Elementary Art Assignment 2: How We Organize Ourselves
Within the investigative unit and Art Assignment titled, ‘How We Organize Ourselves’, (related to prioritizing values, organizing our communities for the betterment of everyone, and governing our surroundings to make our environments more efficient and safer), we mainly focused on all the contributing factors which have to be taken into consideration when planning the layout of a town /or city.
At the beginning of this Art lesson, the Art students were shown photographs of neat, organized and clean spaces. After viewing these photographs, the students had to reflect upon and comment on the following questions: ‘How do you feel when looking at these images of neat, organized and clean spaces?’; ‘How does it feel to relax, live or to work in a neat, clean and organized space?’; ‘List some benefits of being organized?’; ‘Why is it important to take care of and treat our surrounding spaces /or environments with respect?’
In direct contrast, the Art students were also shown photographs of disorganized, untidy and dirty spaces, while similar reflection questions were asked.
During our class discussion, it became evident that some of the attributes separating human beings from other living creatures on earth, is the fact that human beings have the cognitive reasoning ability to ‘apply discernment’, to make ‘wise decisions’, to ‘provide guidance’, to ‘govern’, to ‘take care of”, and ultimately to ‘protect’ nature. One of the main follow-up questions we debated in class were: ‘Are people today looking after the planet and taking care of each other, to the best of their abilities?’
From our class debate, it became quite clear that although certain historical figures and cultural groups have accomplished great humanitarian and environmental victories in the past, many people living in the world today are only concerned with fulfilling their most immediate needs, while not proactively participating in preserving our natural surroundings for future generations to come. All of us can therefore still improve upon our mindfulness and proactive involvement, in preserving our natural resources going forward.
This Art Assignment specifically challenged the Elementary Art students in their creative-thinking and critical-thinking abilities, to design a unique layout for a town /or city, while taking the well-being of children, families, the elderly, indigenous plants and indigenous animals into consideration, from both a health and safety perspective.
In addition to learning how to apply detailed painting with a thin brush, colouring techniques with various crayons, and planning a composition with a strong emphasis on the application of ‘line’, (being one of the Elements of Art), this ‘Town /or City Planning Art Assignment’ was intended to develop creative-thinking on multiple-levels.
Encouraging students from a young age to solve problems creatively, is not only essential for their learning progress, but for inspiring ‘out of the box’ thinking.
