Educator Dr. Fred Burton came to the Philbrook Museum of Art in Ocotber 2014 and presented ways of encouraging thoughtful thinking and learning in the classroom and museums to Tulsa public school teachers and museum docents. Though his talk was full with rich helpful resources, studies, and personal stories the two techniques that impacted me the most were the frameworks for thinking routines through exploring artwork called See/ Think/ Wonder and What Makes You Say That?.
See/ Think/ Wonder established from Artful Think Program, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
What Makes You Say That? established from Artful Think Program, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Both of these thinking routines prompt the art viewer to consider their thoughts through first visual interpretation and then cognitive translation of what they are seeing. By asking "what makes you say that?" the educator is encouraging the thinker to evaluate how they came to their first response and hopefully spark a richer answer by asking "what do you wonder about?" Asking what the person is wondering invites them to draw from their experiences and learned knowledge to add a deeper understanding of the art they are considering.
See/ Think/ Wonder established from Artful Think Program, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Look at the Work of art for a moment.
- What do you see?
- What do you think about what you see?
- What do you wonder about?
What Makes You Say That? established from Artful Think Program, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- What's going on?
- What do you see that makes you say that?
Both of these thinking routines prompt the art viewer to consider their thoughts through first visual interpretation and then cognitive translation of what they are seeing. By asking "what makes you say that?" the educator is encouraging the thinker to evaluate how they came to their first response and hopefully spark a richer answer by asking "what do you wonder about?" Asking what the person is wondering invites them to draw from their experiences and learned knowledge to add a deeper understanding of the art they are considering.