CS MACQUET-MAUREL
Hi everyone,
My name is Candice, I am a wife and mom to two beautiful little girls, Paige (7 years old) and Lexi (5 years old). I live in Kwa-Zulu Natal in a small town called Waterfall where I have lived most of my life. In 2004, I left South Africa and lived and worked in the United Kingdom for 9 years, this gave me the opportunity to travel and see quite a few places in the world. My favourite destination is Mexico, which I would happily visit again. My dream holiday would be to take my girls to Mexico and tie in Disney World at the same time. I returned to South Africa in 2013 and after becoming a mom in 2014, and being out of the job market for 6 years, it gave me time to reflect on what I wanted to do with my life. Teaching has always been interesting to me so I decided to take the plunge and enroll at NWU.
The foundation phase is where my real passion lies, making a difference in a child's life is what I aspire to do. I believe that every child is able to achieve anything that they put their mind to and by helping them figure out what their strengths are is part of my job. School needs to be a place where every child is afforded the same opportunity to learn but have fun while learning. I am currently employed as in intern at a local school and I am based in a Grade 1 class. I receive so much love from the children every day and this just confirms my decision for wanting to teach in this phase - the love that they have for life and having fun is contagious!
In my spare time I enjoy baking, cooking and spending time with my family and friends. I have always wanted to learn how to speak french and crocheting is on my list of things to learn. The craziest thing that I have ever done is gone looking for black tipped sharks whilst snorkelling in Thailand.
As the second semester starts with a barrage of information from all of our subjects, it is comforting to know that a module such as this one will bring out the creative side to our studies. I look forward to seeing what LSKM has to offer and how I am able to add music into my daily teaching.
STUDY UNIT 4 – Arts integration in the foundation phase
5 Oct 2021, 14:20
Hello Everyone,
I hope you have all had a good week. My week has been ok and I am ticking things off my to do list slowly but everytime I tick something off it feels like another 3 things have to be added onto the list to be completed! I know I said this a few blogs ago but I am really finding the second semester quite full on. If any of you are feeling the same then don’t worry you are not alone.
After reading through this Study Unit it is incredible to see that something as simple as music and art play such a vital role in the development of foundation phase learners. We all like listening to music and getting in touch with our creative side so why wouldn’t we do this more in the classroom? There are so many aspects and skills that can be improve by incorporating music and arts are things like: reading and language development, mathematics, cognitive skills and emotional social behaviour just to name a few. There were some lovely activities provided which certainly give me a better understanding of how I can incorporate this into my classroom one day.
Individual reflection
- Some people might say that arts integration is a waste of time in Foundation Phase education. Please explain how you would respond to such a statement by explaining your view on arts integration in the Foundation Phase.
I do not agree with this statement at all. If there is one thing that I have learnt from this study unit it is that there are a so many positive aspects that can be attributed to integrating arts in the foundation phase. Having the opportunity to work in a foundation phase school I get to see the delight on each and every learners face when they get told that they are going to music or that they will be doing an art activity. This is proof in itself that arts integration is important and people who agree with the statement above do not get to see the excitement on their faces otherwise this statement would not exist. By doing art or music activities it allows the learners to escape to another place where they can express themselves in a creative way where “normal” school work does not allow. Art develops a number of cognitive abilities for example mathematics, language development and reading, however, it also gives a child the life skills they will need too. This includes collaboaration and social skills, self confidence as well as independence. The arts allows children to show us what they have learnt in a different way and there is nothing better than hearing a room of happy singing children.
- Which aspects of study unit 4 did you find the most interesting and challenging?
- What did you find interesting? Please explain why.
The value of arts integration has been very interesting as it reiterates how important it is to embrace diversity, as each child has their own hidden talents which we need to unveil. When we incorporate the arts into the classroom it encourages problem solving, collaboration and allows a mutual respect for each other. I have learnt that music and the arts certainly brings children together in a way that no other subject can. It allows learners to develop holistically which is the ultimate goal.
- What did you find challenging? Please explain why.
I found the theoretical framework for arts integration could be quite a challenge. The reason why I say this is because I had no idea that there were 6 ways in which music can be integrated in the classroom and were broken up into categories which include teaching and learning about, from, on, with, in and through music. I don’t think anyone really knows how versatile music can be and we can use this to our advantage, as it can only have a positive impact on our learners. I would like to have a look at this is in more detail and get an idea of how I will be able to incorporate this into my daily teaching. This has really left me with some food for thought.