I believe that in foundation phase art integration plays an extremely important role. It allows the student to actively partake in the learning process as well as stimulation various areas of development at once. When learners actively take part they gain experiences through which they  can more easily make the new knowledge and skills apart of what they already know, because it allows for a lot of different types of learning like kinesthetic, concrete etc. learners are more likely to remember lessons that go along with it. Furthermore, art can be integrated into the lesson in such a way that it helps to develop skills needed in various subjects.

What I found really interesting about this unit is the overall description of exactly how art can be integrated into the foundational phase or more the technical aspects of exactly what influence art has on the development of learners. Once again you are aware that art has an effect on specific areas of development but I never realized to what extent. Another aspect that I found quite interesting is why art can change the learning environment, because I noticed that it gives more meaning to learning.

The aspect that I found challenging is also the one I found the most interesting and it was the six major areas and how the integration of art can influence each of these areas. I found it challenging not necessarily, because it is difficult to understand, but mainly before you start as teacher it is difficult to think of exactly how you’ll integrate all your art lessons so it has the needed effect on the learners development.

During this activity there was various situations that could’ve made some learners uncomfortable but it is also important to remember that everyone grows and learns best outside of their comfort zone’s and it is important to expose children to various different activities to ensure that they develop in all areas. With that being said the things that would have made some children uncomfortable is the activity where they would have to dance in the center of the circle it is important to remember that some children are more shy than others. Therefor in this activity I would’ve encourage students to dance in the center of the circle but I would leave the decision up to them. If they didn’t want to dance in the center of the circle they  didn’t have to. Another situation that made a learner uncomfortable was a song in a language that he did not understand. In this situation I believe it is important for the teacher to translate to the children what they are singing first or have a learner who understands the song translate. The girl that felt uncomfortable dancing in front of boys and to house music is a situation that needs to be handled before the teacher begins with the activity. A teacher needs to know the background and culture of her learners and allow the space for learners to speak up and say what they are allowed to do and not to do. We must be aware that there is many different learners profiles and we need to accommodate and adjust to this as much as possible. Therefor make sure your learners feel comfortable enough in your classroom to come and speak to you and adjust your activities so it can include all the learners.