One-day CBSE training on Art Integration

Workshop Topic: Art Integration

Resource Person: Dr. Meenakshi Narula and Ms. Priya Gambhir

Date: 22/07/2023

Day: Saturday

Attended by: Ms. Neeti Vij, Ms. Jyoti Sharma

“The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading, writing and arithmetic. Music, dance, painting, and theatre are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment.” – William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education

The day long CBSE training session on ‘Art Integration’ based on NEP 2020, was organised by Samarth Public School, Dilshad Garden on Saturday, 22.7.23. The training session was attended by Ms. Neeti Vij and Ms. Jyoti Sharma from the Foundation Stage which began at 9:00 am and ended by 5:30 pm. The Resource Persons for the training were Dr. Meenakshi Narula and Ms. Priya Gambhir. Dr. Meenakshi Narula is the Principal of Shemford Futuristic K 12 School, Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh and having 20 years of experience in the arena of education. Ms. Priya Gambhir is the School Co-ordinator & Resource Head – CBSE, Deep Memorial Public School, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, having an experience of 15 years in the field of education. The session began with the Diya Lighting ceremony and the Vice Principal of the school, Ms. Neetu Chaudhary escorted the guests and the resource persons to ignite the lamp.

The training was attended by nearly 50 teachers and the focus was on the Art Integration which is a cross-curricular pedagogical approach that utilizes various aspects and forms of art and culture as the basis for learning of concepts across subjects. All the participants were asked to sit in separate groups comprised of 5-6 persons. The session started with an ice breaking session followed by a group activity to replicate the picture of a bird and then sharing the experience through a drawing on a chart paper and through different art forms. The resource persons focussed on integrating art into the curriculum which implies exploring academic contents (facts, ideas, concepts, processes, methods) and skill sets to be acquired by a student through the spectacles of various forms of art.  They emphasized that instead of teaching art as a separate subject, teachers should use dance, drama, music, visual arts etc to teach a variety of academic subjects in a more engaging way. A 360-degree holistic learning is possible in classrooms only by integrating various academic concepts with arts. It emphasized upon bringing transformation into the students learning through art integration into the curriculum. Dr. Meenakshi Narula said that “We should not worry about the product rather we should worry about the process”.

Art Integrated learning is an NCERT initiative based upon the recommendation of NCF 2005. It is the education through various art forms. The resource person, Ms. Priya Gambhir talked about breaking the monotony of conventional teaching styles by bringing in more of art forms into the teaching-learning process and making it a joyful experience for all. The stress was laid on the role of the teacher, who has the complete autonomy in choosing the teaching pedagogy after identifying the age and the potential of the students. During the training, many of the art forms like music, art and craft, drawing and painting, dance, technology, puppetry, etc were showcased, which can be integrated into the classroom teaching to make it more effective.

The entire training session was full of knowledge and listening to such learned persons was a blessing for all. It was overall an enriching experience which enlightened us about integrating art forms into the curriculum as per NEP 2020.