Arts Integration: Geographically Speaking

by Elizabeth Van Allen

for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com/  

This batik-style piece was inspired by
the images and stories I shared with
students from my experience
studying art in Bali, Indonesia.

Teaching subjects out of context has never made any sense to me.  In real life no engineer separates out math, science and visual representation into individualized time slots.  These areas come together seamlessly because they need to.  It is important to have a functional understanding of each subject on its own, but students need a better grasp on how subject areas relate to each other in the real world.  Demonstrating the symbiotic relationship between areas of study has become an unofficial mission of mine.  I've come across many people who don't quite understand how art could possibly be so intertwined with the 'core' subject areas that are taught in school.  For those of you who are still wondering, I'd like to shine a light on the interdependence of art and other subject areas.  Today I'll start with my personal favorite, geography.

The foundation for this project was built by
reading about mandalas found in Tibetan,
Navajo, European and Aztec cultures. 

Art without geography is like tape without adhesive.  It's can be highly visible or blend in with it's environment, durable or expendable, but it has no real purpose.  Geography brings context to art.  It provides cultural insight, especially when combined with regional historical timelines, and allows the viewer to understand the intent of the artist or craftsman that produced the work.  Cultures are influenced first and foremost by their global location.  The geography (and topography) that surrounds a group of people determines the context within which their traditional art and craft would be created.  Historically speaking, it also determines the most common method of expression based on what materials were most readily available and which ones were valued more highly due to scarcity.  In other words, a non-nomadic, forest-based culture would be more likely to use wood as a medium of choice due to availability and stability.  A more nomadic plains- or desert-based culture might use more lightweight and easily portable mediums such as textiles, reserving heavy and/or costly wood or metal items for those who could afford the animals to carry them as their social group migrated. 

Students were fascinated by Huichol Nierikas
from Mexico and were excited to make one of
 their own.  This project depicts an important
ritual in one student's life, visiting her
grandmother in the islands each year.

The importance of the influence that geography has on a culture and their arts can not be overstated.  Historically speaking, knowledge that would otherwise have been lost through translation and time lives on through the art and craft that each group of people leaves behind.  Speaking in a more modern context, art does more than just define the unique cultural differences between us.  It also helps illustrate the similarities between groups that otherwise might not understand each other or see any common ground. While our global economy and open lines of communication have broadened the possibilities available to each individual artist or craftsman, the influences of location on culture as a whole are undeniable.  As an art teacher, presenting art and geography in tandem is a natural choice.  I look at this mission as broadening my students' global perspective one project at a time.

What connections have you made that, while obvious to you, needed explanation to others?

“You're An Actual Teacher, Not Just An Art Teacher!”

by Elizabeth Van Allen 

for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com/

That statement, made by an English teacher, was honestly meant as a compliment. I decided to take it as it was intended. Until this was said to me, I didn't realize that my peers had no idea that my education in art and teaching was on par with or exceeded their own. I know that many art teachers (and music, PE, computers, etc.) often feel overlooked and under-appreciated. The truth is that we are required to be highly educated, qualified, and certified teaching professionals; often in more grade levels and with more subjects to cover than our 'core' teaching counterparts.

This all began near the beginning of the second semester when one of my co-workers was literally run over by a student who was chasing her friend around the classroom. The teacher ended up having emergency surgery and was on a health leave for the rest of that year. After a few weeks of unsuccessful substitutes, my principal made an executive decision and re-assigned several teachers to his classes for the rest of the year.

I was assigned to take over one of that teacher's 7^th grade Social Studies classes with about a day's notice. After I had been with these students for about a week, a friend of mine started relaying positive comments about my teaching style that were made to her by another colleague. This pleasantly surprised English teacher's classroom happened to be on the other side of our shared folding wall. For anyone out there who has not had the pleasure of teaching in a school with fold-away walls, they do almost nothing to dampen the sound between two rooms. In the short time that I had been teaching in that room this previously out of control class that did nothing but yell, sing, fight and break things in the classroom was coming to class relatively on time, staying there, raising their hands to ask questions and adhering to a very rigid routine every single day. I used this opportunity to open a dialogue with my colleague next door. He soon started observing the class and taking notes on what I was doing to facilitate such progress, and I was happy to share my time and techniques with him.

The secret to my success with this class was simple. I provided these students with the same type of structure and firm adherence to rules that I use in my art classroom. My consistent behavior facilitated an atmosphere of respect and high expectations. Our routine was set in stone and the students knew what to expect every day. It's not that I had some magic formula, I simply enforced and reinforced my expectations of respect until it sunk in. It also didn't hurt that I don't flinch at calling any parent for negative behaviors or positive progress, be it after school or during class.

Classroom management in the art room should not be dependent on promises of paint, clay, or any other special material or experience. In fact, an art teacher's classroom management has to include having control over potentially dozens of children who are all using messy stuff and getting them all to clean up after themselves on a schedule. That we art teachers are 'actual teachers' is an understatement in my opinion. None of us are perfect and every class has different needs, but with honest dialogue between colleagues and minds that are open to different ideas, together we can make any class want to succeed.