In the classroom children’s eyes light up when art attacks

Policymakers may be obsessed with boosting children's literacy and numeracy, but school principal Mark Candon sees children's eyes really light up when they get stuck into art.

“It’s actually a superb way to teach them,” says principal of St Laurence O’Toole’s, a boys’ primary school based in Dublin’s northeast inner city.

“Why just read a book when you can act it out? Why not paint the pictures that you visualise in your head? These kinds of sensory experiences are crucial for children.”

Teachers, he says, are at their most creative when they are using art and drama to teach literacy and numeracy.

It’s why children at St Laurence O’Toole’s are plunged into the world of art from an early age and get to see great pieces of art , listen to classical music or – as they did last year – make a zombie video at Halloween.

“You should have seen how they responded to the idea,” he says. “They made up a story about zombies attacking the school; they story-boarded it, acted it, filmed it. They loved it. And it was a brilliant piece of cross-curricular work.”

In the process, he says, they picked up writing, oral and story-telling skills in a compelling and exciting way.

Candon firmly believes helping children to express themselves has benefits that go far and beyond the classroom.

He’s not in the least surprised at findings of a new study which show that Irish children who participate in artistic and cultural activities cope better with schoolwork .

Academic skills

The study, by the ESRI and the Arts Council, also found that children who frequently read and attended classes in music, dance or drama tended to be happier, have reduced anxiety, better academic skills and fewer socio-emotional difficulties.

“It helps develop their brains and makes them better students,” he says. “I think we knew all this stuff instinctively – now it’s just being backed up by research.”

One approach, he says, involves challenging children to turn their experiences into art.

“We’ll ask to listen to a piece of music, let it go through their head,” he says. “Then, take a pencil, draw it. We’re asking them to take control of their emotions, organise it mentally and deliver it onto a piece of paper.”

In a school day where there are five hours and 40 minutes to teach an overloaded curriculum, there is a danger that art can fall by the wayside.

But Candon says that’s why using art to teach other parts of the curriculum works like a dream.

“I think we should keep young kids away from TV and computers for as long as you can . . . if children get a chance to fully express themselves, it benefits them for life,” he says.

"It's what Harry Brighouse wrote about all those years ago in On Education – it's about human flourishing, For kids, the better you understand other parts of life, the more rounded a person you are. It's what we see everyday."