Aurora School - Gerbera 2023 by auroraschoolvn

Materials in Dialogue

Every material has its own qualities and personality and over time the material becomes a part of your language. ‘Materials in Dialogue’ led you on a magical journey of becoming active participants in your learning, as you constructed your own knowledge when interacting with materials, the environment and each other. Throughout the year, as we explored and researched our chosen materials and their properties, it was very obvious to see your creativity evolve, along with your ability to think critically about the world around you.

What range of possible transformations could these materials undergo?

To fully engage with and explore the materials, a deeper understanding and dialogue occurred as you built on previous experiences and knowledge. You became artists, scientists and researchers. What follows is a wonderful dialogue between the materials as you met, discovered and ultimately transformed them.

Ms. Penny (Pedagogista)

“It is though others that we develop into ourselves.”

Vygotsky

A different classroom.

Some old friends.

Some newfound.

Connections yet to be made.

The year began with all kinds of possibilities.

It has ended by exceeding my expectations and I am left feeling the utmost pride and love for Gerbera.

“Gerbera friends”, Makeup powder, sharpies on paper, Mhairi

Dearest friends,

Upstairs tucked away in a room that changed its shape many times, began a journey for you which we were fortunate to be a part of. A small class in size but not in spirit, we partook together on the most glorious explorations of art, play and self-discovery. Our modest size allowed for close connections and displays of unity were made visible through the intimate moments we shared as a family in Gerbera class.

Every one of you, unique in heart and temperament, brought something special to Gerbera. I have had the privilege of watching you bloom into happy, robust and free-spirited children. It has been an honor to learn alongside you and from the bottom of my heart I can say that I am so deeply proud. Our time together encapsulated the essence of what it means to be a part of a community where our environment served as our teacher and where we were at liberty to be ourselves around each other. What follows are some of our most beautiful times we had together in dialogue with your favourite materials and the ones you gravitated towards the most.

As the proverb says “In a friend you find your second self”, I believe that in Gerbera we all found parts of ourselves in each other. The cheerful memories we made, I hope, serve you in your lifetime, as you continue to navigate and make sense of the world around you. Thank you for being you. For having courage to try new experiences and not give up when things seemed frustrating or difficult. Thank you for the kindness and friendship you displayed with each other. And thank you for the wonderful fun that was had.

All my love, your teacher,

Ms Danielle

“If you give a child a box, who can tell what will happen next? It may become a library or a boat. It could set the scene for a fairy tale or a wild expedition. The most wonderful thing is its seemingly endless capacity for magical adventure, a feature imaginatively captured in cardboard art.”

Chris Sheban

Collaborative artwork (detail), Paint, sharpies and fibre pen on cardboard

One day Ms Hang brought you a surprise. A big, cardboard box!

‘What could we use it for?’, we wondered. You all immediately seemed to have the answers.

“Maybe a shop?” Mhairi

“How about a zoo?” Junie

“ A fire truck!” Liam

“ A bus!” Ziya

“ And a taxi” Kha Di

What was obvious, was that many of you loved enclosing yourselves in small, dark, comfortable places. One box soon turned into two and then three and then Kiwi brought in a giant refrigerator box. You were delighted.

Thus your relationship with cardboard deepened.

Not a single day went by where these boxes were not decorated, turned upside-down, or filled and played in. You took delight in making these the center of your play. Whether it was for hide-and-seek, playing “house” or using the boxes as beds to have nap-time in, cardboard played an integral role in your learning experience.

The refrigerator box was soon turned into a “cave” and claimed the corner of our classroom in full majesty. It has remained here the whole year, changing shape and colour.

You decorated it with paint and drawings. Windows were added. Signs were hung above its entrances.

New entrances were made and the “cave” served as a “house”, “castle”, “fire-station” or “jail”. It served as testimony to your imagination and love for cardboard.

We explored cardboard in other various forms. Together with Ms Claire you made numerous constructions. Food and animals seemed to be your favourite. You took delight in trying to understand this material as you cut, tore and peeled its layers away. As the year progressed you had become full-blown cardboard ecologists, creating three dimensional structures from boxes, using glue guns independently and working collaboratively to create our giant cardboard “house”.

“Flying squirrel”, Paper on cardboard, Ziya

“Cat”, Mimi

“Shark”, Kiwi

“Girl with ponytail”, Moon

“Landscape”, Kha Dii

“Dinosaur”, Dua Hau

“Mermaid”, Cathy

“Palace”, Junie

Throughout the year, cardboard and our numerous classroom boxes were a stable in Gerbera. Ice-cream stands, fire trucks, beauty salons and homes for your teddy bears. You gave new meaning to the phrase “think outside the box” and it pleased me to see how far we could go with this wonderful material together.

“Volcano”, Paper and pen on cardboard, Kii

“Elephant eating food”, Clay Kii

I noticed that when we painted many of you enjoyed using your hands (or sometimes your whole body). I wondered if this was because of the wet sensation of the paint? During outside play many of you gravitated towards the sandpit, adding water to make “mud”, which you would play with for hours. What many of you loved was a sensorial experience and there was no better way to attain this than with clay.

“Ship” Clay, wood and string, Dua Hau

Clay, wood and string, Artwork by Moon

We had our first interaction with clay though playdough, early on in the first term, but something told me we should take this further. You loved using your hands when creating. Clay served a medium through which your imaginations, as with cardboard, could run free.

“A Happy Birthday cake. These are candles”, Mimi.

“A cake flower and it’s very cute”, Cathy.

This was the first time you had used the material and I invited you to explore all the different ways we could roll, squish and build with it. It took you some time to get used to working with clay but once you got the idea, you were absorbed in the process. You learned that to easily shape or mold clay, your fingers should be a little bit wet, this was especially fun for you as you love playing with water.

“Train”, Twigs and clay, Kha Di

When you first began exploring this material it was in the form of “slip”, clay in liquid form. Together you lathered it onto canvas and made marks on the surface with wires. Some of you were uncertain about the experience. The clay stuck to your hands and was caught on your clothes and faces; many of you hung back, watching. You seemed unsure of this brown messy substance.

Christmas was approaching so Ms Claire encouraged you to mix your clay with spices and star anise. You rolled balls and coated them in yellow ginger and soft brown cinnamon. This experience reminded you of cooking: something you love to do. Wires were weaved into the results so that what you made could be hung.

Your relationship with clay was deepening, so much so, that soon you had the wonderful idea of what you wanted to create: cats!

“The

cat is in jail” - Kha Di, explaining that her cat ate the other cat’s food

“My cat has a long tail but it hates hunting”, Mhairi

You now knew how to roll round shapes for body parts and how to push them together and attach separate pieces. With small bowls of water you had learnt how to use the water as glue for your clay.

“Cat”, Ziya

The cats became elaborate, with large ears and wildly protruding whiskers. You created your own narrative to accompany the work you were creating.

“Cat Family”, Len

“Ooh Can I see? I’m making my mama”, Ziya

Your creations became more elaborate, more intentional, and we looked forward to your clay-creations and the stories you imagined that accompanied them.

“Drums. I play the drums at home”, Liam

“Helicopter”, Wing Wing

“Ship”, Len

As your relationship with clay continued, I noticed you began to explain your ideas and what you were doing with the materials. It was interesting to see your thought processes and the way you were able to share your knowledge and understanding with us while you played. Clay was a wonderful material through which your imagination ran free and took you to new places.

“Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.”

Kandinsky

Our exploration with colour was a consistent concept throughout the year, most noticeably when you engaged in imaginative play. Making potions; cooking; experimenting with bubbles... colour captivated your imagination. You loved seeing the various ways you could combine and create different hues, shades and pigments. Mixing colour with water and soap seemed to be one of your favourite explorations. We explored this together with a rather exciting bubble-making experiment, in which we asked you where colours came from and what would be the best ingredients we could make bubbles with.

“Colour comes from vegetables” - Kii

“Food colouring” - Junie

“A leaf” - Kha Di

While looking at colours found in nature, we invited you to extract, smash and transfer colour onto fabric.

“Look, Ms Dani, the colour come out”, noticed Len.

“Blue and red make purple! Wow! So beautiful!”, Dua Hau exclaimed.

“Màu tím”, said Sophia.

We took this further by extracting colour from chalk. Crushing the chalk and adding it to playdough... the results were delightful.

“It looks like rainbow sprinkles”, Ziya

Fabric with colour seemed to be a recurring interest for many of you. You had previously worked with fabric when you enjoyed making bags or dresses. You also loved wrapping large pieces of fabric around your bodies, enveloping yourselves and friends in it. We gave you the opportunity to dye your own fabric with colour.

We first did this with a tie-dye experiment. During the process, you greatly enjoyed twisting, rolling and folding the fabric. Another fun part was to drop the food colouring onto your fabric by the use of a pipette, observing how the water disappears, leaving beautiful stains behind.

“Colour stuck here”, said Wing Wing.

“I did it! Squeeze and open!”, cried Len excitedly.

“The colour is mixing”, Liam observed.

The ways in which colour transformed kept you intrigued and curious. Our time exploring colour resulted in numerous beautiful creations that we displayed in our classroom and in your art books. Whether in the form of paint, crayons, chalk or dyes, I loved exploring the wonderful world of colour with you.

“Children have the right to imagine. We need to give them full rights of citizenship in life and in society. It’s necessary that we believe that the child is very intelligent, that the child is strong and beautiful and has very ambitious desires and requests. This is the image of the child that we need to hold.”

Loris Malaguzzi

In Gerbera, your imagination had no limits. You all showed yourselves to be strong, resilient and beautiful learners. Your teachers equally learnt so much from you. The ways in which you overcame personal obstacles and the connections you forged during our time spent together serve as testament to the image of the child that we have tried to foster and protect. We shall cherish the beautiful memories and our time spent together.

Thank you, Gerbera friends.

Researchers

Kha Di

Mimi

Len

Mhairi

Dua Hau

Junie

Fumi

Kii

Sophia

Cathy

Ziya

Moon An

Moon

Liam

Wing Wing

Kiwi

Ms Danielle

Ms Hang

Ms Anna

Ms Annie

Ms Claire (Atelierista)

Ms Penny (Pedagogista)

“House”, Paper and cardboard, Fumi

AURORA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

11 - 11A - 13 - 15 Tran Ngoc Dien, Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. +84 (028) 3744 2991 info@auroraschool.vn www.auroraschool.vn Academic Year 2022/2023