Implementing Programmes in the Arts
Action and Reflection
Tena te ngaru whati,
tena te ngaru puku.
There is a wave that breaks,
there is a wave that swells.
The cycle of action and reflection is a dynamic process that unites theory and practice. It is common to most learning and teaching situations and fundamental to this curriculum. It is evident, for example, when students:
- develop practical knowledge by exploring and using the elements, processes, techniques, and technologies of the arts disciplines and considering the results of their explorations;
- develop and evaluate ideas as they make art works;
- present art works and review the effectiveness of communication in doing so;
- investigate and reflect upon the social context of their own and others' art works.
For teaching and learning in and across the strands of this curriculum, action and reflection are integral to making, presenting, and evaluating individual art works. Action and reflection also help students understand how their work relates to other practices and art works within the broader social context of the arts - for example, whether it conforms to, confronts, or extends contemporary practice and cultural traditions.
Reflection is both a result of action and a prompt for further action. As they work within and across the strands, students will increasingly evaluate their progress and make informed plans for future learning. Students who document and record their processes of action and reflection discover that reworking and refining are central to making art works and that such works exist within the wider context of the arts in society.
