Creativity, Play and the Arts

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2014:

120 hours. Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs/online classes) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject focuses on the integral connection between play, the arts and learning in childhood. Through workshops, seminars, observations and site-visits, students will investigate how children learn and develop through play and creative arts experiences. To understand and learn how to facilitate children’s play through arts practice students will experience, observe and co-play in a range of real-life settings.

The experiential nature of the subject is supported by knowledge drawn from a range of disciplines incorporating theories of learning, play and creativity, artistic creation, and human development through art. Sites of practice may include museums, galleries, early learning centres, hospitals and community centres.

Students will:

• Experience and reflect critically on diverse arts and play settings for children;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the arts and play in child development;
• Practice observational and analytical skills;
• Develop skills and knowledge that support play-based arts practice in a range of ‘real-life’ settings.

There will be three items of assessment.

Item 1: Observation Description (Paper) 1,200 words, due week 8, 30%
Item 2 : Observation Analysis (Paper) 1,200 words, due week 8, 30%
Item 3: Design (Presentation & Paper) 600 word equivalent plus 10 minute presentation, due week 12, 40%

• Course readings will be provided.
• Bruner, Jerome 1986, Actual minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Dacey, J, and Lennon, K. (1998) Understanding Creativity. The Interplay of Biological, Psychological, and Social Factors. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publisher.
• Johnson, J., Christie, J. & Yawkey, T. (1999) Play and Early Childhood Development, New York: Longman Paley, Vivian, 2004, A child’s work: the importance of fantasy play, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Slade, Peter, Child Drama
• Wright, Susan, 2002, The arts, young children and learning, Boston: Allyn & Bacon

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

This subject will assist students to acquire the following graduate attributes:

• expand their analytical and cognitive skills through learning experiences in diverse subjects, artforms, and settings
• the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront unfamiliar problems
• initiate and implement constructive change in their communities, including professions and workplaces
• excellent interpersonal and decision-making skills, including an awareness of personal strengths and limitations