The Quietest Place In My Mind

From constructivism

Firstly, social constructivists see learning as experiential: students learn by doing. Prior experience influences new experience and attempts to reconcile the two. The learner constructs knowledge by engaging in a community of practice, a process in which the learner actively processes learning. (Helguera, Pablo (2012). Education for Socially Engaged Art. New York: Jorge Pinto Books9)

Secondly, as reflected in my art work, I go in search of the most ‘quiet’ places. I always like to discover the scenery around me on my walks, which are beautiful enough for me to quietly talk to nature: I took a long walk that day and ended up recording this pleasant scene in Princes Street. In stark contrast to the bustling, bustling scene across the street, I was sitting on a promenade chair, the sun was setting on the traditional Scottish architecture and there were many people coming and going, but I didn’t seem to feel the hustle and bustle of the city, I was just enjoying the sunset and breathing in nature.

• Constructivist View Of Knowledge

Constructivism believes that knowledge is not a purely objective reflection of reality, but merely an interpretation, hypothesis or hypothesis of the objective world that will change and deepen as the process of understanding progresses, and new interpretations and hypotheses emerge. In other words: what we know is subject to change as we go deeper and deeper into our understanding of the world. In the case of artworks, the art you create at the moment, or the meaning behind the creation, will change as the depth of awareness continues.

This artistic mission experience has taught me to think deeply and to listen to the sounds of nature. In the case of the artwork I am creating, at the moment, I would name it: The Quietest Place. It represents my inner voice – a feeling of breathing with nature. Although its definition will change with the depth of understanding, as explained by constructivist learning theory, the ‘experience’ I am thinking about will be the scaffolding for the new ‘experience’.

• Social Constructivism And Arts Learning

Social constructivism is ubiquitous in arts learning, often in an ‘unconscious’ way. This assumption is rooted in Vygotsky’s theory of ‘scaffolding’: as learning is internalised, the scaffolding is gradually removed, allowing the student to think independently.

It is like a game of Tetris, where the pieces fall higher and higher, but when they reach a certain number or colour and shape, they disappear and start again from the lower end.

This means that when I complete another artistic task, the previous artistic experience will become the foundation stone for a new work of art, but when I internalise all the artistic experience and theory, I will move from a ‘shadow’ work of art to a ‘new’ work of art.

Siemen & Downes emphasise the importance of connections, rather than the content they connect. It is like a bond that connects elements together to advance learning. Siemens accelerates these connections through the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course created by Dave Cormier) .Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age (2005)

It does this by creating an online platform that brings together people who want to engage with the artwork and think about it in a new way. Similar to the Open Learning Commons platform we created, it is an open learning resource that anyone can participate in and learn from. So I uploaded my artworks to the sharing platform and welcomed people who love art to join me in a discussion on the theme of “The Quietest Place”, where we will think in a new way: what is the quietest place? We will be thinking in a new way: what is the quietest place? and analyse the inner meaning of the artworks we study and its social transformation.

However, I believe that the focus of the discussion is on the enjoyment of the process, on the encounter between participants and the encounter of ideas, and that the outcome is often not as important as the process.