Learning Through Art

Innovation gives a new taste to students so that they can learn better and enjoy learning more. A small private school in Isfahan, Iran, uses illustration and painting to make learning enjoyable and memorable. In addition to compulsory courses, the school offers extra hours for mingling painting and language learning. The unique feature in this method is that children themselves are the creators of the paintings and drawings, which aim at fixing the lessons in the minds of children by targeting the long-term memory. Younger students who learn to read and write start by drawing the written word to illustrate its meaning. For instance, they draw a fish tank, using the alphabet letters in the word ‘fish’. Older students use the text of old Persian poems as well as illustration of meanings to draw pictures, and they easily memorize the poems in this manner. In fact, they illustrate their books again and each student has a completely new book after a year. Students who used this learning method could memorize every detail of textbooks even after years. The point is that they have learned with an indirect instruction and student-centered method.