We always seek the participation of children in some action.
This action can be an improvisation with or without speech, a dance existing or invented especially for the lesson, a construction, an artistic action of painting, sculpture with clay, a collage, an activity of making utensils which may be used in cooking etc.
In an astronomy class, for example, where we talk about the motion of the earth and other planets around the sun, art gives us many possibilities for action. In addition to learning waltzes and swirling like the celestial bodies, the teacher can organize a debate similar to the trial in which Galileo was drawn by the Sacred Examination (There is a painting by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury of the Italian School depicting the trial of Galileo in which he insisted on his famous claim about the earth “and yet it moves”).
This action is the key to:
- Make the lesson experiential,
- To maintain the teamwork
- To cultivate critical thinking,
- To open new horizons for children,
- To develop their imagination and sensitivity,
- To make them (through dialogue) express themselves freely,
- To form their opinion through critical thinking and be free to express it,
- To discuss about and “confront” the views of other students and thus develop their relationships and sociability.
