Art – integral to learning – Part 3

Our thinking was that although Art can be taught separately in a very set curriculum there are real advantages to teaching in a more exploratory trans disciplinary way where students can experiment and hopefully deepen learning in connection with their current curriculum areas.

In three blog posts I outline the framework we used (Part 1), the benefits of integrating Art across the curriculum and the evidence and research which supports this before summarizing feedback from our students and teachers (Part 2) and in this third blog post I give a preview into the future (Part 3).

We follow the IGCSE and A level curriculum. One of the many benefits of this curriculums is that it is highly structured and maps out exactly what is expected of students at each level. Although the curriculum does contain high level academic skills such as synthesis, application and evaluation we are aware of the need to create stronger links across the curriculum, develop competencies and layer what is a fairly academic program with deeper levels of creativity. We also wish to harness our own staff’s intrinsic motivation to develop layered cross curricular trans-disciplinary work.

We are happy that our pilot project was so well received by students and staff.  This means that starting August 2021 we will start an Integrating Art across the curriculum program for a period of 2 years.

We have created Teaching and Art teams. We will also include our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) team and our History through Drama class.

Next year will be the next step for us towards our strategic aims which involve becoming a school where

• Traditional academic content is enhanced via Arts across the entire curriculum
• Vitally important skills such as critical thinking and creative problem solving can be further developed
• Science is viewed through a STEAM lens with a focus on practical application and projects
• Students have the opportunity to develop the ability to see links across the curriculum and the bigger picture balancing subject specialization (going deep where required) with the development of skills required to be lateral thinkers who can imaginatively reframe complex problems and catalyze original solutions. *

*This ability to be a ‘generalist’ as well as a ‘specialist’ is what David Epstein refers to as ‘Range’ something increasingly required in a complex world full of ‘wicked’ (non-linear, complex and interdependent) environments and problems