Critique + feedback
01
Before
Prepare
- select the work
- identify the relevant stage of Creative Practice
- make relevant success criteria or assessment concepts visible
- ask students to prepare 1–2 questions
- provide language support where needed
02
During
Focus / —Format / —
NOTICE EVIDENCE QUESTION POSSIBILITY
- NOTICE
- What do you see?
- EVIDENCE
- Where do you see it?
- QUESTION
- What do you want to understand?
- POSSIBILITY
- What could be tested?
Questions
LOOKING
- What is your immediate response?
- What do you notice first?
- What stands out?
- What do you notice after looking for longer?
- How would you describe this work to someone who cannot see it?
INTENTION + MEANING
- What idea or question is driving the work?
- What meanings or messages are being communicated?
- Which parts of the work contribute most strongly to this?
- Is there anything that could be removed while the central idea remains?
MATERIALS + PROCESSES
- What materials, techniques and processes are being used?
- How are they affecting the meaning or experience of the work?
- What might change if another material or process were tested?
- Which technical decisions are effective?
- Which still need resolving?
VISUAL LANGUAGE
- How is visual language being used to communicate the idea?
- Where is attention being directed?
- What relationships between elements are important?
ARTIST PRACTICE + INFLUENCE
- Are there artists or artworks informing this work?
- What has the student taken from that research?
- How has the student responded to or transformed that influence in their own work?
PRESENTATION + AUDIENCE
- Does the location or method of presentation suit the work?
- How does scale affect its reading?
- What is its relationship to surrounding space or other artworks?
- How might a different audience interpret it?
DEVELOPMENT
- How has this work changed from earlier work?
- What evidence of experimentation is visible?
- What has the student discovered through making?
- What should be tested next?
- What would happen if part of the work were made differently?
03
After
Decide
- What came up more than once?
- Where did feedback differ?
- What is worth testing?
- What will remain?
- What is the next step?
Document
Visual Diary · peer notes · teacher notes · photographs
Teacher looks for
- uses appropriate art terminology
- points to specific artwork evidence
- explains artistic decisions
- connects materials, techniques and processes to effect or meaning
- interprets
- responds to other viewpoints
- asks purposeful questions
- evaluates feedback
- identifies a next step
About critique
Four elements of critique
- FOCUS ON ARTWORKS
- Students discuss their own work and the work of others.
- REFLECTIVE
- Students consider meaning, expression and the effectiveness of artistic decisions.
- VERBAL
- Students describe, explain and evaluate their work.
- FORWARD LOOKING
- Students use the discussion to identify what to test, develop or refine next.
Role of the critique
Critique makes artistic decisions visible. It gives students and teachers a point to discuss:
- materials, techniques + processes
- visual language
- ideas + meaning
- artist intention
- presentation + audience
- strengths
- unresolved decisions
- next steps
Teachers can also use the discussion as formative evidence of what students understand and what support they need next.
Students should be ready to explain
- intention
- process
- significant decisions
- materials, techniques and processes
- visual language
- what they want feedback on
CRITIQUEFEEDBACKREFLECTTESTREFINERETURN TO THE WORK
VCAA + sources
Creative Practice
EXPLORING · EXPERIMENTING · DEVELOPING · REFINING · RESOLVING · PRESENTING
Evidence of feedback can include their own notes, peer notes, teacher notes, photographs, Visual Diary reflection.
Teacher evidence includes uses appropriate art terminology, identifies specific artwork evidence, explains artistic decisions, connects materials, techniques and processes to effect or meaning, interprets rather than only describes, responds to other viewpoints, asks purposeful questions, evaluates feedback, identifies a meaningful next step.
teaching critique
critique in practice