Global Learning in Art Design
A Global Learning approach can help enhance the Art Design curriculum’s Purpose of Study, which is to ‘engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design’. It can help pupils to ‘think critically’ and better understand ‘how art and design both reflect and shape our history’ (National Curriculum in England: Art and Design Programmes of Study, Department for Education, 2013). There are various activities that can bring a Global Learning focus to the Art Design curriculum. Pupils can analyse and compare art produced by artists from different countries and traditions, thinking about the different contexts and meanings of the work and the techniques used. Pupils could also explore artwork that addresses specific Global Learning themes and concepts, such as the Syria: Third Space resource produced by the British Council that presents artists’ responses to the Syrian conflict.
Sample Global Learning activities in Art Design are:
Key Stage 2
The Clothes Line (Adapted from the Oxfam Education resource)
● Activity:
Pupils learn about the textiles industry, Fairtrade and India through exploring the journey of cotton from the field to the shops. Pupils could then apply what they’ve learned through the creation of a class wall-hanging on Fairtrade cotton, using printmaking techniques, that highlights some of the issues they have explored.
● Links to the National Curriculum:
This activity helps pupils ‘to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design’.
● Global Learning themes, skills and values:
Sustainable development, globalisation and interdependence, business and technology, rights, actions of citizens, critical thinking, multiple perspectives, challenging perceptions, enquiry and discussion, fairness, agency, respect, social justice.
Key Stage 3
Art Footprints (adapted from activity in The Arts: the Global Dimension Key Stages 3 & 4, DEA, 2006: 24)
● Activity:
Pupils research the ‘footprint’ of arts materials, including wood, paper, canvas, clay, etc. They can look at where paints and dyes come from, how they are made and traded, who makes them and what conditions they work in. Pupils could then create collages in groups, using a range of materials that they have researched, to present and explore the various ‘journeys’ these materials make.
● Links to the National Curriculum:
This activity encourages pupils to ‘develop their creativity and ideas’ and ‘increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials’.
● Global Learning themes, skills and values:
Sustainable development, globalisation and interdependence, business and technology, fairness, social justice.
Thank you to Think Global (formerly DEA).
Further resources
See the National Society for Education in Art Design (NSEAD) website for some Art & Design resources that address Global Learning themes at Key Stages 2 and 3.
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