A whole school mural project - Participatory art

For my 3rd teaching practice, I was fortunate enough to be able to complete this within an international context at a school in Punjab, India.

The headteacher of the school was keen to draw upon my experiences from my pedagogy, particularly with regards to art education and using this as a catalyst to create a much needed change within the school's current dictatory curriculum and approaches to rote teaching and learning.

In response to this proposal, I planned, managed, and evaluated a mural project which involved the whole school community, allowing all to participate. In this sense, art was used as a facilitator to engage a community to enable and advocate change.

 

 

The process of the creating the mural allowed teachers to come to understand that children were able to learn much more meaningfully when this was placed into a context that was relevant to the diversity of the children's learning needs.

As a community, the school recognised the impact that the mural project had had upon raising levels of excellence and enjoyment within and across the school's curriculum. When conducting the mural project, opportunities to link together subjects and areas of learning were fully embraced. For example, children learned about life cycles of caterpillars and how they eventually develop into butterfiles (linking science to the mural project). Through the project, the children were also provided with opportunities to build upon skills as they help learners to improve their learning and performance in education, work and life. Speaking and listening skills were developed, as well as skills that allowed the children to work with others and problem solve. Children and teachers were also able to further develop their skills within curriculum areas. For example, the mural required us to mix paint in order to get a desired colour. In this situation, the children and the teachers were supported and encouraged to explore, experiment, and make discoveries in relation to colour mixing, and then use the knowledge and understanding gained from this and actively apply this to their mural project. 

The mural project also allowed the school's teaching staff to evaluate the way in which they teach the curriculum. Towards the end of my placement, the teachers began to plan for teaching and learning that would engage the children in a variety of ways, making the curriculum for meaningful, and therefore providing children with more ownership of their learning and development. Here are some photos of the work which was started by teachers and children across the school in relation to achieving this vision:

                           

Road Safety. Raising awareness of safety as the school is situated on a busy main road. (Created by two teachers and three 8 year old pupils from the school).

Transforming the schools stage and performance areas. Linking learning to and celebrating India's musical and cultural heritage. (Created by three 11 year old pupils from the school).  

To see a process of change beginning was extremely inspiring and rewarding. From my perspective as a student teacher, recognsing the impact of my support and guidance, to the commitment and hard work of school community & their actions which resulted in an outcome and indeed an ongoing process which has facilitated a change in school development. Such an amazing experience to be a part of!