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With UNESCO, Lebanese teachers transform learners’ minds through the arts
Post date: 
2023/10/31

On the first day of June, 30 Lebanese teachers from different ASPnet schools make their way to the UNESCO Office in Beirut. On 1st and 2ndJune, they will not be teachers. They will rather become learners once again, honing their own skills to ensure more holistic education opportunities for their students. 

At 9 am, the workshop starts and instantly takes a fun turn. The facilitators, Lebanese artists, go around distributing art supplies ranging from coloring pens and drawing papers to old newspapers and theater props, which leads to looks of excitement and confusion on participants’ faces.

Transformative Education through the arts. That is the theme of this workshop that aims to equip teachers with necessary tools to harness the transformative power of the arts in their daily teaching practices across different subjects to help their learners reach their full potential and instill positive change.

There is an ongoing misconception about arts, which are often regarded as a secondary subject compared to sciences, physics and math. However, arts are a pillar of education. Culture and arts education are as important as science subjects, providing learners with a platform to express themselves and exposing them to new perspectives and new ways to see the world. They build learners’ personalities and create active citizens who contribute to building more peaceful, tolerant, sustainable and inclusive societies.  

Pencils sharpened, warmup exercises done, participants dive into work in three groups, each tackling an art form, namely, storytelling, cinema and theatre to acquire concrete and practical techniques to teach their respective subjects through the arts.

“This workshop was really dynamic, interactive, rich and fun, far from the traditional workshops and seminars we usually participate in. We and our students are exposed to arts in our daily life. It was so interesting to learn how to bring arts into the classroom,” says Rima Abou Shakra, a teacher at Niha Public School.

“What I liked the most about this workshop is that it is practical and provides us with tools that can be applied in class. I really appreciated the fact that the trainers linked the different artistic concepts with practical applications,” says Maya Achi, Arabic language teacher at Rafic Hariri High School, “Art is not a luxury. It is rather an essential need. We, humans, are a balance of thoughts and emotions, of the mind and soul. Education should address all these together.”

“When we were divided into groups, I chose comics. I panicked. I’m a science teacher. How do I use comics in science?” says Patricia Azar, a biology teacher at the International School – Al Koura, “then, during the workshop, I realized that everything I do in science is art: graphs, lab drawings. This workshop gave me fun and creative tools to use in class. A classroom should be a safe, creative and fun learning space, especially in sciences.”

“I’m a theater teacher, but I am also part of a youth-led NGO. I am currently working on a project on drug prevention through the arts for youth. Participating in this workshop gave me so many creative and artistic ideas on how to implement this project,” says Ali Omar Ali, an arts teacher at Lycée Dr. Hassan Saab.

“In Lebanon, more importance is given to sciences, math, physics than to the things we live for: arts, culture, love… There are so many ways to benefit from the arts in science subjects as well as in humanities,” adds Roy Assaad, an Arabic and social studies teacher at Mekhitarist Fathers’ School – Rawda.

Unfortunately, even though more and more attention is being paid to creativity, the use of the arts is still not as widely spread as it should be. For this reason, the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for Arab States in Beirut and the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO organized this workshop inviting teachers from various backgrounds – artistic and non-artistic.

We want to make sure that, even if learners cannot attend arts classes, they can benefit from the power of the arts in other subjects, such as science, geography, math, etc. Indeed, the arts are an extremely powerful tool to discuss about difficult topics, stimulate critical thinking, and shaping global citizens who care for humanity and for the planet.

Ms. Costanza FarinaDirector of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for Arab States

 

We are in the middle of a race between two adversary teams: the first one being education, culture and arts; the second, challenges and disasters. We are working to ensure that the first team wins.

Ms. Hiba NashabeSecretary-General of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO

 

URL: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-lebanese-teachers-transform-learners-minds-through-arts

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