Bullying, intolerance, racism, gender bias... visual art is a universal language that can be used as inspiration to guide students towards meaningful discussions about bullying and themes of social injustice in general. It is a form of communication that can be interpreted on different levels and very individually depending on the viewer's background and experience.
Today we live in a world surrounded by visual messages and we need to teach our students to interpret and understand images and artwork of all kinds, to become literate in visual language. We as teachers have to encourage our students to think critically and talk and write about social inequality, including bullying, in our society. Using visual art to encourage students to talk about social issues such as bullying is a very effective teaching method.
But art is not only there to be observed and interpreted, it is also a means for us human beings to express our thoughts and emotions. Art is a very natural and effective way for children and young people to express their feelings and ideas. Art is very useful in interdisciplinary work; whether watching a video clip, reading a poem or a novel, or interpreting a work of art, producing a piece of art can be very rewarding and boost your self-confidence.
2. BACKGROUND - OUR EMB EXPERIENCE
In the Erasmus Minus Bullying project we have made use of art in its different forms throughout the project. In Module 1 we started off with a competition creating logos and selecting the winning Bulgarian entry to represent our project. In Module 2 students created anti-bullying posters and a joint collage was made during the third short-term training session in Athens. In Module 3 students and teachers visited two art museums in Helsinki and the students created a common work of art "Portraits: We have a lot in common - We are all unique". In Module 5 all partner countries chose one piece of art from their native country related to the topic of bullying. During the fifth short term training session teachers and students visited the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels with the aim of finding evidence that bullying is not a new phenomenon; it can be observed already in old masters' paintings hundreds of years back.
In the 5th Module all partners tried to find works of art, preferably art created by artists in their own country, which were related to the topic of bullying in order to create reference lists. Each partner school chose a piece of art to represent their country and wrote a review for it. The works of art were presented in the 5th short-term training session in Belgium, January 2016.
The students in all partner schools used the same worksheet and answered the same questions when discussing their chosen piece of art (see worksheet):
Describe the work of art giving some information for its background
How does it relate to the issues of bullying, isolation, discrimination or violence?
Describe different emotions you have when you see this work of art
Why did you choose this piece to represent your country?
Using works of art as inspiration for class discussions proved a very effective teaching method. When reading through the art reviews one realises that some pieces of art can have a very clear bullying message (Belgium) while other pieces of art leave the interpretation to the observer (Finland). Either way, using art in the classroom empowers students, gets them thinking, talking and feeling.
3. SKILLS ACQUISITION
One very useful approach when working with art as inspiration in the classroom is the Visual Thinking Strategies method (VTS method). The aim of the VTS method is to involve all students in the discussions and not to give a "correct" interpretation of the work of art being observed. The important thing for the teacher is to recognise that people can have many different interpretations, even contradictory ideas, about what is going on in the picture or what the theme is. The aim of the group "problem-solving" process is to encourage students into critical thinking, to cultivate a willingness and ability to present your own ideas, to listen to other students' interpretations and hopefully to learn from each other, and even change your mind during the process. As a method of discussion, the VTS is used in many art museums.
The following description of the VTS process is taken from the VTS homepage (www.vtshome.org) Teachers are asked to use three open-ended questions:
What's going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can we find?
3 Facilitation Techniques:
Paraphrase comments neutrally
Point at the area being discussed
Linking and framing student comments
Students are asked to:
Look carefully at works of art
Talk about what they observe
Back up their ideas with evidence
Listen to and consider the views of others
Discuss many possible interpretations
4. OVERALL BENEFIT
The Visual Thinking Strategies as a method serves well the aims of bullying prevention as it promotes a tolerant atmosphere in the classroom. Students who aren't very verbal can respond to a piece of art or drawing. Successful implementation of the method can empower participants, foster critical thinking and social interaction.
