Monday, 22 July 2013

Kerin-The Reality of Arts in Schools

Ken Robinson made some excellent points in promoting the importance of arts involvement in schools, like the federal governments Melbourne Declaration which I felt was an inspiring document that supported the Arts and elaborated on how the arts enhance learning in other areas and how they would become major learning areas within Australian schools.
Even though my experience is limited, I haven't found that this is necessarily so. All the high schools I have been in have moved on art teachers if they couldn't teach in other areas, packed away pottery wheels and big equipment, stopped whole school renovations when they reached the art room area, turned art rooms into maths classrooms and hired untrained art teachers because they could teach maths and SOSE. HOWEVER, this year, the big surprise has been primary schools. Many I have done relief in have specialty arts teachers and each class meets with these various teachers of art, drama, music etc every week or fortnight on average.  Richmond Primary School, where I work regularly, have a whole separate small building as a fully equipped art classroom and a drama lady has been doing some residency work with  small groups.
I am doing this unit because I have found that primary kids have a different attitude towards art than high school kids, grade 3/4 like sponges for constant new information, especially always want to rush from one activity to the next with not much consideration for aesthetics, planning or taking their time to consider anything. I felt I wanted to learn how to settle them down and help them commit more fully to a creative project. But that said I have seen these young kids produce amazing work and they mostly all love art and drama it is an excellent way to draw in the troubled unco-operative kids, and the ones who feel alone and picked on as well. Literacy and Numeracy always feature before lunch in primary schools but after lunch I usually do some sort of art project that ties in with science or environment etc. Most will engage strongly in something that is challenging and a bit too hard for them.
I have had some amazing teaching moments this year that bring a tear to my eye eg. I did drama with grade 5/6 and one of the plays was so hilarious that it was performed at the next assembly, that makes you feel proud, but the most significant has been with a boy called Hugo, moved to Richmond after Dunally school burnt down, is diabetic and felt picked on and even though a clever boy, did not want to do anything and often got angry. I ate my lunch with him in the classroom one day and had a nice chat about what he wants in life. I recognised his individual style in art, put him in charge of my microscope one lesson on microscopic images of hair, as being a responsible person, encouraged and helped him with maths.
Last time I was at the school, he and others invited me to come and see the rehearsal of grades 3 to 6 in a musical play he had organised with dancing and singing. I was the only teacher who bothered to go, some of the other teachers thought it inappropriate but I thought the kids were brilliant. He came up another time and said that I was his "favourite teacher". This brought tears to my eyes. Its just all about TAKING TIME with them and how much good and healing creative pursuits can achieve.The Arts have the power to turn a little life around from hopeless to amazing. My other big realisation is how much what happens at home affects the kids at school, especially negatively.
I've had some very scary kids who are basically just in pain and confused mentally because of what happens outside school eg. their older brother got bashed or the dog died or their mum is sick. School is a roller coaster of emotions sometimes for the teachers who have empathy for their students.

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