Teaching a Diverse Primary Art Curriculum: A practical guide to help teachers

By Author / Illustrator

Kaytie Holdstock

Genre

Non Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Bloomsbury Education

ISBN

9781801993531

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

04-07-2024

Synopsis

The ultimate resource for developing a diverse, engaging primary art curriculum based on the work of artists from a range of backgrounds and cultures. Whether your class are drawing self-portraits or collaging with recycled materials, take inspiration from artists who challenge conventions and start conversations.

With lesson plans, project ideas and one-off activities, Teaching a Diverse Primary Art Curriculum is a practical guide full of inspiration to empower every teacher to have the confidence of a specialist. Photographed black-and-white examples of children's work, inspired by the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Victoria Villasana and Ai Weiwei, provide a comprehensive guide to primary art lessons that are in line with the National Curriculum and offer opportunities for cross-curricular links.

Each chapter focuses on a different art form, including drawing, painting, sculpting, printing, textiles, photography and collage, and contains child-friendly histories of the suggested artists without problematic stereotypes or generalisations about cultures.

Feel supported by this practical book to teach pupils about art from women, people of colour and people with disabilities - and let their creativity do the rest!

Reviews

Sue

Covering a wide range of techniques and art forms including drawing, painting, sculpting, printing, textiles, photography and collage, Teaching a Diverse Primary Art Curriculum really is, as it says, a practical guide, perfect for supporting teachers and art leads in developing their own practice as well as in extending a whole school curriculum for art.

The book looks at the work of over 20 diverse artists, each of whom offers an exciting starting point for developing creativity. A clear biography of each is provided along with links to other artists, suggestions about which images to use and where to find out more should you wish.

Lesson plans are pitched for KS1, LKS2 and UKS2, following the six steps of enquire, experience, experiment, evolve, enjoy and evaluate. No time frame is given for these, allowing the teacher plenty of flexibility to adapt and personalise them to the needs and interests of their children. The structure also offers a template and structure for schools to develop plans for additional artists.

Each section offers an introduction to the discipline and advice connected to purposefully developing this area in the curriculum. Additional ideas are included in Chapter 9: Inspiring children to understand the world of art and 'Final Thoughts' offers even more inspiration.

There is no doubting the passion and enthusiasm of the author for their subject and their desire to share this with teachers and those they teach is infectious, making this book a powerful tool for change and development. Some photos of examples of children's work are included. Whilst it is excellent to be able to see these, it would have been nice to have more and in colour rather than black and white. This, however, is a minor point which does not detract from the quality or support which this book offers.

176 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher