Collaborative art-making for inclusion and intercultural education

1. Collaborative art-making for inclusion and intercultural education Christina Hajisoteriou & Panayiotis Angelides University of Nicosia, Cyprus IAIE conference September 2013, Zagreb, Croatia This project has been carried out with the support of the European Community and the Life Long Learning Programme. The content of this project does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Community, nor does it involve any responsibility on the part of the European Community.

2. Structure of the presentation

3. Collaborative Art-Making for Inclusion Children who collaborate within their art-group: • have a common goal to achieve; • learn to share thoughts (i.e. on stereotypes, diversity and democracy); • learn to share emotions, and use critical thought to go into the others’ emotions; • develop friendships and build trust with their group. Children who face learning or language difficulties are able to participate, as the art approach is different from the oral approaches.

4. Previous Research on Collaborative Art-Making Previous research has shown that collaborative art-making: • helps teachers to effectively transfer to students intercultural values like respect to the ‘other’ and acceptance of difference (Angelides & Michaelidou, 2009). • helps students see things differently, and thus certain power relations (economic, gendered, ethnic) can be altered (Cooper & Sjostrom, 2006). • helps students to come closer to each other, understand each other’s emotions, see their peers from a human perspective, and think harder about their classmates regardless of race, ethnicity or social class (Rubin, 1997)

5. Project description • CAREM focuses on the use of collaborative art-making to address the challenge of marginalisation, xenophobia, racism and interculturalism. • Adaptation, development, testing, implementation and dissemination of new teaching methodologies and pedagogical strategies for use in the classroom and the development of materials for use by students. • Production of a collection of educational activities of collaborative art-making and a guide for teachers.

6. Background information • Two year Comenius project • Funded by EACEA • Patners: University of Nicosia, Cyprus Universal Learning Systems, Ireland ESTA Bildungswerk, Germany Centro Per Lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci, Italy Platon Schools, Greece

7. Research Questions What kind of teaching methodologies and educational activities of collaborative art-making allow students to: • engage in art-making activities regarding diversity, marginalisation and a democratic European citizenship; (ii) discuss the ‘stories’ of their creations in relation to their depiction of diversity and encounters with ‘others’; (iii) enhance their positive stances towards ‘difference’ and ‘diversity’; (iv) enhance their in-between interaction promoting the increased participation of marginalised students.

8. Methodology I • 1st phase: Mapping the current state of affairs across the five countries. • 2nd phase:  Interviewing art-teachers, and local and migrant students across the five countries.  Thematic analysis: (a) Needs; (b) Practices, and (c) Further suggestions. • 3rd phase: Development of collaborative art-making activities according to our data analysis.  The activities were translated and localised in the languages of the consortium.

9. Pools of Activities

10. Methodology II • 4th phase: Organisation of training sessions in each country for the participant art-teachers. • 5th phase: Piloting, revision and implementation of the activities and materials of collaborative art-making in the classrooms of the participants. Post-implementation interviews about the contribution of the activities were conducted and analysed.

11. Example of Activity • Step-by-step description of activity • Below is a discussion that occurred between the children: Helen: Hey, won’t we go and eat ice-cream? Peter: We will eat four ice-creams each! Katerina: We will have a bellyache. Lee: Then doctor? Peter: Ok, we will eat one but big.

12. Drawing 1: The group goes to the sea and then to the pool.

13. Drawing 2: After swimming the group goes to a luna-park to play with little cars and to eat ice-cream.

14. Picture 3: The Hotel Marilena drew drawing No 3. While drawing she announced to the team that she was drawing a nice hotel in which they would stay in the evening. The children had the following discussion: Marilena: This is the hotel that we will stay in during the weekend, next to it is the pool and I got in to it first. Maria: No, I don’t want to stay during the night, I want my mother. George: Don’t worry, I will take care of you, I am very strong. Marios: I am strong too.

15. Results of the collaboration • There was great excitement among the groups. • The groups were full of activity and the children shared thoughts and emotions. • Even the most bashful children had something to say or something to show from their drawings to the team.

16. Outcomes The implementation of the developed activities : • allowed students to analyse and discuss ways to improve their stances towards "difference“; • promoted students’ awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe; • enabled teachers to pay particular attention to students who faced learning and language difficulties; • allowed student’s ‘hidden’ voices to be heard; • reinforced all students’ participation in the classroom activities.

17. Thank you!hadjisoteriou.c@unic.ac.cyandangelides.p@unic.ac.cywww.caremcomenius.org