For two days the
children of 6th grade of the DePaul International School had the
privilege of learning without reading or writing. They were at the Regional
Museum of Natural History trying to fold papers with their nimble fingers to
find out patterns in them. First they experimented with newspaper, tore them
into bits, squeezed, squashed and rolled them to a ball and felt the properties
of paper.
S J Srinivasa who had designed this workshop
introduced the origin of paper and the art the art of folding it into models by
the people of the Oriental region. His conception of this trial to ‘perk up
learning process’ as he calls it would enhance the art of learning,
experiencing and exhibiting.
The objective of
this Workshop for Children is to reach the young minds to the optimum, through ‘Teach
less- Learn more’ activities following the prescribed school syllabus. This
ancient, Japanese art of folding paper is not only an art form to entertain
people but a time tested, tool of learning and to constitute logical thinking
in the pupil. He undergoes schematic learning through repeated actions. To be
successful, the student must watch closely and listen carefully to specific
instructions and then carry them out with neatness and accuracy.
The workshop had
a long session that took the children round the gallery and Mrs. Mujeeba
Khanoom gave them an in-depth insight into the plant and animal world. While
Mr. Manu gave additional inputs on the morphological make of the animals that
the children made, Mr. Murali, the head Master of the Beerihundi High School
taught the students how to fold papers.
Mr. Murali feels
that this is a case where a student's success is imposed by the activity rather
than the teacher. It is low a cost learning module developed by experts which
helps to explore new possibilities of learning & understanding. It comes
handy in the field of non formal education. The Educational Benefits of Origami
are tones, especially when you handle children of heterogeneous group with
various levels of learning disabilities.
On the second
day, Mr. Srinivasa taught the children, some paper craft and mask making, an
art never thought of by the participants. They enjoyed the experience of
wielding scissors across color papers at free will but felt they needed a lot
of experience to imagine and cut out shapes with bilateral symmetry that were
so simple but gave such artistic profiles.
Ms. Mamatha, who
accompanied the students, felt “like singing, games, and dancing, the pleasure
comes in recreating the result and sharing it with others. For many students,
it engenders patience, the ability to focus energy, and increased self-esteem.”
She like their principal was astonished to see so many pieces of art emerging
out of the two days workshop. The kids had fun, experienced a whiff of freedom
from the four walls, the learnt a lot of new things pertaining to taxidermy and
evolution. The exhibits will be on display for about a fortnight in the
Temporary exhibits Gallery of the Museum. The other children of the school are
sent to visit the museum in a beeline. What else would a museum wish for?
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