Many non-art-specialists, including teachers, tend to see art-making through the prism of one’s ability to draw. One of the most common responses I hear when I suggest that art-making could be used in language teaching I hear is: ‘Oh yes, it would be great to use it but I am not good at art, I cannot draw.’ Such a response is deeply rooted in the belief that a teacher who cannot draw would not be able to use art in the classroom. The perception that using art-based activities in the classroom is only for those lucky ones with a talent or already well-developed drawing skills can be a challenge for teachers participating in a project which introduces art-based creative methods to language learning and teaching. In this post, I share a few approaches that can be used by teachers who feel that they are ‘not good at drawing.’ The main point of all the strategies presented below is that the teacher does not have to be an expert in art-making. They already are experts in teaching and their own subject and that is already enough, expertise in art-making is not necessary.
An external expert
One of the benefits of the internet is that one can access online tutorials on virtually any topic, including the topic of drawing and painting. A language teacher with access to the internet can use those tutorials to facilitate art learning and focus on supplementing it with language instructions. The example below is a video that can be used to teach children how to use pastels to draw a still life:
This video, on the other hand, shows, step-by-step, techniques that can be used to draw a simple pot:
An added benefit of using online videos is that the language teacher can decide not only what they teach but also in which language! The above tutorials are both in English which means that students will be exposed to authentic materials and various kinds of spoken English – and diversity matters!
A child as an expert
Another way of bypassing the issue of a teacher’s drawing skills is positioning a child as an expert. Such a move is likely to bust their morale and increase their engagement in the lesson. If the teacher is a language expert, why not make a lesson a meeting of two (or more) experts? Not only the pupils will learn that it is normal not to know something (yet), but a teacher can model a process of learning for other children who will learn drawing together with the teacher. The teacher will teach a target language and a child will teach drawing. A child can also practice a language when teaching art.
In the video below a child teaches how to create an artwork inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy, a British land artist who uses natural elements such as stones, leaves and sticks to make, often site-specific, artworks.
In the following video, a child teaches how to play the ukulele:
Art that does not require drawing or painting
The examples above have already hinted at the last strategy that will be discussed in this post – none of the art forms presented by the children above had to do with drawing or painting. The third strategy discussed in this post relies on using art forms that do not require drawing at all. Many modern and contemporary artists prefer to use such art forms, some create collages by cutting out pieces of paper or explore abstract colours and forms, some focus entirely on the concepts or the relationships and feelings inspired by their works.
The video below shows an artist Chris Haughton who uses collages to create book illustrations:
The next video shows an art installation ‘One, two, three, swing!’ made by the artists’ collective SUPERFLEX:
Both artworks shown in the videos can work as an inspiration for pupils to make art and talk about their creations. Children could create picturebooks like the one discussed by Chris Haughton or work collaboratively on models of art installations like the one created by SUPERFLEX for TATE Modern, a famous British art gallery. They could then interview each other about their models asking questions such as: What objects would they use if they were invited to create an installation to be shown at the TATE? What would these objects look like, what would they be used for, how would they make people feel?
In our TAG project, we collaborate with some amazing Vietnamese artists. Learning about their work made me realise how little I know about Vietnamese art. I could not resist the urge to learn more. When I was exploring this completely new-to-me area of art I stumbled upon ‘The framed landscape’ by Duc Cuong Ha. It is a great artwork to inspire pupils to think and talk about space and nature. Similarly to the artists, children can use frames to capture parts of their everyday environment and direct others where to look. See more about the project here and here.
Another inspirational project I encountered in my learning journey was created by Nguyễn Trần Ưu Đàm. This Vietnamese artist and designer created ECO-Đi slippers with the message ‘leave no traces’ etched on their soles so anyone wearing them left the message imprinted in the sand. I learned that the work was designed in response to the global climate crisis and inspired by Lao Tzu’s quotation: “good travellers leave no traces.” See more about this project here and, in Vietnamese, here.