Since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, the authorities have now introduced play at work to make school fun.

Art Integrated Learning (AIL) has been made compulsory by CBSE schools since 2018-19. This requires teachers to impart lessons using various forms of art like music, dance, drama, and visual arts. In theory, every child now has to submit a project on AIL before he/she is handed over admit cards for his Class X Board examination. Not all schools in our vicinity have implemented this yet but those who have, report excited students and positive results.

Theory in practice

Principal of Hariyana Vidya Mandir (HVM) Sanghamitra Banerjee says students and teachers alike have embraced the new methodology.

Puloma Sen, a teacher at HVM, is gladly using her experience as a classical dancer to elucidate concepts of mathematics and science. “I ask them to mimic Bharatnatyam postures and identify the straight lines produced and the resultant angles being created. I’ve made them wear ghagras and spin like kathak dancers to demonstrate how centrifugal force makes the skirt rise up,” she says.

Sen tried these out with Classes IX and X and when it was well-received, introduced them to junior classes too. Dance has a lot of mathematics in it, explains Sen. “Bols, taals, and tihais are patterns based on specific numbers of beats. Instead of simply reciting these patterns, I’ve introduced a mathematical approach. Students are asked to replace the traditional syllables with their own creations. This exercise leads to humorous results, as they compose funny poems while subconsciously applying a mathematical concept.”

Children learn about angles by making geometric shapes with their hands. Picture courtesy Pathanam

To reinforce the “four times table,” Sen arranges students in rows of four and has them recite kathak taals in multiples of four. “They may make mistakes, but the laughter and engagement make the learning process far more enjoyable than traditional rote learning,” she observes.

Ujjaini Sikdar, a science teacher at the same school, is happy to introduce art and craft into her lessons. “I encourage students to collect leaves of various shapes, draw them, and compare their structures. For higher classes, we’re visualising complex concepts like chromosomes and cell division through art. Coloured straws, intertwining strings, and science models are helping students learn,” she says.

Sikdar believes this approach simplifies teaching. “These methods are reducing our workload. It would have taken much longer to convey these concepts orally. Subjects like biology have always relied on diagrams, but now even physics students are learning about circuits through artistic representations. We’re dedicating one or two classes per week to these activities,” she says.

An English teacher from Bangur Avenue has recently used AIL with children of classes II and III to teach the concept of tiger conservation. “I asked them to make tiger masks and talk about why tigers are beautiful. Some children talked about how they went to a wildlife sanctuary and saw a tiger from close quarters. Others who had never seen a tiger also gathered some knowledge about the importance of tiger conservation. Then the children pretended to be tigers themselves through play-acting while others became hunters trying to kill them. Soon, everyone realised why it was important to conserve tigers,” says the lady who teaches in a south Calcutta school.

Success stories

Sharbari Banerjee, a Delhi-based musicologist and art educationist associated with the department of education art and aesthetics (DEAA) at NCERT, says several states across the country have been introduced to the concept. In Bengal she has been training teachers at workshops organised by educational NGOs Pathanam and The Education Trust for the last couple of years now.

She knows of science teachers who, while trying to teach children about satellites, asked kids to use clay to make models of satellites, servers, towers and show how devices receive the signals for wi-fi, how mobile phones receive signals, and how it is all connected to the devices.

Another method was used with children of classes IV and V, while teaching about teeth in the human mouth. Again, clay was given to each child and they were asked to look at the teeth of their friends sitting next to them and make a copy on clay. “The kids loved the idea and made all kinds of teeth that they observed in the mouths of their friendscanines, molars, premolars…. They exhibited it in their classroom and learnt the concept in the process. They didn’t have to mug up anything,” adds Banerjee.

In another instance, children of a government school were taken to a historical monument for a visit. They were asked to draw whatever shapes they could see around them — squares, octagons, semi-circles…. This way the kids learnt to be more observant, developed analytical and critical modes of thinking and they also learnt why these shapes were required in architecture. “They learnt why pillars are required and about the intricacies of making a building, which they probably would never have thought about earlier, let alone read about it,” she says.

“We have seen a lot of success stories after introducing this technique, particularly from Bihar and Jharkhand. School-dropouts have reduced, teachers are able to engage children more and children themselves have begun to think of new ways to assimilate AIL into their lessons. Every year NCERT has to report to the ministry of education about different innovative learning techniques that can be used, how many concepts are followed by state boards, and how many success stories are possible. When we reported the progress of AIL, the CBSE absorbed it into their curriculum in 2019-20,” she said.

“Teachers in the north-eastern states are extremely creative but Bengal’s urban and rural areas have great potential too, which largely lies untapped due to negligence of the state government towards the development of education. Pathanam introduced the concept of AIL in Bengal, something that the state board should have done a long time ago,” Banerjee adds.

Sujoy Mazumder, co-founder and COO Pathanam, says AIL is redefining teaching and learning methods across the globe. “We are fostering a holistic educational model that goes beyond traditional textbooks and tests, encouraging creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence among students,” he says.

Naysayers

Not all teachers share this enthusiasm. Some view the new approach as an additional burden. “After years of traditional teaching, it’s challenging to think out of the box. These require a lot of effort from teachers to research, brainstorm, and develop creative teaching methods,” says a junior school teacher of a Salt Lake school, asking to remain anonymous. “I’m using art, but it feels forced. And frankly, I don’t see a significant difference in student learning because of these.”

Some schools admit they haven’t fully implemented the advisory, with one teacher even expressing pessimism. “We’ve been hearing about art integration for two years, but no formal notice has reached us. So we’re keeping a low profile,” said a senior school language teacher. “T he idea sounds promising on paper, but we lack the necessary infrastructure. Teachers come trained only in their respective subjects; how can a math teacher be expected to learn kathak overnight? Such creative teaching is feasible in developed countries with low student-teacher ratios. Here we have class sizes of 50 or 60 and we’re constantly under pressure to complete the syllabus. These initiatives seem like a waste of time,” said the teacher.