Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 5

2018
WELLINGTON INSIGHTS
EARLY YEARS
A DISCUSSION ABOUT ART
IN EARLY YEARS
Erica Ni, Chinese Teacher, Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai
As you walk through Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai, you can see pupil’s artwork displayed everywhere, from EY1’s scribble
animals, EY2’s facilities around cities, to EY3’s giant Space projects. ‘Art is traditionally valued as an essential part of an early childhood
curriculum and it is important in the development of the whole child.’ (Fox, J. E., & Berry, S., 2008)
‘The Reggio Emilia approach regards art such as painting, sculpture and drama as a special language for children to express their ideas and points
out that concentrating too much on children’s verbal and literary skills might decrease children’s skilled use of their non-verbal language.’
(Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L., 2017)
‘The child’s capacity to communicate through gestures, glances, emotion, dance, music, sculpture, painting, storytelling, scribed stories and many
more is therefore greatly valued, and teachers strive to develop these in the child.’ (Valentine, Marianne, 2006)
Art and children’s development
THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE
OF EDUCATION IN CHINA
By Dr Ahmed Hussain, Director of Schools, Wellington College China
Education in China is changing. • China has the greatest number of international or bilingual
schools in the world. The majority of these schools serve Chinese
nationals. Relevant international qualifications that provide access to
the strongest international universities
• Bilingualism
• An education rooted in the rich heritage and culture of
China, but promoting a global perspective
This data is further supported by the fact that China is the
seco nd largest investor in education and that households in
Beijing and Shanghai spend relatively more on education than
those in other cities across the globe. This trend is driven by
growing affluence, with an anticipated increase of 15% of families
accessing private school education by 2020.
This changing appetite for education is reflected in the increasing
numbers of Chinese nationals studying overseas, with a
conservative estimate that around 800,000 pupils are currently
doing so at higher education institutions or schools.
It is clear that parents hold changing expectations and are seeking
an alternative educational offer for their children. Parents desire:
• Holistic and child centred education that promotes a wider
context to learning
• An education that promotes resilience, independence,
social and emotional intelligence, critical thinking and
leadership along with high standards of academic outcomes
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Wellington College China is extremely proud of its international
schools in Tianjin and Shanghai. Indeed, they serve as the
foundation of Wellington College China and represent the
uniquely authentic and close partnership with Wellington College
in Berkshire, England.
We are passionately committed to shaping the landscape of the
private school education in China. In 2018, Wellington College
Bilingual Hangzhou and Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai will
provide an education to Chinese pupils rooted in the traditional
values and the progressive approach to learning synonymous with
Wellington College. An education that is directly aligned to the
changing needs of Chinese parents.
This issue of Wellington Today marks an important step in the
journey of the Wellington College China bilingual schools. A
journey that maintains our relentless drive to contribute to
shaping the exciting developments in education here in China.
‘Researchers have shown that involvement in art activities is beneficial
to children’s language acquisition, motor skills, cognitive development,
personal, social and emotional development.’ (Fox, J. E., & Berry, S., 2008)
Learning occurs when children are engaging in art activities; early
years’ practitioners observe and document observations on
children when they are doing art activities in order to understand
their ideas and to identify their progress. Viktor Lowenfeld, one
of the most influential art educators, identified that typically
speaking, children between 18 months to 3 years old present
at a ‘scribble stage’ of art development and usually draw things
in a playful way. Watching a blob of coloured paint as it goes in
a different direction and a freely moving arm are enjoyable to
them. Movements such as tearing paper, cutting with scissors
and modelling clay are good to promote fine motor skills in small
hands. Developed fine motor skill will contribute to children’s
mark-making and then writing skills later on. Children develop
their hand-eye coordination when they put several elements
together to form a complete object.
The sign of the beginning of the ‘pre-schematic’ stage is noted
when children make simple symbols such as circles, squares
or lines to represent objects around them. Children reach
this stage usually between 3 to 7 years old. They start to have
their favourite colours and tend to use them rather than the
accurate colours of objects. Children show their observation and
interpretation skills and imagination when they are making art.
Sometimes children draw details that they know exist but they
don’t see at that moment. For instance, you show a circle to them
and ask them if they would like to draw it. They might draw a
circle, and then add some lines or two circles afterwards and tell
you based on their life experience, interests or imagination that ‘I
am drawing a fish, these are eyes.’
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