Screenshot of one of the books.
A series of textbooks that seek to enrich the learning experience of school students under the Kerala state curriculum through arts education is yet to gain the desired traction.
These books, titled ‘Kalavidyaabhyasam Pathanasahayee’ prepared by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in 2019 after three years of deliberations by a team of about 20 experts, were not printed for circulation among students Is.
activity based learning
According to some involved in the exercise, the intention behind the books is to make education child-centred. The books, which adopt an activity-oriented approach that integrates art, music, theater and dance, cater to students from classes V to X.
The chapters are designed to spark the imagination of the students, improve their observational skills and express their creative outputs through activities such as drawing, music and sculpting. Each book gives brief notes on eminent personalities of these fields. There is also space for students to rate their work.
Though the work on the books was completed in 2019, they could not be printed due to various reasons. Later, they were uploaded on the website of General Education Department Samagra. The Directorate of General Education issued a directive in March 2021 to all headmasters, deputy directors of education, district and sub-district educational officers and headmasters of district institutes of educational research and training to use them. However, many teachers and students are still apparently not aware of their existence.
Sources said the education department had earlier launched an initiative to integrate physical education with learning. Subsequently, it was decided in 2016 to make art learning a part of the process when C. Rabindranath was the minister in charge of the department.
experiential art
“Earlier, art classes in schools only benefited those who were really interested and were skilled. Through these books we tried to involve all students in the practice through the concept of ‘Art School’. This was not to make them experts in art, but to help them experience art and learn to appreciate it later,” pointed out one of the experts Hindu on Saturday. experts relied on books like education through the arts by Herbert Reed, and Art, the basis of education by Devi Prasad, one of the proponents of the concept of Mahatma Gandhi Naye Talim,
Meanwhile, sources in SCERT indicated that these books may be updated in line with the ongoing process of curriculum revision for schools. They could be printed and distributed to schools in the next two years, he said.