Integrating art in subjects…

...as per NEP 2020.

Hello all. Welcome to the 128th edition of TEPS Weekly! 

At a recent school visit, the Principal proudly pointed to the walls covered with students’ artwork and explained that they have implemented Art Integrated Learning (AIL). On observing their classes to better understand what this Art Integration looks like, we observed that art was incorporated in the form of activities at the beginning or at the end of the class – a drawing exercise at the end of a Science class or a colouring activity in a Geography lesson. The main teaching was still very much the traditional lecture-based way.  The rest of the art happened during their art period – which was once every week. And this didn’t have any connection to the rest of the subjects. 

This is not what we mean by Art Integration. Art Integration is a cross-curricular approach where subject teaching and art come together. Art is used as a tool for teaching and learning new concepts in other subjects. It’s also about understanding and appreciating the different local art forms. 

Let’s look at some of these misconceptions regarding Art Integration.

Misconception 1: Art Integration means having an art period once or twice a week. 

Having an art period once or twice a week where students practise drawing/painting/crafts etc. is important, but it falls under art education – which is different from Art Integration. Art education is when you learn about a particular art form and practise it, while Art Integration is when you use that particular art form as a pedagogical tool to teach another subject. Therefore, art education is necessary for Art Integration, but they are not the same. 

What can you do? Use art forms inside subject lessons, not just as extra time slots in the timetable

Example: For a Science lesson on Food Chains, the teacher decides to integrate the art of puppet theatre. Instead of simply drawing the food chain diagrams on the board and explaining, the teacher guides the students in making stick or sock puppets of the different ‘actors’ in the cycle – sun, grass, grasshopper, frog, snake, eagle. In groups, students act out how energy flows – the grass puppet grows with sunlight, the grasshopper puppet eats the grass, the frog puppet eats the grasshopper and so on. As the students perform with their puppets, they also say their own dialogues. For example, the sun puppet can say, “I shine down my light. Without my energy, no one in this chain can live.”  The frog puppet can say, “Yumm, these juicy grasshoppers are my energy snack. If they disappear, I’ll go hungry.”

Here, the students are making puppets, creating their own dialogues and performing. And through this they are learning about puppet theatre as an art as well as the food chain and how the different organisms are dependent on each other in this ecosystem. And moreover, this doesn’t happen during an extra art period but during the Science period itself. 

Misconception 2: Art Integration is about creating something visually appealing at the end of a lesson, like a chart or a model.

While this can be a part of Art Integration, it does not just include making/creating something. Art Integration can involve both making and performing arts like theatre, storytelling, music, poetry, etc. And for each of these art forms, the focus is more on the process rather than the final product. The aim is for students to observe, explore, express and construct meaning through these artistic experiences rather than be judged by how good their drawing/performance is. 

What can you do? Focus on students’ meaning making, not just on aesthetics. Avoid tasks where students just copy or follow fixed steps (eg: colouring a pre-drawn chart, copying a ready-made model).

Example: For an English lesson on Similes and Metaphors, the teacher decides to integrate Madhubani art, which is a traditional art form of Bihar. It is characterised by bright colours and intricate line work.  Students listen to either an audio recording of a poem filled with similes and metaphors or the teacher reading it out with appropriate tone and expressions. Then, instead of simply listing the similes and metaphors or underlining them in a worksheet, students visually represent the figurative language using Madhubani Art. The teacher guides them by asking questions like: 

• “What does this sentence/phrase make you feel?”

• “What details in Madhubani art – lines/patterns/colours – can help you show this feeling?”

 Here are a couple of samples:

• “Her smile was like sunshine.” In Madhubani style, the students might draw a large radiant Sun with geometric rays and intricate patterns, and a smiling face inside the Sun.

• “The classroom was a buzzing beehive.” In Madhubani style, they could draw a hive with different patterns. Inside the hive, instead of bees, they sketch stick-like human figures (students) moving around – giving the feeling that there is a lot happening.

The focus here is on students experiencing and expressing figurative language by translating it into a visual art form, not just on how neat or beautiful the art form looks.

Misconception 3: Only trained art teachers can implement Art Integration.

All teachers can implement Art Integration. As mentioned before, it’s not really about getting that perfect final product but achieving your learning outcomes through the process. 

What can you do? Start small with artforms that you’re comfortable with. Collaborate with art teachers for others.

Example: For a Maths lesson on Symmetry, the teacher decides to integrate rangoli drawing because she uses rangoli daily at home and is comfortable guiding students in this art form. She begins the lesson by drawing simple rangoli patterns like given below.

Then the teacher asks questions like:

• “I am going to cut this pattern across the middle. What do you notice about the two halves?”

• “How many lines can you draw across it to divide it into two halves?”

• “What pattern do you see if you rotate the rangoli? What does this tell us?”

Students then create their own rangoli patterns by drawing either on paper using colour pencils or on the floor/board using coloured chalks.  

When she wants to extend the lesson to explore symmetry in dance movements, she collaborates with the school’s dance teacher, who helps students observe how symmetrical steps appear in folk dance.

For Art Integrated Learning, we don’t treat art as a separate subject, but we use it to teach other subjects to promote creativity, cultural awareness, critical thinking and joyful learning. Here is a list of other art forms that you can integrate in your lessons. This is not a complete list of art forms, and also keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that one art form can only be used with a particular subject. This is just one way of doing them.

Art Form	Subjects/Topics
Video Making/Film Making	English – Creating short films based on a story they learn but with a different ending.
Jewellery Making	Mathematics – Applying patterns, ratios and symmetry in bead arrangements.
Role Play	History – Enacting scenes/conversations between historical figures for perspective-taking.
Photography	Geography – Documenting patterns of human-environment interaction (e.g., water usage, waste management, local markets) through photos.
Dance Performance	Physics – Using dance steps to show concepts of balance, force and motion.
Sculpture/Clay Modelling	Biology – Modelling clay to show different adaptations in plants and animals.
Tie-and-Dye/Fabric Painting	Chemistry –  Exploring acids, bases and salts to see how different pH levels change the colours on cloth.

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Edition: 4.35