1. DEFINITION OF ARTS INTERGRATION

"When well planned and implemented, arts integration is one of the most effective ways for a wide range of students with a wide range of interests, aptitudes, styles, and experiences to form a community of active learners taking responsibility for and ownership of their own learning.

Arts integration promotes teaching and learning strategies which address outcomes in various subjects simultaneously while encouraging learners to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and skills through the arts. Arts integration is an approach to teaching, which promotes active engagement in teaching and learning activities, experiential learning, authentic learning activities, collaborative learning, problem-solving skills and reflection. It is important to note that, when designing arts integration activities, there must be a seamless integration of two or more subjects (Silverstein & Layne, 2010) (i.e. music and visual arts; music and language; music and maths; music and life skills) and that both subjects must be experienced and engaged with at the same time within an activity.

When we choose to apply arts integration principles in the foundation phase, we need to engage learners in teaching and learning activities which encourage them to draw on their prior knowledge with the aim of discovering new concepts and skills and to demonstrate their understanding in a practical way through the arts (Silverstein & Layne, 2010). Learners can, therefore, illustrate how music makes them feel by drawing a picture or writing a story. Learners can also, for example, demonstrate their understanding of the difference between rotation and revolution (when learning about planets, for example) by creating a dance. Arts integration activities promote active learning experiences through which foundation phase learners can internalise new knowledge and skills by engaging in authentic activities which have real-life value. Arts integration strategies offer learners the opportunity to learn in a way which prioritises in-depth understanding of new concepts and skills on a practical level before introducing abstract symbols – learners have to engage with authentic music activities (which include singing, moving, drawing what they hear in the music) before introducing music notation

The value of arts integration in the foundation phase

Arts integration has been proven to contribute towards higher motivation levels among learners and supports academic achievement and socialisation among learners. Schools that encourage teachers to apply arts integration strategies in their teaching have shown improved results with regards to learners’ mathematic performance as well as decreased disciplinary challenges. Arts integration provides teachers with the opportunity to promote and support the developmental needs of learners while offering learners the opportunity to engage in teaching and learning activities which are fun, fosters collaboration and connection and promotes learners’ innate curiosity, creativity and imaginative abilities. When foundation phase teachers utilise the arts throughout their teaching, they provide learners with multiple modes for demonstrating their understanding of non-arts outcomes while accommodating various learning styles and needs. Arts integration can lead to transformative experiences for both teachers and learners while fostering creative and imaginative capacities of the teachers and the learners alike. When learners are encouraged to demonstrate their understanding through the arts, we create teaching and learning environments in which individual learning needs and abilities are met. Through the application of arts integration teaching strategies, we design teaching and learning activities which are inclusive and provide multiple means of engaging with and internalising new knowledge and skills (accommodate various learning styles and preferences). Since arts integration encourages learners to demonstrate their understanding through the arts, learners have the opportunity to not only learn within safe, collaborative social environments but to demonstrate their understanding in ways and at a level which they are comfortable with (also see Vygotsky and zone of proximal development in study unit 1). The arts, especially music and dance, are prominent in various African and international cultures and therefore also offer opportunities for creating learning environments in which learners from diverse backgrounds feel welcome and respected. When foundation phase learners are able to demonstrate their understanding through the arts, we also promote and accommodate their innate love of music and movement while also adding elements of exploration, discovery fun and play in our classroom. Ultimately, through arts integration, foundation phase learners will develop their problem solving and critical thinking skills through engagement in authentic learning activities which foster the ability to become aware of the various ways in which we are not only connected to each other but our world while drawing attention to the ways in which the various subjects in our curriculum are connected. This is especially appropriate in the foundation phase as the CAPS is also written in a way which encourages teachers to draw links between various subjects by integrating various subjects. When we utilise arts integration in our teaching, we can consequently create learning environments in which learners can develop holistically, experience personal and social wellbeing while fostering creativity and imagination by drawing on their innate love of music, movement, arts and curiosity (also see Reggio Emelia teaching approach in study unit 2)