Art Therapy

As I stated in my last post, suffering a curricular depression is a guaranteed rite of passage in the public school system. But like most depressions, it can be battled and beaten with positive thinking. As reductive as this phrase might have sounded to me last year, I believe in it now and encourage all beleaguered colleagues to open up to the idea. Eventually, the national policies (a.k.a. NCLB) driving a wedge between what we love and what we do will level themselves, but not within the time frame a new teacher gains tenure (three years). Furthermore, a not-so-new but maddening trend spreads: bonuses for teachers who raise test scores! Result: test prep will be cryogenically preserved until further notice.

My question to new teachers is how do you envision developing your students’ intellect within the bounds of test prep orthodoxy? I admitted to missing the mark last year, the year of the Black Aura(see previous post or read Jose Saramago’s Blindness or Denis Diderot’s The Nun ). Fortunately, I am now blessed with working in a dynamic setting which actively delivers quality education and measurable achievement to language minority students.

I’d like to share a brief synopsis of my answer to the above challenges: teaching literacy through art. In this pursuit, I am particularly drawn to the ideas laid out by philosopher and educator Susanne Langer (1895-1985). Langer explored the tensions between the analytical and intuitive natures of language and art. “In human life, art may arise from almost any activity, and once it does so, it is launched on a long road of exploration, invention, freedom to the limits of extravagance, interference to the point of frustration, finally discipline, controlling constant change and growth.”

In a classroom made up of multilevel English learners from seven different countries, art releases the linguistic corset. These adolescents have a lot to say about life and the world around them. It is my job to help them express it. So far, I am approaching this task as an integration of studio art and literacy. One day a week my students work with a Tibetan painter (from a partner organization) or our school’s art teacher. They practice methods and techniques. On other days, I try to help them connect the techniques to their own thoughts. To this end, the students examine artists grouped around themes, while focusing on reading and writing skills. So far, I notice a drop in inhibitions about performing in English. Art seems to be bridging to language. Their resistance is lowered and they worry less about making oral or written mistakes. I am totally inspired by this approach. Please get involved by sharing your own pedagogical muses!