Note my young daughter’s painting. At three, she painted it for the pure pleasure of painting. She used, brushes and rollers and every colour she wanted. She bordered it because at three, she liked to enclose things. When I stepped back and said, “Jillian, tell me about your painting.” She said, “Oh mummy, isn’t it romantic?” And so it is appropriately titled. At eleven, she is embarrassed that the painting still adorns our wall. Why?
Particularly over the last 10 years, I have thought through the idea of a process being more important than a product. And yet, all too often, in formal schooling it is the product that receives the greater reward. In the case of my daughter’s artwork, process was always the focus and yet I framed it because I love the product. I am interested in your thoughts surrounding process vs. product.
1 comment:
Hi Ellyn!
I love your blog. I couldn't agree more that process is way more important than product!! When my own children were in school and I went to parent-teacher interviews, while I routinely discussed their marks, the thing I remember (10+ year later) is the anecdotal evidence about how they "arrived" at their learning, whatever their grades were. In fact, I believe process is where we live our lives! How can the education system be encouraged to honour that (other than with "most improved" badges and "good effort" stickers)? and how do we measure it?
Barbara
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