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December for Teachers: 50 Shades of Grey Areas: Ethics and Plagiarism
Shades of Grey (Areas) Plagiarism itself is not a grey area. It’s black and white. But what about being influenced, reminded, informed or inspired? My blog this month has a Theory of Knowledge (ToK)...
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From the Ridiculous to the Sublime: The Visual Elaboration of Ideas
The Ridiculous (or at least, misguided) As an exhibition moderator I sometimes encounter work that seems to be based on a misinterpretation of the visual arts course. Of course the work is not really...
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6/VACAF, EE/RPPF and EE/CS
(Don’t you love acronyms?) I lead DP visual arts workshops, both online and face-to-face, and just before Christmas finished my last visual arts workshop of 2017. It was a category 1 and these are...
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Process Portfolio Checklist
HAPPY 2018! It’s the New Year! If you are in your second year as a DP visual arts student, and are in a ‘May session’ school in the Northern Hemisphere, now would be a great time to review your...
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The Shape of Things to Come (in 2022)
The Visual Arts Curriculum Review—and the Shape of Things to Come! Things to Come, via YouTube The Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which...
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Process Portfolio Questions from Students: Part 1
Hi all, If you are a student in the second year of your Diploma and in a ‘May session’ school, your final examinations are fast approaching. And if you are a visual arts student, next month—March...
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Everything you always wanted to know about the Visual Arts upload process…but...
Ibis Yes, its time! Gather your files/digital documentation of student work and go to IBIS! No, not the bird: I mean IBIS: the International Baccalaureate Information System (https://ibis.ibo.org/)...
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Process Portfolio Questions from Students: Part 2
Last month I answered some questions that students had asked me about the Process Portfolio. I have had a few more questions since then, so here are answers to the most recent PP questions. MORE...
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7 Points from the Visual Arts Subject Report
The Visual Arts Subject Report for the last May session is in the shops now! (Not really – see the end of this post for how to get it.) This document is not a hypothetical aspirational document; it’s...
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‘My work looks like a child did it compared to all the other students in my...
This month my post is a reply to a heartfelt comment written by a student. As you may know, its possible to leave comments after a blog post, and on 1st April a student made a comment in response to a...
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Become a Visual Arts Examiner!
Hi all, Like all May session Visual Arts teachers, a few weeks ago I uploaded a variety of files from my final year students – for assessment and moderation – to IBIS. If you teach IBDP Visual Arts, at...
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Academic Honesty: Acknowledge Everything!
I’m a visual arts examiner, so recently I have had the pleasure of looking at and assessing a wide range of uploaded visual arts work. It is one of the best parts of the job, and I really enjoy seeing...
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Curious Curatorial Rationales
Curatorial issues As an examiner I’ve read a lot of curatorial rationales over the last few weeks, and I wanted to share some rationale-related reflections. If you are a Visual Arts student in your...
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Its All about RELATIONSHIPS (Thematic or Stylistic) in Your Visual Arts...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… I started teaching DP Visual Arts a little over thirty years ago, in Tanzania, in the 1980s (at ISM). At that time both the IB and ISM were relatively new –...
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Six Comparative Study Questions from Students (with Answers)
I have received some questions about the Comparative Study from visual arts students. I can obviously answer them individually, but it might be more useful to others if I share the questions – and my...
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The Art of Protest
‘Raising awareness’ Art can do many things, and recently – certainly since the 1980s – we’ve seen a lot of artists focus on one thing in particular: the art of protest (or ‘raising awareness’). With...
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Life Drawing: Is Nudity a Problem?
Does your school offer life-drawing? By this I mean do you, as a visual arts student, have the opportunity to spend time drawing and/or painting a naked human being who is posing so that you can make...
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Collaboration? Huh! What is it Good For?
Do you have your students work collaboratively on art-making projects? In December 2015 I posted a blog about collaboration (To collaborate, or not to collaborate – that is the question!) But the issue...
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PP Reminders: Pictures and Process
Two PP points! 1. Show me pictures (“visual evidence”) There must be visual as well as written/text documentation of process. It should be obvious – but of course just writing comments and...
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New Art Teacher? 5 Visual Arts Starting Points!
5 visual arts starting points It’s September and in art rooms all over the world DP visual arts teachers are starting to teach this two year course. I recently received an email from an old friend who...
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