During your teaching career, there are going to be moments where you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. You need to find new ways of inspiring children and helping them to learn, but it can seem like a monumental task. Have you ever thought about using the arts to help you with this? It could have distinct benefits for a number of pupils.
Try incorporating arts-based activities into your lessons. This doesn’t just have to be drawing a picture to illustrate some work (though of course this could be an option too) – anything which will appeal to the more creative students in your class can work. Try asking them to put together a piece of drama or a small play about a given subject, or write a song or poem to help them to remember information. The process of creating, as well as the finished product itself, will help to make what they need to learn more memorable for them.
It can also be a good idea to encourage children to engage with the arts outside of lesson time. Learning an instrument, joining a choir or taking up theatre can be a brilliant extra curricular activity for a child. It can help them to focus and stimulate their creativity which has positive effects both inside school and out. Discovering something they enjoy and have a talent for can really spur some children on to achieve and everybody should be given the opportunity to try it out.