By Aditya Wadhawan
Delhi government recently introduced the Delhi Arts Curriculum report which will be introduced in Delhi schools. Till now it was taught only in nine Sarvodaya Vidyalayas as part of the pilot project that covered 3,900 students. Delhi Education minister Atishi launched the innovative arts curriculum for all the students.
The curriculum has been developed by an NGO, NalandaWay Foundation which is headquartered in Chennai and was also included in the curriculum reforms committee that was set up by the Delhi government in 2021. The curriculum was designed over two years and is in sync with the objectives of NEP 2020. Arts education experts have been roped in by the Delhi government to introduce the best global practices offered in the global curriculum. Art-based pedagogies are integrated to teach mainstream subjects in countries such as Finland, New Zealand, the US, and Ireland. Delhi schools will offer this curriculum in Nursery to class VIII from the age group of 3-13 years.
Speaking to Education Times, Sriram V Ayer, founder and CEO, NalandaWay Foundation, says, “The broader aim behind teaching English, Hindi, and Maths by integrating it with various art forms like Theatre, Drama, Visuals Arts, and Music, is to break away from traditional and non-engaging teaching methods followed in the classroom. Art acts as a seamless medium that would allow the students to fully engage with the subjects enabling them to achieve the desired level of conceptual clarity and in this process, they would also become receptive to learning.”
During the pilot stage, teachers were trained to use art-based educational activities to teach students. Students were taught the poems prescribed in their syllabus through one of the approaches called ‘musical poetry’. “Teachers used a pre-composed piece of music to which a karaoke track was developed to create a tune that harmonised with the poem to make students understand the real essence of the poem.
The musical track was inbuilt with vocal cues, which had instructions about how it will be recited by children and what will be the desired tempo. In this process, the students also learned the elements of music and joy. We are also in the process of developing some art-based teaching methodologies through which Maths would be taught shortly. Preferably, art forms like ‘visual arts’ and ‘movement’ would be used to teach Maths,” added Ayer.
“While designing the curriculum, we referred to major frameworks like the National Core Arts Standards of the US for art-based competencies and the Casel Framework for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies were referred to so that some of the best global practices could be included,” informs Ayer.
Priya Laxmi, mentor teacher, Directorate of Education (DoE), says, “This type of teaching would qualitatively enhance the teaching-learning outcomes in all the Delhi government schools. Shifting from the conventional mode of teaching and adopting innovative pedagogies is in the academic interest of students. Adopting unconventional teaching methods is also essential to avoid rote learning among students. Such art-integrated teaching would also motivate the students to actively pursue some sort of arts along with their academics.”
Delhi government recently introduced the Delhi Arts Curriculum report which will be introduced in Delhi schools. Till now it was taught only in nine Sarvodaya Vidyalayas as part of the pilot project that covered 3,900 students. Delhi Education minister Atishi launched the innovative arts curriculum for all the students.
The curriculum has been developed by an NGO, NalandaWay Foundation which is headquartered in Chennai and was also included in the curriculum reforms committee that was set up by the Delhi government in 2021. The curriculum was designed over two years and is in sync with the objectives of NEP 2020. Arts education experts have been roped in by the Delhi government to introduce the best global practices offered in the global curriculum. Art-based pedagogies are integrated to teach mainstream subjects in countries such as Finland, New Zealand, the US, and Ireland. Delhi schools will offer this curriculum in Nursery to class VIII from the age group of 3-13 years.
Speaking to Education Times, Sriram V Ayer, founder and CEO, NalandaWay Foundation, says, “The broader aim behind teaching English, Hindi, and Maths by integrating it with various art forms like Theatre, Drama, Visuals Arts, and Music, is to break away from traditional and non-engaging teaching methods followed in the classroom. Art acts as a seamless medium that would allow the students to fully engage with the subjects enabling them to achieve the desired level of conceptual clarity and in this process, they would also become receptive to learning.”
During the pilot stage, teachers were trained to use art-based educational activities to teach students. Students were taught the poems prescribed in their syllabus through one of the approaches called ‘musical poetry’. “Teachers used a pre-composed piece of music to which a karaoke track was developed to create a tune that harmonised with the poem to make students understand the real essence of the poem.
The musical track was inbuilt with vocal cues, which had instructions about how it will be recited by children and what will be the desired tempo. In this process, the students also learned the elements of music and joy. We are also in the process of developing some art-based teaching methodologies through which Maths would be taught shortly. Preferably, art forms like ‘visual arts’ and ‘movement’ would be used to teach Maths,” added Ayer.
“While designing the curriculum, we referred to major frameworks like the National Core Arts Standards of the US for art-based competencies and the Casel Framework for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies were referred to so that some of the best global practices could be included,” informs Ayer.
Priya Laxmi, mentor teacher, Directorate of Education (DoE), says, “This type of teaching would qualitatively enhance the teaching-learning outcomes in all the Delhi government schools. Shifting from the conventional mode of teaching and adopting innovative pedagogies is in the academic interest of students. Adopting unconventional teaching methods is also essential to avoid rote learning among students. Such art-integrated teaching would also motivate the students to actively pursue some sort of arts along with their academics.”
