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COUNTING ON ART OF LEARNING
16:00 - 05 May 2005
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A Radical American-style scheme to improve learning is to be introduced in Aberdeen.
It will involve artists and dancers helping to teach subjects like maths and English.
The move is part of an arts project with its roots in Chicago.
The city council is just one of seven Scottish local authorities chosen to take part in Arts Across the Curriculum.
Artists
and teachers will combine their skills in an attempt to inspire
learning among pupils at Kincorth Academy and nearby primary schools.
It
is hoped the project will bring about similar results to those in
Chicago's inner-city schools, where the idea was first tried out.
Benefits in the American city included increased attendance, improved motivation and better test results.
The project was also said to make learning and teaching more rounded and creative.
A
short-term pilot was carried out in South Lanarkshire in 1999-2000, and
evidence suggested more pupils borrowed books from the library as a
result.
In Aberdeen, the three-year project includes two years in the classroom, starting from this August.
Four artists or musicians are expected to take turns spending several months working in Kincorth.
Annette
Murray, arts education co-ordinator for the council, said the scheme
could help with the understanding of other subjects in a number of ways.
A
musician could help pupils by comparing the rhythm of a melody with the
rhythm of a piece of prose. A greater knowledge of music could also
help an understanding of percentages and fractions. A dancer could help
an understanding of geometry by encouraging a group of pupils to make
shapes with their bodies.
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