This morning we were discussing creative partnerships and how we can use these to benefit us as teachers in our future careers.
Benefits of a creative partnership could be; Engaging with parents who are skilled in expressive arts and who are keen to be involved in their child’s education. This also creates positive relationships with parents. Another could be to ask locally, such as colleges, drama schools, art schools, dances schools or other similar organisations.
Local authorities such as East Ayrshire have a Creative Learning Network which schools are encouraged to use. The network is granted money from the Government to assist schools with creative activities and learning experiences for young children.
Experiences like these allow children to explore outside of a classroom environment and in return a teacher is highly likely to see an increase in creative abilities. Opportunities such as these are memorable and relevant to children as children remember positive experiences when they felt confident and happy.
‘Given present priorities in education, it appears that the time for art integration has come and, with it, the opportunity to alter the way general edu- cators and art educators alike understand art integration’ (Marshall, 2014).
We also had the pleasure of being introduced to various string instruments, however our teachers were a class of primary 6/7 pupils from a local primary school.
The children have been given an oppertunity to learn how to play a musical instrument with in the school environment. Our class lecturer informed us that the children really enjoy learning to play their instruments and in doing so, the school have won many competitions.
In result of opportunities such as these, class teachers are seeing dramatic positive changes in their pupils. The children are concentrating better, they are collaborating by help each other and producing music together, they also have a great sense of achievement as they learn, play and win awards.
‘Engagement with music can enhance self-perceptions, but only if it provides positive learning experiences which are rewarding. This means that overall, the individual needs to experience success. This is not to say that there will never be setbacks but they must be balanced by future aspirations which seem achievable and self-belief in attaining them.’ (Hallam, 2010).
Hallam 2010, states that while learning to play a musical instrument, fine motor co-ordination improves, motivation increases as a result of increased self esteem after positive learning experiences and by being able to recognise rhythm, children can increase their abilities in literacy.
References
- Hallam, S. (2010) International Journal of Music Education. [Online] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/45685/mod_resource/content/2/International%20Journal%20of%20Music%20Education-2010-Hallam-269-89.pdf [Accessed: 09 October 2018].
- Marshall, J. (2010) Transdisciplinarity and Art Integration: Toward a new understanding of Art-Based Learning Across the Curriculum. [Online] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/45658/mod_resource/content/1/Transdisciplinarity%20and%20Art%20Integration%20Toward%20a%20New%20Understanding%20of%20Art%20Based%20Learning%20across%20the%20Curriculum%281%29.pdf [Accessed: 09 October 2018].
