Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Grainne's peace curriculum continued

There are many ways a teacher can bring an awareness of peace into the classroom. The teacher must decide what methods speak to her and that she is most comfortable with. Since art is my area of expertise I would implement a peace curriculum that revolves around art making. I believe that creating art is a very spiritual experience. I think that this method is effective because as Picasso said "All children are artists". I would design my curriculum on three different ways to bring out the artist’s spirit and learn about peace: Art Happenings, Art and Nature, Art and Culture. These approaches to art and peace could be introduced in any order.

A happening is a group experience in which the act of making art is emphasized not the end result. In a happening "whatever happens, happens, there are no mistakes" as my high school art teacher used to say. The children would experience one medium in each happening. For example, clay is a wonderful medium that really puts you in touch with your senses. The children would sit in a circle and be given a lump of clay each. I would narrate the experience, "Feel the clay’s texture, is it smooth or lumpy? Is it warm or cool? What does it smell like?…." Next we would mold the clay with our hands and join the clay together with the person’s clay on each side to create a circle. At the end all the clay is thrown back into a bucket together to be used again in the future. There are many happenings I have done with paper and pencil. A couple examples of this would be having the children sit in a circle, listen to a story and draw with their eyes closed or draw in response to different kinds of music. The drawings are not saved, as the point is the experience to put you in touch with your mind and soul not the end result. The possibilities are endless. At my summer camp we painted using powder paint and ice-the kids were enthralled!

Art and Nature holds much possiblity as well. I designed a curriculum for my summer camp in which all the projects involved objects from nature or recycled objects. The children got to collect their own materials on nature walks and turn them into art when they returned to the classroom. We read books on nature and recycling. Through art the children learned to appreciate nature and save the planet. We made water bottle bird feeders, take-out top sun catchers and cereal box paintings. These ideas can also be tied into a science curriculum. My favorite experience was making our own paper. Everyone was able to help in the process. Everyone had to work together, take turns, be gentle with the wet pulp and benefit from the end result-which was shared by all. We mixed grasses and dried flowers into the wet pulp- what wonderful textures we created! Then we turned the paper into a camp scrapbook with all the children’s pictures and comments.

Learning about different cultures through art is also a favorite of mine (since I was an art history teacher). There are so many opportunities to explore other cultures through their art. We have studied Mexico by making pinch pots, Japan by making paper mache cats, Italy by painting a ceiling (really the underside of a table but they got the ideaJ ). Art is a valuable part of a society and is a way to tie people together and teach tolerance and diversity. The artifacts in any culture teach us much about the people and how they live/d. The arts bring out the spiritual side of every society. Making art requires the hands and brain to work together. As Montessori explained in the Absorbent Mind, it is the people who used not only their minds but their hands who have left their mark for future societies. "For if men had only used speech to communicate their thought, if their wisdom had been expressed in words alone, no traces would remain of past generations. It is thanks to the hand, the companion of the mind, that civilization has arisen."(AM151)

1 comment:

Absorbent Mind said...

Oh Grainne, This is beautiful.! I want to do it with you.
Everyone should copy each others curriculum and keep them in your albums. In years to come when you have time to think up new things they will be invaluable.