Observation helps us understand a students developmental process. By observation we can understand what individual needs each student needs and identify patterns to see how the students learn best overall. Observations also help us see the “norms” of each grade level. Observing students can help you get a better grasp of what those “norms” are. I found an interesting website that breaks down different developmental stages when it comes to art. There are 6 stages in total according to Matt Fussel the author of this article. There is stage one “scribble stage” for ages 1-3, which is pretty self explanatory. Stage 2 “preschematic stage” for ages 3-4. Where children start to learn shapes and incorporate them within their art. Stage 3 “Schematic stage” for ages 5-6. Children start to recognize shapes even more and there’s a clear connection between the ground and the sky in their art. Stage 4 “the dawning realism” for ages 7-9. At this stage children become more critical when it comes to their art. They start to overlap things within their art as well. Stage 5 is “ pseudo naturalistic” from ages 10-13. At this stage the students start to understand values more and use that within their art. Students also become very critical of their art and need lots of encouragement within this stage. Stage 6 is the last stage on this website. “ The decision” for ages 13-16. In this stage the students decide if they want to continue drawing or not. Developmental stages are important because it helps us meet students where they are in learning.
Fussell, Matt. “The Stages of Artistic Development.” Thevirtualinstructor.com, 20 June 2011, thevirtualinstructor
