Today, we dealt with the outdoors and considered how it is a stimulating and conducive environment in which to teach the Arts.
We were learning the significance of learning in and through the outdoors – 2 distinctively different things. Learning in the outdoors is taking a task that could feasibly be done indoors, but taking it to the outdoor environment to add a creative influence. Learning through the outdoors entails that the outdoor environment is integral to the lesson, and that the environment will be physically interacted with.
In The Arts in Education: An Introduction to Aesthetics, Theory and Pedagogy, Fleming infers that learning in and through the Arts are two separate things, relating both to ‘personal growth’. My understanding is that this can be expanded, when making mention of the outdoors, as the Arts in and through the outdoors are equally separate. The ‘personal growth’ part can also be related, as the outdoors are where learning can become real. In their lives, people learn through practical and relevant experiences, not limited to classroom walls. Starting education outdoors gives a chance for learning to become relevant throughout the whole educative experience (from child to teengaer), making what is taught more likely to ‘sink in’.
This lesson made, in my mind, a contrast with digital animation. The outdoors gives natural materials that are accessible to all, but digital animation is accessible to most and is likely experienced (for the most part) indoors; there is a contrast between what is natural, and what is man-made technology.
Outdoor learning can also boost engagement in a cost-free way, by literally oxygenating the body and adding a different environment for the educator to interact with, transcending the walls of the classroom.
I was also fascinated by the lack of direction that the session was given; the lack of direction gave creative freedom – there were no rules or regulations, only self expression.
I created a ‘portable puddle’ by weaving wool in and around thread. The thread is attached (one horizontal, one vertical) to a circle of wire.
My vision for this ‘portable puddle’ is that:
- Children could throw it (like a quadrat), and take a picture of it where it lands. They could then manipulate the pictures through a PC or tablet application. This would bring Technology into the Arts. I have created an example (as above) where I have drawn in fish to make the puddle look more like a pond. I feel this would be beneficial, as it embraces Art across a few mediums.
- The puddle could be used as a way to discuss the water cycle, bringing in a Science perspective.
As the subjects of Science and Technology are blended with the Arts in this way, I feel like this would be an appropriate STEAM activity.
During my research, I found the following quotation from an arts-based environmental education programme from the Aalto university in Helsinki:
“What happens when we seek to connect with the living world – not through pre-established scientific knowledge, but through an open-ended artful process?” (Boeckel, 2013)
This aided my understanding of the magnitude of arts-based environmental work; the bases this could cover, what this could unlock for a child, etc. Scandinavia has always been at the forefront of education, paving the way and always ‘one-step-ahead of the game’; a Finnish educational programme promoting arts-based environmental education gives the (un-official) seal of approval.
Reading for next week: The Wonder of a Child
References:
Fleming, M. (2012) The Arts in Education: An Introduction to Aesthetics, Theory and Pedagogy. [Online] Available: https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780203126240 [Accessed: 04 March 2017].
Image found at: https://pixabay.com/en/learning-teacher-school-outdoor-pa-1782430/
