Bringing the Arts to the Everyday Lived Experiences of Young Children

• In Event: 65.042 - Arts partnerships and innovative projects to promote cultural awareness in education

Abstract

Despite ample evidence of the value of arts in education, marginalization or lip service still occurs in today’s educational institutions in Canada and internationally in western contexts (Clark, 2006; Pearse, 2006). While many studies address the significance of the arts in education, the area of early childhood warrants more focus. With our increasing diverse populations, it important to examine through a critical lens the pedagogical importance of considering the arts as important to the everyday learning of young children. By offering the liminal spaces to explore relational qualities to self, others and the world, children will not just make art but use art for world-making (Bentley, 2013).

There are many cultures that value and define themselves through the arts. We see the significance of this with our own Aboriginal peoples in Canada (Dion, 2009). Bali is such a culture in Indonesia. The arts in Bali are built into their rituals, spirituality and culture and viewed more as a totality, a holistic expression of identity and being (Riechle, 2010). The arts as a way of seeing in the teaching and learning of young children (McArdle & Boldt, 2013), offers a more holistic approach in establishing mindful and creative spaces (Binder & Kotsopolous, 2010). This paper focuses on the everyday importance of many of the complex art forms in Bali for a cross-cultural understanding of the importance of the arts in the teaching and learning of young children.

An emergent research approach underlies this qualitative research. Balinese artists representing important art forms such as mask-making (carving), drumming, dance, batik/painting and gamelan (percussion music using vocals and traditional instruments) and shadow-puppetry (storytelling, drama) were interviewed using open-ended and semi-structured approaches (Creswell, 2008; Olson, 2011). Incorporating the arts in the research allows for an emergent, iterative and interpretative epistemological design (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2006, 2008; Leavy, 2009; Rose, 2007). This offers new conceptions of understanding in the teaching and learning processes and contributes to potential paradigm shifts. Data collection also included field notes and augmented with photographs, videotaping and sound clips of the artists at work, as well as reflections of the researcher experiencing several forms of art-making.

Such cross-cultural experiences offered important insights into the interconnection between the arts as a paradigm that shapes culture and identity; informing understanding of the arts as part of the everyday of young children’s experiences. Cultural and artistic experiences embedded in historical context can offer implications for change when working with children from diverse populations, including Indigenous populations (Archibald, 2008; Dion, 2009). The opportunities to not only observe and experience many of the art forms and interview Balinese artists, brings a more holistic understanding of how many of the art forms function and are woven together. This has tremendous implications for early learning practices in bringing the arts to the education of young children through different modes of meaning- making (Binder, 2011).

Author

• Marni Binder, Ryerson University