Holistic Approaches to Adult Education
Learners Receive Educational Benefits from an Arts-Based Approach
Apr 23, 2009
Quilting in mathematics, music for reading and writing, and collage for evaluating progress. These are just some examples of the kind of creativity practitioners could be harnessing to establish safe and effective learning environments.
Mary Norton, a member of the project coordinating team for Moving Research Into Practice: Addressing the Impacts of Violence on Learning, is also co-coordinator of Windsound Learning Society, with 25 years of experience working in the adult literacy and education fields. Norton’s research focused on the use and benefits of arts-based approaches in adult literacy programs and results have shown the importance of using arts-based approaches to create holistic learning environments that support all learners.
Holistic learning recognizes the roles of spiritual, emotional, physical, social, aesthetic and intuitive as well as intellectual learning. “Arts based approaches can help people bring their whole selves to learning” explains Norton, “This can be particularly important for learners whose experiences have impacted their abilities to learn through approaches that focus mainly on using the intellectual mind.”
Activities for Teaching and Learning Arts-Based Lessons
Traditionally, the focus of art making activities is on the product or some form of graded assignment that can leave students feeling criticized or judged. “Some of us have had experiences in our younger days…not being able to do things in a performance kind of way, so within the arts based work we really try to emphasize process and if you have a beautiful product, that is a bonus” says Norton.
She recommends using activities that are “low skill” with high affect, meaning people can do them without any substantial art experience. Some of these activities are familiar to teachers already: collage making to express feelings or ideas, using photographs to prompt writing or discussion and making crafts to share and affirm cultures.
Another shift in thinking could be to move an arts focus into program assessment to help learners reflect on the success of ”non-academic” learning. Social, communication, and resiliency skills can be difficult to measure with traditional methods. Art, for example collages, can be used to express the affective outcomes of learning and help to define and name those outcomes.
When stuck for ideas, workshops, conferences, or classes can help practitioners generate new energy.
Potential Obstacles to Introducing Arts-Based Approaches into the Learning Environment
Even in the K-12 school system, arts and music programs get cut first when there are funding issues. In the higher grades, these subjects become an option. Whether real or perceived, the message is clear; Art is not “core” learning.
This attitude can lead to obstacles for practitioners wishing to implement arts-based approaches in their classrooms.
- Lack of support in trying arts-based approaches
- Limited resources and time
- Getting tied up with issues of who is good at art and who is not
Benefits for Students after Participating in Arts-Based Activities
One of the benefits in focusing on process in art is to provide people with an opportunity to relax in a quiet place. Dialogue can then be opened with students to bridge that kind of experience to other subjects or to deal with life’s stressors.
Research reveals that other benefits include community building, confidence building, making room for emotions and engaging in play, among others. “I have heard people talking about it being timeout from lives that can be fairly full and full of stress” says Norton.
Both literally and figuratively, arts-based approaches are helping people find a voice and increase their participation in a group. “Through music in the program, over the years, people have gone from being quiet and not being very engaged to singing,” says Norton.
For more information on this and other related projects learningandviolence.net
 |
 |
