Integrating Arts
Reality Bites: Working in a School to Support Arts Integration
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Barbara Snook
Schools are complex institutions where teachers' different personalities come together in a combined vision to teach in a manner that will motivate learning. The needs of children are complex, individual and varied, and at a small rural school in the north of New Zealand, six teachers have committed to using Arts Integration as a teaching method, in order to meet the needs of their students. The school's population is 95% Maori and the socio-economic circumstances of the parent body is very low. The teaching and learning process is realised through arts activities where students engage in doing, making, problem solving and collaboration. While research suggests that students will benefit from engaging in enjoyable activities and learning through doing, change is not always easy and unexpected events can hinder a straightforward change to the new pedagogical approach of Arts Integration. This paper will reveal the hidden problems in a whole-school approach to Arts Integration and how these problems are dealt with in the interests of the children at Oturu School.
The Art of Magic as Theory and Method for the Study of Religion, Spirituality and Society
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Leonardo Breno Martins, Camila Chagas
For centuries, artists have been using principles of illusionism to entertain and delight spectators. Leaders of some religions use part of the same principles in faith healings and to convince followers about certain spiritual principles, such as, among other authors, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss showed in his classic texts. Even swindlers use principles from the art of magic (such as storytelling ability, misdirection or cold reading) to deceive the unwary, for example by stealing (like pickpocketers), or by emulating paranormal powers (as some false psychics do). The purposes of each one in using these common principles are among the bases of what separates the artists from the others. In any case, to be successful in their purposes, these persons seemed to understand, on the basis of intuition and trial-and-error learning, certain aspects of individual and social functioning. This was one of the reasons why, since the nineteenth century, researchers like Alfred Binet and others have devoted themselves to understand the art of magic and its impact on society. After a hiatus in the mid-twentieth century, the academy has become very interested in magic again, since its theories and methods have proved useful for understanding processes related to religion, spirituality, and society. The authors present a synthesis of the main findings of this field, with emphasis on their studies on religion and spirituality related to magic art. To illustrate all this content, the first author will make a presentation as a magician all over the theoretical exposition.
Building Creative Community through the Arts: Arts Education as Catalyst for Creativity, Educational Engagement
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Namhee Joo
As an art education program manager at Chungnam Arts and Culture Foundation, I’ve been organizing weekend arts education program “Dreaming Attic” which aims to shape the local community as a platform where local artists display their creativity, school-age children showcase their works and interact with each other. Since 2016, I have collaborated with more than 41 art organizations in our 15 cities and counties to make people enjoy artistic daily life for 3 years. By organizing this project, I encouraged the participation of the public and provided the opportunity to nurture their creative ideas and interest in art. Especially celebrating UNESCO International Arts Education Week, which was held in every May, I aimed to reinforce the value of art education, cultural diversity and social cohesion. It was a successful event with 2,500 participants. ‘PLAY’ is my motto to work. P is for Partnership and Passion; L is for Learn; A is for Action. And the last Y is for Youth. I want to share how I organize a unique tailor-made cultural program to the community with this PLAY spirit in your conference on The Arts in Society.
Audio Description Shifting Perceptions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jacqueline Homer
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how DADAA has challenged the Western Australian arts and disability sector and the wider community into embracing Audio Description as an inclusive practice. Audio Description is a service that DADAA has been providing since 2015. It allows people who are blind or vision impaired access to arts and cultural events similar to the experience of the rest of society. Without Audio Description, this segment of society will be excluded from full participation. Prior to 2015, only volunteers have been audio describing traditional type theatre performances about 10 times annually in one theatre venue. To date, over 4 years, DADAA has audio described over 350 performances, events and exhibitions. Our AD audience base has expanded significantly since we began as we audio describe varied non-conventional arts and cultural activities in non-traditional venues,. Being responsive to our AD audience has helped us achieve this. In the last 2 years, we have also seen a cultural shift in the perception of the arts sector, government agencies and corporate sectors. An increasing number of organisations have included audio description in their arts and cultural programming. However, change is still progressing at a gradual rate. The learnings has been identifying strategies of educating the community into actively including people who are blind or vision impaired in the arts in our society. How do we make access an inherent way of thinking when programming in the arts as opposed to it merely being an afterthought?
