Art integration is an approach to teaching in which learners construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Learners engage in a creative process which connects an art from and another subject and meet evolving objects.

This approach to teaching is grounded in the belief that learning is actively built, experiential , evolving, collaboration, problem-solving and reflective. 

Art integration provide multiple ways for learners to make sense of what they learn(construct understanding) and make their learning visible (demonstrate understanding).

Working in the arts helps learners to develop creative problem-solving skills, Teaching through the arts can presents difficult concepts visually, making them more easy to understand, Integrating art with other disciplines reaches learners who might not otherwise be engaged in classwork, Art experiences boost critical thinking, teaching learners to take the time to be more careful and through in how they observe the world and lastly, Working in the arts helps learners to develop creative problem- solving skills.

what did you find art integration interesting? 

I Find art integration interesting because it promote active engagement in teaching and learning activities, experiential learning, authentic learning activities, collaborative, problem solving skills and reflection. It also promote active learning experiences through which foundation phase learners can internalize new knowledge and skills by engaging in authentic activities which have real life value.

However, 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 learner's innate curiosity, creativity and imaginative abilities. Furthermore, arts integration enable foundation phase learners to 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 they are not only connected to each other but our world while drawing attention to the ways in which the various subject s in our curriculum are connected.

What did you find art integration challenging?

Music educators often find arts integration to be challenging because it requires a great deal of time, necessitates collaboration with other teachers and can unfortunately promotes collaboration with other teachers and can unfortunately be bias of one subject over another. Learners find it difficult to interact with art hence there must be a seamless integration of two or more subjects and that both subject must be experienced and engaged with the same time within an activity. 

However, learners often struggle to differentiate between aspects of music integration/development through teaching and learning, these aspects are too confusing for foundation phase learners. For instance, Teaching and learning about music is when a learner listen to a song and determine whether the tempo or  dynamic of the song, so in that learners may be confused of the different music concepts and struggle to identify the dynamic of the song whether it is a tempo, timbre, Beat with movement etc. Also it is often difficult for foundation phase learners to understand .