Art, a friend to a troubled child's mind

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

The modern world has accepted the value of art as an educational tool to improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork, especially among children. Education policies almost universally recognise the value of arts.

Though the concept has reached our soil and the education mantra today is 'No child left behind', there is a lack of effective art education in the entire system. Yes, it is a costly job; yet as experts say it's worth a try. With the pressure to raise test scores children have lost classroom time devoted to arts and crafts.

Being art teachers for a long time and teaching children of different age groups, Sharanki Dias, Poori Gulasekharam and Manju Nanayakkara are trying to experiment the crafts of art education in the modern busy childhood. The trio are ardent followers of Cora Abraham, one of the best art teachers Sri Lanka had, whose basic line of teaching was Art Education even before all the modernisations of education.

Painting

"The child has a long story to tell behind the picture he or she paints," said Sharanki Dias, who has been an art teacher in two leading schools in Colombo and has been painting since 1978.

In art education the teacher only guides. For the child art is a language to express his psychology, his inner self," she explained the philosophy this small group of teachers follow.

"To certain children this works as a therapy and many come out with their stresses of life. Today children have no time to grow, to understand nature, to experiment," Sharanki said.

Poori has been the longest in the field of arts and art education. Today, these three teachers are using the technique for a more worthy cause - helping differently-abled children and abused children to re-emerge to their normal senses.

Our attempt is to make the child beautiful, said Poori. They focus on the individual child, using the language of Art as a psychology, giving them freedom with creativity and make the child confident.

During school vacations the trio get together and organise special holiday programs, in the form of Art campt to suit every child - troubled or not. "More than talking to the child it is very difficult to convince the parent. Some get adjusted as the child's progress. Others need to be convinced from time to time, according to the teachers. It is a home for creativity that they make.

There is much love and understanding, a simple, easy and free lifestyle without adult interferences. Teacher control and guidance are unobstructive and friendly. Each child is allowed to work at his or her own level and is then guided into the adult art world.

Love

The drawing line takes shape and progress into maturity, not with competition but through motivation.

"Every child does not have to be an artist, but every human being has a creativeness which could be developed, if given the opportunity," said Poori. As she explained, for children art is like a friend to whom they turn to with their joys, sorrows and fears whenever words become inadequate.

"At different age groups the creativity of the children are so vast," Poori said. Sharanki, Poori and Manju select children above three up to 15+. Age groups 3+ are separate. Children of 4-7 years, 8-15 years and 15+ are given different levels of attention and guidance.

"We do not grade children. We focus on the individual child, using the language of art as a psychology, giving them freedom with creativity and make the children confident. This helps them to grow into a well balanced personality," Sharanki said.

"Our children, face many challenges today and lack freedom - to develop, progress, be confident and be ready to face many challenges of the fast moving world," the teachers say.

"It is easy for the parents to make the children sit in front of the television and it has become their only past time.

They need to see the sky, jump into a muddy pool, feel the grass under their feet and see how nature grows. This stimulation is very much lacking - mostly in children living in urban areas.

"We're preparing the children for the future. We're preparing them to be citizens. And we're teaching them to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The third is as important as the other two," they said.