All teachers from K-12 can use their subject areas to open up students’ minds toward global thinking. In the 21st century more than ever before in history, the youth have to be aware of our interconnectedness and oneness with all living things of our world.
My subject is Visual Art. In the beginning of the 1980s I started to build my lesson plans by aiming to guide students towards self-discovery, self-awareness, social and global responsibility.
My subject is Visual Art. In the beginning of the 1980s I started to build my lesson plans by aiming to guide students towards self-discovery, self-awareness, social and global responsibility.
My subject is Visual Art. In the beginning of the 1980s I started to build my lesson plans by aiming to guide students towards self-discovery, self-awareness, social and global responsibility.
I was teaching basic skills for 2D and 3D art projects by choosing subjects that dealt with social problems like racism, bullying, violence, youth gangs, environmental problems, etc. Discussing local and global issues and encouraging the students to find positive solutions, lead to not only beautiful but also meaningful works of art.
Integrating Global Education into my subject had its own challenges from some parents and administrators with old world views, but the success of students’ art shows in the school and in the community proved that I am on the right track. I was also sponsoring the school’s very popular Global Issues Youth Action Club which contributed to a virtually racism free environment in our school where practically all races, cultures and religions had their presence.
I am retired now, but I look back on my career with a great sense of accomplishment. I hope that the new generations of teachers will teach the whole person. As the Dalai Lama put it in his famous lecture in Vancouver: ‘It is important that we educate not only the mind, but also the heart’.
Teaching Visual Art with a Global Perspective
@ the Elementary Level
by Debbie Korn
The visual arts offer vast opportunities for expressing and exploring Global Education perspectives. Messages are effectively transmitted by visual means. Advertising is a powerful medium affecting the behaviour of North Americans. Young people need to be aware of its powerful influence. The visual arts can raise awareness in this area and teach how to use visual arts in student activism.
Because art reflects an artist's culture and values, simply producing art is an exercise in raising awareness of one's own beliefs. By examining art from other cultures, students can gain appreciation of others' heritage and culture. Studying the history of art can show how our culture has evolved.
Art materials reflect a groups' available materials, wealth and values. Using found objects for a project can in itself be a lesson in reusing and recycling. Learning about the origin of art materials is a lesson in our global connectedness. It can also be used for a lesson in conservation.
Thinking about the future can result in imaginative pieces that optimistically reflect preferable solutions to current problems. Teaching the knowledge, skills and attitudes in visual arts with a Global perspective is a natural, effective integration.
