Workshop: Colours of Learning – Using Art in our Classrooms
Facilitators: Ruchi, Sheetal and Abhik, The Akanksha Foundation
The Akanksha Foundation is a non-profit organization whose vision it is to one day equip all students with the education, skills and character they need to lead empowered lives. Over the past 20 years, the organization has expanded from 15 children in one centre to over 3800 children in 53 centers and 6 schools
The class was divided into 5 groups, and each group was assigned one of the following activities:
- A group was given 2 sheets of information on World War II, and was asked to design a story board depicting the events in a sequence to teach it in their class rooms. This group only got sketch pens and crayons.
- A group was given paper, water colours, pencil colours, sequence, and glue- but no brush. This group was asked to listen to the song ‘Fireflies’ and draw anything that came to their mind while listening to the song.
- A group was asked to explain the digestive system of the body.
- A group was asked to design a uniform for their school.
- A group was asked to portray ‘Happy Accidents.’
After this, the facilitators shared a presentation called 20:20, in which they showed 20 ideas of using art in 20 minutes.
The teachers shared their feedback, including their thoughts on the potential of using art to teach science, the use of story boards to teach history, and the revelation that every subject can be made artistic.
