Arts integrated clay programs for schools
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With parents, grandparents and neighbors who go to a supermarket for all their needs, children do not get examples of sewing clothing, baking bread and many other activities that were just normal and spontaneous ways of learning earlier on. Evening meals and even gardening became instant projects, depriving children from a way to get insight of how the world operates.
Walmart was founded in 1962. Prior to that every town in the US had its Main Street with Mom and Pop stores. Farm activities were close to town and when something broke or was needed for some or the other reason, improvisation was the norm of the day.
As Walmart and many other chain stores became household names in America, that carried everything from a nail to a sewing machine and a horse saddle, the need to innovate became lesser. Now, more than 50 years later, there are very few things that cannot be found in one of these stores.
With parents, grandparents and neighbors who go to a supermarket for all their needs, children do not get examples of sewing clothing, baking bread and many other activities that were just normal and spontaneous ways of learning earlier on. Evening meals and even gardening became instant projects, depriving children from a way to get insight of how the world operates.
As Walmart and many other chain stores became household names in America, that carried everything from a nail to a sewing machine and a horse saddle, the need to innovate became lesser. Now, more than 50 years later, there are very few things that cannot be found in one of these stores.
With parents, grandparents and neighbors who go to a supermarket for all their needs, children do not get examples of sewing clothing, baking bread and many other activities that were just normal and spontaneous ways of learning earlier on. Evening meals and even gardening became instant projects, depriving children from a way to get insight of how the world operates.
A simple example is when science students learn how to obtain gravity in liquid, as for instance used in paints, ceramic glazes or medicine. By just learning this in theory, is meaningless, unless they see in practice how it can influence the outcome of the use of a specific liquid. If there are not enough or too much sediment in either one of these, the effect of the medium becomes incorrect or useless. By showing students through arts integration how to obtain gravity and then bring it into practice, to see the results for themselves, the learning process becomes an enrichment instead of just another discipline.
When The Mississippi Department of Education began to integrate arts in the school system, it became more than just an art class, home economics or workmanship class as it was known 40 or 50 years ago. Those days all school students had to do arts and crafts projects in a designated hour once or twice a week. A holistic approach in which, words and letters and sentences, as it is presented in class subjects, became alive through all the various art disciplines. Students learn to construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form in all subject areas.
Antoinette got involved with arts integration in South Africa when she worked with students on various levels. The approach to became self-sustainable in difficult economic situations, inspired schools to start with projects in which children, amongst other things, learned vegetable gardening and refurbishing of furniture.
When she became a member of the Mississippi Arts Commissions Artist Roster, some of the early projects of the Mississippi Whole School programs were chartered by Pierce Street Elementary School in Tupelo, Mississippi. She also worked with endangered children in West Point. Numerous other elementary, middle and high schools used her services in various ways, while she taught Community and University students alike.