How the Visual Arts educators integrate 21st Century skills at the American School of Bombay.

"I think that what [is taught] is important and relevant. I wish my other classes were structured more like art". - grade 10 student
"Art is challenging and to be successful you always have to have an open mind to new ideas and visualize old ones in a different way in order to create something new and unexpected. Art constantly challenges me". - grade 9 student

In February of 2008, the American School of Bombay hosted a conference on using laptops in schools. "ASB Un-Plugged" (http://www.asbunplugged.org/drupal/asb_un-plugged/ ) brought educators from all over the world together to hear expert speakers on the implementation of technology in the classroom, view our one-to-one laptop program in action and discuss preparing students for the 21st century. Dr. Scott McLeod gave a keynote address titled, "Kickstarting Schools for the 21st Century" which outlined the "transformative potential of digital technologies."

During this conference my art classes were working on creating some models for building facades they had designed in the "kitsch architecture" style. That day the students in my classes were completely engaged, admittedly not always the case. I believe it was because they were figuring out how to make something tangible and being authentically creative. They were collaborating, exploring multiple approaches, solving various engineering problems, creating individual and innovative visual solutions and learning that quality results take time and concentration. In short, using $2.00 worth of cardboard, an exacto knife and a glue gun, these students were also learning about and using the mindset necessary for success in the 21st century. It is this mindset, in conjunction with the potential of digital technologies that will be formidable.

I believe that thoughtfully designed arts courses, by their nature, have the potential to lead the way in preparing students for the 21st century. As curriculum design changes to include these 21st century skills the way the arts courses weave history, theory and authentic practice into their structure needs to be reexamined. These courses, too often and increasingly marginalized in schools, could emerge as the model we are looking for in our pursuit of a relevant and authentic curriculum for this century. We need to have the vision to look beyond the narrow view of the arts classes as providers of "elective" knowledge and realize that the skills learned there are applicable, relevant, and broad in scope.

As part of a project to show how the arts programs are leaders in developing these 21st century skills at ASB, I put together the website, ASB Visual Arts -Preparing Students for the 21st Century. Here you will find how various parts of our curriculum, from concept through assessment, are designed to help those students who take visual arts learn to communicate effectively, assess quality, think creatively, and apply a self-critical approach to problem solving. Included on the site are quotes from students which indicate how they perceive the relevance of what and how they are learning.

The goals of the site are two fold. The first is to demonstrate how the arts may offer a model for designing a relevant and authentic curriculum for students in the 21st century. The second is to elicit feedback and encourage discussion that will help us to refine our curriculum at ASB and to grow as effective educators. On the site is a link to a wiki we invite you to join to participate in the discussion about how the arts may be used to help prepare students for the future.

And by the way, besides cardboard, we use some digital technology in our classes too.

Visual Arts educators integrate 21st Century skills

The American School of Bombay

By Brian Reverman

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