, we hope that we are inspiring you to take our lessons as a jumping off point for a unique, beautiful, meaningful fine art expression by your student using fibers

We are not suggesting what “Big Ideas” you should use for a particular lesson, so we have not included a specific direction that we think you should take in each project.  in fact we are encouraging you to have you or your students choose the Big Idea you want to frame a lesson in.  Each lesson could be approached from different Big Ideas, and combed with a questioning strategy, your student will create a meaningful and unique artistic expression.

Example: Sculptural Needle Felting

Big Ideas, also referred to as Enduring Ideas, or Themes, are ideas that are common to all humanity.  We all know things like: love, conflict, identity, fantasy, etc.  There are many, many Big Ideas that are a great jumping off point for an artistic endeavor.  Let us show you how you can adapt any one of our lessons to be viewed through a variety of Big Ideas.  For instance, the Sculptural Needle Felting lesson on this site could be inspired by these Big Ideas:

  • Fantasy
  • Friendship
  • Imagination
  • Humor
  • Metamorphosis
  • Nightmares

Choosing the Big Idea you want to explore provides a great jumping off point for an exploration.  The instructor or the student can decide what Big Idea they want to explore.  Here is a Big Ideas in Art handout that the author has put together with the help of some friends.  This is by no means an exhaustive list!  Perhaps you have some Big Ideas you’ve thought about not on this list – add them!  It’s fun to peruse the list of possible “lenses” to view life from – this is what makes art so dynamic and essential to man’s existence!

Questioning is the Juicy Part!

Reconnecting our students to the excitement of questioning is where the art of teaching and the excitement of learning really intersect.  The more you can work questioning activities into your teaching practice, the more connected, excited, motivated and curious your students will become!  It is truly magical to see our students immersed in their work, excited and engaged from bell to bell!  If you aren’t including questioning activities into your classroom routine, we are listing some wonderful resources below to support your learning in this area as well.  This list is by no means exhaustive either!  We would love to hear from you with your own discoveries about questioning activities.

Thinking & Questioning Activities Resources

Take the time to check these resources out – EXPLORE!  Have fun!  Reconnect (or strengthen) your own questioning!  Find activities that resonate with you, that you could incorporate into your own dance of teaching.  Share resources you have found, or experiences you have had with your students.  Remember, our mission is for Explore Fiber to be an interactive community, so feel free to reach out to us.  Here area some of the resources we have discovered:

Question Formulation Technique: Dan Rothstein & Luz Santana:

  • The Right Question Institute – Dan Rothstein & Luz Santana refined their questioning practice over twenty years to create the Question Formulation Technique
  • Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions – http://rightquestion.org/education/ – all content areas can use this questioning strategy
  • Right Question Strategy – this link will lead you through to detailed instructions about the technique
  • Make Just One Change – this publication goes into depth about QFT and the processes of questioning.  A valuable resource for a teacher’s library.
  • Question Formulation Technique SlideShare presentation by Christine Miller – documenting this process in a 9th & 10th grade Sculpture I classroom
  • TEDxSomerville – Dan Rothstein: Did Socrates Get it Wrong? – TEDx Talk by one of the founders of QFT
  • Christine Miller – Question Formulation Technique – Vimeo video of process in a 9th & 10th grade Sculpture I classroom the second week of a new school year

Artful Thinking:  Developed by the Traverse City Area Public Schools and Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • Artful Thinking Website – The goal of the Artful Thinking program is to help students develop thinking dispositions that support thoughtful learning – in the arts, and across school subjects.The program is one of several programs at Project Zero linked by the theme “Visible Thinking.”

Project Zero:  Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • Project Zero Website – Welcome. Project Zero is an educational research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education composed of multiple, independently-sponsored research projects. Since 1967, Project Zero has examined the development of learning processes in children, adults, and organizations. Today, Project Zero’s work includes investigations into the nature of intelligence, understanding, thinking, creativity, ethics, and other essential aspects of human learning. Our mission is to understand and enhance high-level thinking and learning across disciplines and cultures and in a range of contexts, including schools, businesses, museums, and digital environments.
  • whatIsPZ? – find out more about Project Zero in this video.

Have something to add to this resource page?  Contact Us at Explore Fiber and contribute to the conversation about best practices in our art education classrooms!