Modern Methods of Teaching Arts & Crafts

The role of arts education in forming the competencies for young people for life in the 21st century has been widely recognized throughout the world. Arts education develops creativity in students. A strong arts education promotes the skills children need to be successful. Exposure to art education promotes self-directed learning, improves school attendance, and sharpens critical and creative skills. Arts education is one of the most important areas of child development. The objectives of art and crafts education can only be achieved if the teacher delivered the lessons in an effective manner. Keeping in view the importance of arts and crafts education this essay discusses the modern teaching methods of arts and crafts. These methods consist of instruction. Inquiries, demonstration, free expression, creative expression, and fixed topic method of teaching:

1: Instruction Method

Instructions mean to guide or advise someone in order to achieve the learning outcomes, it also means to provide information for the systematic learning procedure. The instruction method of teaching has great importance in the teaching of arts and crafts. It is suitable at all levels of education to teach arts and crafts to students. The teacher provides instructions about the activities of arts and crafts to the students and the students follow that instruction for performing of activities. There are various types of instructions that can be used for arts and crafts lessons, some of them are discussed below. The students need to focus on these types and think that how these types can be used for different types of arts and crafts activities.

Direction Instruction 

Direct instruction is used to describe a lesson where the teacher has control over the method of teaching. Unfortunately, teachers and student teachers and students often mistake direct instruction for the only way to teach. Direct instruction is an instructional method from the Transmission paradigm and is based on the learning theories of behaviorism and developmentalism. 

In a direct instruction method, the teacher usually spends some time lecturing; then the teacher guides the students through a complex problem, with the problem broken down into simple steps; then the students are given, one by one, the simple steps to carry out on their own; finally, the students are given one or many sample problems to accomplish on their own.

There are variations of direct instruction. A teacher might present a videotape of making any art and crafts, and the students are to watch the video. The teacher breaks this complex problem (interpreting the video) into simple steps by giving the students questions to answer during the tape. The teacher might guide the students through reading in the same manner with questions to guide them. In each case, the timing of the lesson and the knowledge the student will construct are very much under the teacher's control.

Advantages of the Instruction method

1. It provides correct guidance to the students as the guidance is coming from the teacher. 

2. The chances of errors on the part of students become minimized. 

3. Students' interest increase as the teacher’s directions are valuable for students. 

4. Students get more knowledge from the teacher's instructions

Disadvantages of instruction method

1. The students’ role is passive

2. Students usually hesitate to ask questions from the teacher as the teacher's role is dominant. 

3. Analytical skill of the students effects as they are receiving instructions from the teacher. 

4. The teaching process goes according to the teacher’s directions so the teacher’s workload increase

2: Inquiries Method

This is a scientific method of teaching. In this method, the teacher stimulates the minds of the students toward learning through inquiry and investigation. The students think, search and perform in a systematic and scientific way. That "inquiry is the way people learn when they're left alone." To Suchman, inquiry is a natural way that human beings learn about their environment. Think for a moment about a very young child left in a play yard with objects free to explore. The child, without any coaxing, will begin to explore the objects by throwing, touching, pulling, banging them, and trying to take them apart. The child learns about the objects, and how they interact by exploring them, by developing his or her own ideas about them---in short learning about them by inquiry. Many authors have discussed the nature of inquiry and have used words such as inductive thinking, creative thinking, discovery learning, the scientific method, and the like.

Advantages of Inquiry Method

1. It is a scientific way of teaching 

2. Enhances students learning and scientific attitude. 

3. Suitable to all levels of learners. 

4. Give new directions to the thinking of students

5. Broaden the mental horizon of the students. 

6. Most suitable to arts and crafts subject as it is a practical way of learning. 

7. It motivates the students. 

8. It is suitable for students of multicultural classes of different backgrounds. 

9. It is self-pacing learning for students. 

10. It is the best way of developing creative thinking in students

Disadvantages of the Inquiry method

1. It is time-consuming. 

2. It is a cost-effective method of teaching. 

3. Sometimes the students feel bored if the topic is not of their interest. 

4. The teacher is passive in this method of teaching

3: Free Expression Method

This method suggests that the work of the children is spontaneous, and natural and originates with them from divergent thinking processes. So the children should be given the free chance of expressing their ideas either in form of drawing, crafts, or arts. For example, the teacher tells to the students that draw whatever comes in their mind about their class or teacher etc. The students will express their ideas or image which is in their minds. This method helps the students to express their selves, and this also strengthens their mental process and creative abilities.

This method is not teacher dominated; it is concerned with the pupil’s genius ideas and personal mode of expression. Advocates of this method say that growth and development are the chief virtues of this method because, with growth and development new ideas and points of view are occurring in the minds of the individuals, This method has very few limitations. The advocates of this method say that “let the child express him”. “Do not restrain him”, “do not interfere, allow maximum latitude”. These and similar phrases are the stock in trade of the followers of this approach to teaching.

Advantages of the free expression method 

1. It develops confidence in students to the expression of their points of view. 

2. It provides a chance for the students to express their ideas in form of arts and crafts. 

3. It develops creativity in the students. 4. It motivates the students as they are expressing their selves through this method. 5. It is the most suitable method of teaching at the primary level as it develops the creative minds of students. 

Disadvantages of the free expression method 

1. Sometimes teacher interference affects the motivation level of the students. 

2. Teacher’s guidance is all the time with the students in this method so we cannot say that it’s a free expression method completely.

3. There are chances that the students misuse this method and do not express themselves creatively. 4. It is difficult for teachers to manage the whole class working on different ideas of their own. 

5. It is a time-consuming method of teaching and not suitable for all the topics

4: Demonstration Method

The demonstration method is a popular teaching approach in the art and craft subject that involves showing students how to create a specific artwork or craft item step-by-step. Here is an overview of how this method works:

1. Preparation: The teacher prepares the necessary materials and tools needed for the art or craft project. They may also create a sample artwork or craft item to use as a visual aid during the demonstration.

2. Introduction: The teacher introduces the art or craft project to the students, explaining the objectives of the project, the materials needed, and the skills they will learn.

3. Demonstration: The teacher demonstrates how to create the artwork or craft item, following a step-by-step process that the students can easily follow. They explain each step in detail and provide tips and techniques that will help the students achieve success.

4. Hands-on practice: After the demonstration, students are given the opportunity to practice the steps themselves while the teacher provides guidance and support. This allows students to get hands-on experience with the materials and techniques they just learned.

5. Assessment: The teacher assesses the students' progress and provides feedback on their work. They may also encourage students to share their work with the class to celebrate their achievements.

The demonstration method is effective for teaching art and craft because it provides a clear visual representation of the steps involved in creating an artwork or craft item. It also allows students to learn at their own pace and get hands-on experience, which can help them retain the information better. Additionally, this method allows for immediate feedback and correction, which can help students improve their skills more quickly.

Advantages of the Demonstration method 

1. It is the modern method of teaching 

2. More suitable for arts and crafts subjects. 

3. It is applicable to both higher and lower levels of education. 

4. It gains the attention of the students. 

5. It motivates the students towards learning. 

6. Students actively participate in the teaching-learning process

Disadvantages of the demonstration method 

1. It is an expensive method of teaching. 

2. It requires expert teachers otherwise the students will get bored if it is not properly administered by the teacher. 

3. If the object is not visible to the whole class then those students who are sitting in the back seats will lose their attention in the class.

5: Creative expression Method

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art, a novel, a joke, etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the change occurs. What counts as "valuable" is similarly defined in a variety of ways. Similarly, the creative method of teaching is that method in which the teacher gives the task to the students by showing or demonstrating some objects or things and tells the students that design or make it according to their own thinking with some different creative addition in it.

Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking. Psychological studies of highly creative people have shown that many have a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance, which seem to be perceived as challenges. Such individuals may possess an exceptionally deep, broad, and flexible awareness of themselves. Studies also show that intelligence has little correlation with creativity; thus, a highly intelligent person may not be very creative.

For example when the teacher tells to students draw a tree. Each student will draw it according to his own mind. This shows the creativity of the students. This is an interesting exercise in late fall and early winter when the trees are stripped of their leaves so you can see the branches clearly. In other cases, the teacher can also bring the tree into the class and tell the students that they draw a tree with some innovations. The students will see the tree and will do brainstorming for an innovative tree, some of them might draw the tree of the spring season, some of them will draw autumn trees and some of them can draw trees filled with snow etc. This method enhances the creativity of the students, especially in the field of arts and crafts.

Advantages of the creative expression method

1. It helps to develop the creative ability of the students. 

2. It is an interesting way of teaching students 

3. It brings innovative ideas to children's minds.

4. T motivates the students for more learning

Disadvantages of the creative expression method

1. It is a cost-effective method. 

2. The teacher comes under the burden of workload. 

3. It is a time-consuming method of teaching. 

4. It requires a skilled full teacher to handle the students in the class

6. Fixed topic method

A fixed topic method is a new method of teaching arts and crafts. This is the most suitable method of teaching arts, crafts, and calligraphy to students. In this method, the students are given a specific topic and then they write on that topic. 

This method has different steps which are discussed below:

Selection of topic 

In the fixed topic method the selection of a topic is the most essential phase. The topic can be selected either by a teacher or with the mutual consent of the students also. At a higher level, the students are consulted by the teacher for the selection of the topic, and the teacher considers the interest of the students. While at the lower level mostly the teacher himself chooses the topic for teaching. In arts and crafts teaching the students are given some fixed activity and they are bound to follow that.

Discussion on the topic 

After the selection of the topic, the teacher allows the students to ask questions. The students clear their concepts about the topic. They share their ideas with each other. Discussion broadens their knowledge about the topic and gives new directions to their thinking.

Performing the activity 

After discussion, the students are able to perform the activity assigned by the teacher on the fixed topic. This is the practical stage of the fixed-topic method of teaching. Here the students make a piece of arts and crafts which is fixed by the teacher in class. In this method, the students do not have any freedom to perform arts or crafts on their own rather they are bound to follow the teacher.

Advantages of fixed topic method

1. This method avoids errors on the part of the students as the topic is selected by the teacher therefore the chances of errors are minimized. 

2. The students are not under a burden. 

3. The discussion on the topic provides clarity of the concepts

Disadvantages of the method

1. It deprives the students of their freedom of choice. 

2. It restricts the students’ knowledge to a specific topic. 

3. It is not suitable for the teaching of all subjects. 

4. It put a ban on the creativity of the students by restricting their minds to a particular area

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