Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Mental health and the creative process

15 minutes

Find Out: Sensitive ways to respond to artists and designers

30 minutes

Take Action: Design competition posters

5 minutes

Reflection: How do we ensure that people feel safe in the creative process?

Tune in: Mental health and the creative process (15 mins)

Step 1.

Explain that this lesson is about how we talk about mental health conditions and concerns that may be impacted by the hoodie selection process around the MOAH project.

When people are creating art, they are often motivated to explore their personal feelings creatively, which can result in artworks that feature highly emotional content that can be therapeutic for the creator but distressing or triggering for viewers.

Step 2.

Project Edvard Munch's 1893 The Scream for students. Have students call out the feelings or emotions they see in the image.

Ask students:

Does this necessarily mean that the artist felt the same way the subject seems to feel?
What is the function of expressing one's feelings through creative means (writing, painting, drawing, sculpting et cetera)?

Step 3.

Explain that sometimes our feelings can impact the creative process negatively or in a way that requires significant reworking of the piece.

Listen to the Making of a Hoodie Ambassadors episode from 14:50 to 18.20 to hear a story about a painting. The transcript of this section can be found in the student worksheet and is also available from the link provided.

After listening, ask students:

Can anyone relate to this woman's story?
Has anyone else got so frustrated with their artwork that they've attempted to destroy it?
Do you know others who do this?
What would your response be to someone you cared about who did this?

Find out: Sensitive ways to respond to artists and designers (15 mins)

Step 1.

Explain to students that because creative work so often explores the creator/artist's personal experiences and feelings, there is an opportunity and indeed a responsibility to be sensitive and supportive when providing feedback on someone's work.

For our project, we will come together and discuss which elements of everyone's designs we want to use. Some elements will be included while others will not. This process can be upsetting if it is not managed carefully, so we're going to learn how to care for each other's work sensitively and with respect.

Step 2.

Use the 4 different scenarios below displayed on a screen or written on a board. Students work with a partner to discuss ways to sensitively have a conversation that would communicate to an artist that their design would not be used based on each scenario.

Scenarios:

The work features self-harm or overly distressing imagery.
The work features negative or offensive imagery that would not represent the school well.
The work features a particularly sensitive incident that happened/
The work features a person who is well-known but is not a good role model for the school.

Step 2.

Have students listen to this snippet of the Coreen School episode of the Making of a Hoodie podcast from 5:55 to 6:57, in which a student talks about how they have included deceased members of their families in the design. The transcript for this section is included in the student worksheet. It is a short snippet, but please use your discretion if using this section of the podcast could be triggering for some students,

Have students imagine that this person wished for the design featuring their family member, who was relatively well known in the school community, to be featured on the hoodie design that all school members would be able to wear as a uniform. Imagine that some people do not think it is an appropriate design.

Step 3.

Ask students to share the language and feedback that helps navigate difficult conversations for making selections of content.

Take action: Design competition posters (30 mins)

Step 1.

Using student responses from the Find Out activity, perform a think-pair-share with students. How might we tell students with designs that feature personal experiences and emotions that these won't be used to make the final hoodie design?

Share the responses.

Step 2.

Explain to students that they are going to open up the 'design a hoodie' competition to students in other year levels. They are to create a class poster that can be shared both digitally and physically that outlines what students need to do to enter the 'design a Hoodie' competition.

Students can use the information from the Find Out activity in their conditions. At a basic level students who wish to enter a design should understand that the design has to connect to the whole school community and should focus on positive representations.

Step 3.

Ask students what other information should be included in their pitch posters. Share their responses in a space where everyone can access them (Word document on the projector, whiteboard, et cetera).

Students can decorate their pitch posters how they see fit as long as it meets your requirements and boundaries for what is acceptable.

Don’t forget to include:

Title (and a call to action)
The brief
The deadline
The submission process.

Step 4.

Facilitate students working how they'd like to. They may like to use digital tools, such as Illustrator, Photoshop, or Canva, or they may like to paint or sketch their poster. Try not to limit their materials where possible.

Have students come together and discuss each other's pitch posters. Emphasise that this is an opportunity for them to practise safe and sensitive responses to other people's artwork. Together as a class refine the options down to 1 poster design. This will make it easier for other students in the school to recognise the competition.

Reflection (5 mins)

Have students reflect on today's lesson.

Ask them to respond to the question: how can we ensure that people feel safe and supported through the creative process?

They may enter their answer in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

Positive Mental Health

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