The Progressive Teacher Vol 03 Issue 05

arts education
Arts At Work
In Education
–P. Ajitha
Imagine a world devoid of creativity, imagination and artistic
expression! It alludes to a world without the arts. A cursory
glance at the definitions of arts thrown up by google search
provides n number of answers.
The most basic and simple one is
provided by the Oxford dictionary -‘Art
is a diverse range of human activities
in creating visual, auditory or performing
artefacts (artworks), expressing the author’s
imaginative or technical skill, intended to be
appreciated for their beauty or emotional
powers.’ The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary
defines art as ‘something that is created with
imagination and skill and that is beautiful or
that expresses important ideas or feelings’.
Thus arts ‘are a physical manifestation of the
internal creative impulse’. These definitions
would suffice to realize why arts should be a
part of every educational enterprise. Pablo
Picasso once famously asserted ‘Every child
is an artist. The problem is how to remain
an artist once we grow up’. Thanks to the
increased awareness and realization that a
close encounter with the arts for school
children to learn, explore and experiment in
order to or as a means of creatively engaging
with the world we live in, play a vital role in
their development. Some educationists have
woken up to the need for promoting a robust
art curriculum alongside a rigorous academic
discipline because an immersive engagement
with the arts can be a transformational
experience for young and impressionable
minds. The arts include both performing arts
– among them music, dance, and theatre, and
visual arts – including drawing, painting and
sculpting - things that are ‘taught’ in schools.
The arts show the way forward when schools
struggle to impart to students appreciation
of finer things in life, to instil in them a sense
of responsibility and ownership towards
everything they do and at the same time help
them unravel the latent power within them
and channelize it in a productive way.
In the words of Sanjana Kapoor, a renowned
theatre personality, ‘The arts open windows
of possibilities to engage with the world
creatively’. In the process of acquiring a
good education, it is imperative that one
needs to identify one’s passion and indulge
in it to have a sense of contentment that
comes only when one follows ones heart. This
passion or ‘fire in the belly’ is what prods an
individual to live life to the fullest - something
quintessential to living a meaningful life.
Indulging in the arts can initiate students on
a journey of creative self-expression where
they get an opportunity to pursue their
passion with abandon.
One of the most educative experiences
that I had outside the academia, happened
during a school programme while watching
the Bharatnatyam exponent Vandana
Alase Hazra ( fondly known as Vandana
Di) talk about the scientific, spiritual and
aesthetic aspect of the dance form. The
very appearance of the artist raised some
inquisitive glances from the students. Dressed
in three piece traditional attire, Vandana
Di was a picture of poise and grace. With
a serene look on her face and a cherubic
smile, she began her interaction with the
P Ajitha is
a teaching
practitioner
who has been
advocating
for ‘liberating’
the education
process to
accommodate
change and
give true
freedom
that enables
the teacher to create, innovate
and experiment with notions of
learning; a votary of teachers’ rights
to empower them to become the
catalysts of change in building a
national force of informed men and
women with sound value system
and integrity of character; a staunch
believer in the transformational
nature of education imparted with
true commitment to the larger
objectives of this noble endeavour.
The author presently teaches at
Delhi Public School, Coimbatore
and can be reached at
ajithapaladugu@gmail.com.
students introducing herself very modestly
and handing over an invitation to ask her
anything. The ease with which the artist
interacted with the children opened up a
volley of questions from the students seeking
to know her inspiration, education, training,
hobbies and even her age! All of which were
answered patiently and to the satisfaction
of the questioner. Watching Vandana Di
demonstrating some basic postures and
movements was like seeing poetry in motion.
Drawing attention to the subtle differences in
posturing and moving the body to a rhythm,
the artist explained how a classical
dancer has a ‘heightened sense of space
and time’ which gives the art form its
uniqueness and lends it its beauty.
The session was insightful in more
ways than one. The artist talking
about how the art form helps
the initiate and the practitioner
shatter all kinds of self-inhibiting
and limiting thoughts by
embracing the fundamental truth
that only form and movements
determine/express the beauty of
the dancer, was simply a moment
of epiphany for many in the
auditorium. What we educators try
6 The Progressive Teacher Nov/Dec 2016