Far North school trials arts-integrated learning

Representatives of a small decile 1A rural school in the Far North will meet with leading educators from around the world next month to share the innovative arts-integrative learning methods they are employing to empower their pupils.

Oturu School, just out of Kaitaia, started trialling this model of learning, assisted by staff from the University of Auckland earlier this year.

Principal Fraser Smith and arts teacher Josie Thomson will present their school’s reasons behind their engagement in arts integration, at the World Alliance for Arts Education (WAAE) conference, in Auckland this month.

Oturu, a 140-pupil school, has been developing its own kaupapa for creating a unique learning experience for almost two decades. Now the school is going one step further by taking part in a trial to see if applying creative methods to learning has measurable benefits. Arts integration is a process where children learn concepts in all curriculum areas through arts based activities. The emphasis is on the ‘doing’ and is not about a product or performance.

“The feedback from the teachers is already really exciting,” says research Dr Barbara Snook. “It is inspiring to see arts integration in action within a New Zealand school. The students enjoy their learning and are therefore more engaged. This bears out the extensive research that is available regarding the value of the arts in school classrooms,” she says.

Mr Smith says that as the school’s teachers become more familiar with the new teaching style, they will be able to adapt the process to fit different subjects. “We have begun something enormous,” he says. “It’s the educational shift I have been waiting for.”

The Oturu School community is looking forward to next month’s visit by art- integrated learning expert Dr Harker Martin. Dr Martin has done extensive research overseas showing how utilising the arts improves student performance in many areas.