Simple or Complex? Art and School Improvement

Barb Novak contributed this thinking. Click here to read more of Barb's thinking.

I recently saw an exhibit of Frank Stella's art at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

I'm still thinking about the transition that I saw in Stella's work. His earlier work - featured at the beginning of the exhibit - (such as Star of Persia II, 1967) was geometric and clean. His later work - featured at the end of the exhibit (such as Extracts from Moby Dick Deckle Edges (1993) - had evidence of his earlier geometric style but incorporated many abstract elements, utilized more complex printing technologies, and reflected literary and/or world events. 

Frank Stella, Star of Persia II, 1967

Frank Stella, Extracts from Moby Dick Deckle Edges, 1993

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Stella's later works. Something about the complexity in technique and combination of elements on top of a highly geometric and predictable background resonated with me. It took longer to notice the beauty and thought in these works, but the time spent studying helped me see dimension and intentionality. However, the same works of art and the process to appreciate them were probably not pleasurable for everyone at the exhibit.

The transition in Stella's style and how I reacted to it got me thinking about the ways in which we represent and approach the complexity of education.

Educators and schools are, increasingly, being pushed to think about education in highly systematized ways. If we implement an evidence-based practice, kit, or script with a high-degree of fidelity throughout our system, we will see improved learning for students. I see this predictability and systemic thinking in Stella's Star of Persia II. 

What if education really is something far more complex, though? Learners, families, and educators bring background and expertise and passion and knowledge (and a little messiness) to this place we call school. Order, structure, predictability, and evidence are, undoubtedly, part of how schools serve students and their families, but the order of learning happens in concert with and response to what students, families, and educators bring. For me, this interaction and harmony (and messiness) are evident in Stella's Extracts from Moby Dick Deckle Edges.

Stella's way of representing the world through art changed as he learned, gained experience, and developed new techniques. That's what I believe learning is - growing knowledge, practicing, experimenting, blending new with known, and creating - for both students and educators. I want school, assessment, and professional learning to foster and reflect this complexity.