This weeks session really shone a light on what you think you know is best and what really is best. A few weeks back i had suggested doing somthing like an anti-drug piece for our final project. At the time of the suggestion, because i was so enthusiastic about this idea, because the group said okay i thought that everything was. But now as i reflect back to that class i can subconsciously account for the uneasyness that this idea left the guys with. And it wasn't until the discussion this week that their feelings were brought to light. And thank god because as the guys stated in class the anti drugs piece could have been a complete disater for not only the group but potentially for the centre too. One person in particular voiced their extremly valid concerns about the potential danger a piece like this could bring in an obvioussly drug tinted communiy. The people using and deaing drugs could easily see this as a direct attack on them, and as a result vandalise or damage the centre as a retaliation. Something i had never even considered. So swiftly we erased this from our plans and started planning something, different, personal, something for the guys to express theselves through.. so you will have to wait and see the result...
But seriously when you think about it the consideration of the group, their ideas and opinions is the most vital element of having a successful group, it is easy for someone coming from the outside and suggesting ideas that they don't relly have to live with. But when you really emerse youself into these peoples shoes you begin to see problems that you never saw before, but also as a result you begin to formulate more effective solutions!!
Best session to date, a great learning curve for me!!
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Changin' it up after a bite in the face!!
Thurday 25th March
So this week was an extremly good session for the group- and even more so for me , it gave me a great chance to reflect on what interacting with a group in this way really is, what the important underlying dynamics of working in a community of people are, how you must adjust the way you work to be sure to include all those who want to be, and then progress forward in a positive way. So just to track back a bit, the reason i have been so interested in doing my class around graffiti is because i knew that it is something interesting and relevent to my generation, it has an edge to it, something which i know appeals in large to a younger group of people but also something self expressive, a chance for people to say what they feel. And after 6 or so weeks of this class i have noticed excellent participation and development in this area, but still some no-shows. This is no fault of the people who don't sit in on the sessions, there are completly voluntry, but i felt like i was excluding some people by pushing forward with something that didn't really appeal to them. So i felt i had to do something different, something to get everyone around the table again, so the solution as simple as it may seem was tattoos. An area i knew the group as a whole would take interest in as some already have tattoos. So I used this session to design ones for the people who wanted some done and i soon realised that it was a success, i looked around the table-a very full one i might add to see the group as a whole really interacting with each, more that they had for a few weeks.
So on reflection as someone who is interested in working with community groups, i now know you have to be flexible, be able to freshen up the class if need be, and worry less about the actual body of work that is being produced and instead focus on how the group as a whole are working out, after all it is a community.
I have learned that the content is not as important as i first thought, although it is a vital factor in pulling a groups interest, but instead its the team building, the interaction between people, and their progression over time.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
So this week was an extremly good session for the group- and even more so for me , it gave me a great chance to reflect on what interacting with a group in this way really is, what the important underlying dynamics of working in a community of people are, how you must adjust the way you work to be sure to include all those who want to be, and then progress forward in a positive way. So just to track back a bit, the reason i have been so interested in doing my class around graffiti is because i knew that it is something interesting and relevent to my generation, it has an edge to it, something which i know appeals in large to a younger group of people but also something self expressive, a chance for people to say what they feel. And after 6 or so weeks of this class i have noticed excellent participation and development in this area, but still some no-shows. This is no fault of the people who don't sit in on the sessions, there are completly voluntry, but i felt like i was excluding some people by pushing forward with something that didn't really appeal to them. So i felt i had to do something different, something to get everyone around the table again, so the solution as simple as it may seem was tattoos. An area i knew the group as a whole would take interest in as some already have tattoos. So I used this session to design ones for the people who wanted some done and i soon realised that it was a success, i looked around the table-a very full one i might add to see the group as a whole really interacting with each, more that they had for a few weeks.
So on reflection as someone who is interested in working with community groups, i now know you have to be flexible, be able to freshen up the class if need be, and worry less about the actual body of work that is being produced and instead focus on how the group as a whole are working out, after all it is a community.
I have learned that the content is not as important as i first thought, although it is a vital factor in pulling a groups interest, but instead its the team building, the interaction between people, and their progression over time.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Friday, March 12, 2010
Double Post 4th & 11th March
Thurs 11th March
This sessions was another really successful one once we got starded, thanks to a dedicated committe member. I spoke to the lads as a group and stressed that if when we start spraying, that people just want to join in for that its goin to be like pissin against the wind, with no idea or concept or even a skill level of drawing the piece, the will find it much harder than they think. So with that we began a pretty full class, and i decided to go to every person one by one and help them with designing the graffiti character version of themselves. I was suprized at how many people preferred the character than the graffiti lettering, This is something new for me to take on board, and in future to give more of a variety early on, because now i know not everbody will like the same thing, but thankfully its not too late through the block. Overall good concentration and motivation, possibly the best to date.
P.S Just a special thanks to the youth committe member who helped refocus the class this week, because even for myself i found that it is easy to slip into a routine where you do your thing no matter who turns up, and you become passive to the decreasing number of people interested, but this class is not about exclusion, its about inclusion, and i began to forget that, so thankfully with a little appriciated help me personally and the group are back on the right track.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Thurs 4th March
This week was a really good session, the focus and motivation was definatlyly on the graffiti project this week. Maybe as a teacher these are just steps you have to go through to learn how to deal with problems like lack of concentration when they arise. You have got to just accept that some sessions are bound to be more or least successful than others. But thankfully this week it was one of the good ones. We really gained some ground as far as the idea for the final piece, i was hopeful that the lads would come up with some the really connected with as was relevent to them, and they didn't let me down. So for now our basic brief is to, as a group, design a piece to combat the drug problem in the community and aslo in general, This piece is going to be the groups stand against drugs directly as even the location of the center is close to where a lot of drug movement happens, so this piece will be like a rose in a bush of thorns. Making a stand from the inside... out!
Keep ya posted,
Ste
This sessions was another really successful one once we got starded, thanks to a dedicated committe member. I spoke to the lads as a group and stressed that if when we start spraying, that people just want to join in for that its goin to be like pissin against the wind, with no idea or concept or even a skill level of drawing the piece, the will find it much harder than they think. So with that we began a pretty full class, and i decided to go to every person one by one and help them with designing the graffiti character version of themselves. I was suprized at how many people preferred the character than the graffiti lettering, This is something new for me to take on board, and in future to give more of a variety early on, because now i know not everbody will like the same thing, but thankfully its not too late through the block. Overall good concentration and motivation, possibly the best to date.
P.S Just a special thanks to the youth committe member who helped refocus the class this week, because even for myself i found that it is easy to slip into a routine where you do your thing no matter who turns up, and you become passive to the decreasing number of people interested, but this class is not about exclusion, its about inclusion, and i began to forget that, so thankfully with a little appriciated help me personally and the group are back on the right track.
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Thurs 4th March
This week was a really good session, the focus and motivation was definatlyly on the graffiti project this week. Maybe as a teacher these are just steps you have to go through to learn how to deal with problems like lack of concentration when they arise. You have got to just accept that some sessions are bound to be more or least successful than others. But thankfully this week it was one of the good ones. We really gained some ground as far as the idea for the final piece, i was hopeful that the lads would come up with some the really connected with as was relevent to them, and they didn't let me down. So for now our basic brief is to, as a group, design a piece to combat the drug problem in the community and aslo in general, This piece is going to be the groups stand against drugs directly as even the location of the center is close to where a lot of drug movement happens, so this piece will be like a rose in a bush of thorns. Making a stand from the inside... out!
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Friday, February 26, 2010
Unfocused - In a good way
This session was the least successful for me to date, when i came in first the guys were having a committee meeting trying to establish their goals and objectives for the rest of the year, it was great to hear some of these youths were so motivated and dedicated to the work they do as a group through the center, there is an obvious want there for accomplishment, success, progressive learning and moving forward. Absolutely great to see.
The only thing about this was that the group focus was dwelling on other things- and in my opinion more important issues. So i struggled to hold the attention of few this week, but although i struggled for the attention of the group it was good to see that their minds were focused on other positive aspects of group work and motivation. I did do some work with the few that stayed with me, just helping further develop their 'tags', getting them to practice and practice because as hard as it is to draw on paper, its 10 times harder to spray on a wall.
Also we have a possible piece site and a practice wall, the gable end of the center itself and the long wall up to the center.
So overall this week was kind of a standstill as far as the graffiti project goes but at least the work ethic was concentrated on other positive things, hopefully things will get back to normal next week...
Keep ya posted,
Ste
The only thing about this was that the group focus was dwelling on other things- and in my opinion more important issues. So i struggled to hold the attention of few this week, but although i struggled for the attention of the group it was good to see that their minds were focused on other positive aspects of group work and motivation. I did do some work with the few that stayed with me, just helping further develop their 'tags', getting them to practice and practice because as hard as it is to draw on paper, its 10 times harder to spray on a wall.
Also we have a possible piece site and a practice wall, the gable end of the center itself and the long wall up to the center.
So overall this week was kind of a standstill as far as the graffiti project goes but at least the work ethic was concentrated on other positive things, hopefully things will get back to normal next week...
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Somethin' Different
This week there wasn't a great turnout, which just happens sometimes even in college so instead of moving on with the graffiti project we decided to start on a project me and a co-ordinator had previously discussed. It was creating a poster with the group to advertise the FRC (Family Resource Center) for the AIB Better Ireland Programme. The guys have already qualified into the final three in the competition and now need text votes and online votes to win the 5,000 Prize so please vote, the details will be on the poster when I put some up.
So for the class, the group that were there began drawing up some drafts of how they wanted the poster to look and I designed on photoshop, just another good way to incorporate collaboration. The poster I have posted is only a rough draft because we have to make some changes to match the AIB template, I have blurred the faces 'cos some of the lads are under 18,
Anyway i'll let you know how it goes, no class next week the lads are doin a trip so it will be the week after...
Keep ya posted,
Ste
So for the class, the group that were there began drawing up some drafts of how they wanted the poster to look and I designed on photoshop, just another good way to incorporate collaboration. The poster I have posted is only a rough draft because we have to make some changes to match the AIB template, I have blurred the faces 'cos some of the lads are under 18,
Anyway i'll let you know how it goes, no class next week the lads are doin a trip so it will be the week after...
Keep ya posted,
Ste
Friday, February 5, 2010
Potential
Had my second session with the lads last night and it was absolutly brilliant, it was pissin rain and a good crowd still came and showed interest. Kinda did individual tutorials this time showing different ways to do 3D effects and insert fill effects, it took a little while but the majority of the lads cracked it. Also showed some of my own recent work with some of the differnt styles just to give the guys some options to play around with.
A good few of 'em are showin' real potential, there doin sketches and practicing outside of class which is fantastic, so I mentioned getting a sketch pad and creating a graffiti 'blackbook' (experiment book) and have some fun with that. Theres a lot of ambiton in this group to learn and be part of something important to them, and I just feel lucky to be one of the people thats part of it. Hopefully I can keep it going for the whole term.
Also I want to make a correction to last weeks blog about a higher committe telling the youths that if they didn't do the class they wouldn't get to do the trip, it was my missunderstanding, the committee is actually made up of some of the lads form the class, so its all about motivation, helping them by giving them something to work towards, to help and create a work ethic, which I totally agree with, its not that the guys are being held to ransom by some higher authoritative figure, they actually govern there own learning which is definatly better than being told what to do. So sorry for the missunderstanding,
Keep ya posted,
Ste
A good few of 'em are showin' real potential, there doin sketches and practicing outside of class which is fantastic, so I mentioned getting a sketch pad and creating a graffiti 'blackbook' (experiment book) and have some fun with that. Theres a lot of ambiton in this group to learn and be part of something important to them, and I just feel lucky to be one of the people thats part of it. Hopefully I can keep it going for the whole term.
Also I want to make a correction to last weeks blog about a higher committe telling the youths that if they didn't do the class they wouldn't get to do the trip, it was my missunderstanding, the committee is actually made up of some of the lads form the class, so its all about motivation, helping them by giving them something to work towards, to help and create a work ethic, which I totally agree with, its not that the guys are being held to ransom by some higher authoritative figure, they actually govern there own learning which is definatly better than being told what to do. So sorry for the missunderstanding,
Keep ya posted,
Ste
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