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AIRS is committed to ongoing collaborative inquiry into the relevance and impact of sustained engagement in the visual arts for children's learning and well-being in schools.
In our inquiry process, lead teachers from each participating school gather and share reflections and observations from classroom teachers and students about student learning and experience in the AIRS program.
For the 2023/24 school year our collaborative inquiry continued to gather reflections on student learning and social emotional development through the AIRS program. while focusing more directly on how the art making processes might support First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL). Lead teachers chose one of the principles that best resonated with their artists’ vision and their school context as a focus.
Understanding of FPPL was supported with teaching and knowledge sharing from Candice Halls, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) storyteller, poet and educator and Robin Roberts, Gitga’at First Nation artist and VSB Indigenous education teacher.
Core competencies in creative and critical thinking, communication and personal and social competency were supported across all studios. In addition, the following strong themes emerged:
The studio was a SAFE SPACE of non-judgement that allowed students to find freedom in self-expression, and embrace mistakes as opportunities for learni
Core competencies in creative and critical thinking, communication and personal and social competency were supported across all studios. In addition, the following strong themes emerged:
The studio was a SAFE SPACE of non-judgement that allowed students to find freedom in self-expression, and embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning. This created INCLUSION where all students were engaged, and motivated and students who normally struggle in the classroom were able to thrive. Teachers noted positive impacts on MENTAL WELLBEING with happiness, calm and a sense of pride through the challenges inherent in the art making process. In addition, teachers saw how the art making process allowed for DEEP LEARNING in complex and challenging topics.
In line with First Peoples Principles of Learning, teachers shared how the art making process supported HOLISTIC and RELATIONAL learning that included; meaningful connection to the land, a deeper understanding of interconnectedness and how our actions resonate backward and forward in time, a respect for the patience and time required in
In line with First Peoples Principles of Learning, teachers shared how the art making process supported HOLISTIC and RELATIONAL learning that included; meaningful connection to the land, a deeper understanding of interconnectedness and how our actions resonate backward and forward in time, a respect for the patience and time required in creating art and a place to explore and discover who they are.
Students shared powerful insights into why art mattered to them. These reflections were striking in their directness and divergence from the kinds of educational benefits adults tend to focus on. Shared in different ways and articulated in their own words, consistent themes emerged in student responses across all 15 school sites. Art mat
Students shared powerful insights into why art mattered to them. These reflections were striking in their directness and divergence from the kinds of educational benefits adults tend to focus on. Shared in different ways and articulated in their own words, consistent themes emerged in student responses across all 15 school sites. Art matters because it creates space for freedom of self-expression, emotional catharsis, connection to self-identity and the experience of beauty.
"Art makes our insides calm and free so we are not afraid to show it and our outside can change when we let our inside out because people can be hiding their unique talents.”
– Student at Trudeau Elementary, 2024
Dr. Jane Garland, Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry, UBC
This year our meetings took place online due to Covid with presentations by Dr. Sylvia Kind in November and Aaron-Nelson Moody (Splash) in February. Dr. Kind is an artist, scholar and ‘atelierista’ at Capilano University in the Department of Early Childhood Education and Pedagogy. She presented some of her current work and research in cultivating the studio as an ever-evolving space of thinking and co-creation. Sylvia is interested in the spaces where children’s ideas collide and intersect, activating new avenues of thinking and discovering. Splash, whose Squamish name means “Splashing Eagle”, is a Coast Salish carver and teacher who has shared his work, practice and cultural knowledge with students in schools across Vancouver for more than a decade.
Although our inquiry was entirely online this year, data was still gathered and documented by teachers over the course of the residencies through photos, shared observation, teacher and student written reflections and post residency on-line debrief interviews.
For the 2019/20 school year, inquiries were developed under the overarching question: "How does sustained collaboration with a resident artist in an established studio impact student learning in relation to the curriculum, the core competencies and the FirstPeoples’ Principles of Learning?" Findings from the collaborative inquiry are documented and compiled into a year end final report that can be accessed below.
The 2019/20 inquiry was facilitated by Christine Giesbrecht, district mentor support teacher with presentations by Maggie Milne Martens, AIRS director and Indigenous teaching artists Shelley MacDonald and Candice Halls-Howcroft.
The Artist In Residence Studio program is honoured to be working together on the unceded, unsurrendered and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm|Musqueam, Sḵwxwú7mesh|Squamish & səlilwətaɬ |Tsleil-Waututh people, where we learn, live and work. We humbly acknowledge that we are unlearning and relearning and with this acknowledgement comes the commitment to engage in ongoing acts of reconciliation.
PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION: xʷməθkʷəy̓əm - Musqueam (pronounced Mus-kwee-um) Sḵwxwú7mesh - Squamish Nation (pronounced Skwa-mish) səlilwətaɬ - Tsleil-Waututh (pronounced Slay-wah-tuth) Please do not capitalize x in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm & s in səlilwətaɬ Do capitalize S in Skwxwú7mesh *The above has been shared by Chas Desjarlais- District Principal of Indigenous Education.
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