Art gives us a way to creatively solve problems, collaborate with others, and wrestle with ideas. It really builds the 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. 

This week, we interviewed our PYP Visual Arts Teacher, Ms. Laurie Edmonstone, to find out how the PYP Visual Arts team uses the Studio Habits of Mind as frameworks to create little artists at ISNS. 

PYP Visual Arts Structure

In PYP Visual Arts, we have standalone units and integrated units. Our standalone units focus on key concepts. For example, in grade three, we work a lot on goals: personal goals and group goals. 

We then use the conceptual understandings of the homeroom to uncover and unpack key concepts.

In grade 4, they talk a lot about self-expression. We look more at how artists get ideas and express themselves. 

For integrated units in grade 3, students are working on media. It's exciting when kids come to class, and they start making media connections themselves. You can see that they understand that transdisciplinary learning is happening in the unit with other subjects. 

Teaching and Learning 

PYP Visual Arts

In PYP, we really believe that the child is the artist, and this is their studio. Our classrooms are student-centered, and we are more facilitators and supporters rather than teachers who have all the knowledge and are "teaching" all the skills. 

We use the Studio Habits of Mind as a framework, created by Nelson Goodman in 1967. He is a philosopher at Harvard University, and his whole dissertation was about thinking in and through the arts. 

https://www.studiothinking.org/the-framework.html

Art isn't just about learning about art history and skills. It's about: 

• How do we envision? 

• How do we develop craft? 

• How do we collaborate with one another? 

• How do we reflect and think like an artist? 

• How do we get inspired by different things around us? 

As life-long learners, what is

the importance of learning art?

Art is unique, and it intersects all disciplines - Math, Writing, Literacy, Communication, Experiments, we do them all in art. Art is that vein where you can explore different disciplines in different ways. For younger students, being able to build with their hands and visually see something, and for language learners, sometimes having visuals to communicate ideas is helpful. 

Art really gives us a way to creatively solve problems, collaborate with others, and wrestle with ideas. It really builds the 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.