Educational Leadership

The visit taught students the proper
etiquette for visiting such a place and
gave them experience in trying to com-
prehend other people’s situations. It
helped them think more about their
own grandparents and value their time
with family. One student said, “Now
I want to make grass flutes with my
grandma in her front yard.”
These lessons came at a key time in
the children’s cognitive development in
terms of helping them understand their
place in the community. According to
Piaget, at age 7, children move from
the preoperational period—in which
they view the world from a self-focused
point of view—to the concrete opera-
tional stage—in which they can take the
perspective of others and understand
their thoughts and ideas. Activities like
those Mrs. Jeon orchestrated are ideal
for helping children learn empathy and
develop a sense of caring for others
(Macken, 2003).

Bringing in Visual Art
and the Environment

As an educator and visual artist, I decided that an art activity connected to the Sungsim House visit would be a good way to extend the students’ learning, and Mrs. Jeon agreed.

The students and I discussed what colors they could see in their town. We contrasted these with the colors they imagined were in Songjeondong 70 years ago, when the seniors at Sungsim House were young, looking at old photos and magazines and thinking about the elders’ stories as a reference. Earth tones—such as white, green, brown, and grey from cotton fabrics, rice fields, and stone walls—were prevalent in the town decades ago, whereas currently one sees more artificial tones— bright, metallic, or transparent colors created by fluorescent signs, modern building structures, and glass walls.

I had students identify something each of them found especially interesting about the women’s recounting of how they played in nature. Each student then created a book of several collages that used both the “old” and modern colors in the town. The children were excited

to try collage methods, which they had never used before.

They created several interesting images. For example, Eunjoo created an image of a child finding shells on top of a rock and playing with seaweed, Minyoung depicted girls playing a traditional Korean game with pebbles, Jeongyoon crafted a scene of students playing straw jump rope, while Eunhye showed a child hiding in the hole of a tree. Through this process, the students were able to put themselves in the shoes of people from previous generations. This fostered their imagination and creativity and led them to make connections with people who initially had seemed very different from them. “It’s strange to think that the old grandmas were once kids, too,” several students said.

The students found the process of making collage books intriguing. They used recycled and discarded materials: scraps of old socks and yarns, empty cookie boxes for collage-book covers, and old magazines for color panels. I asked them to think about why it was good to use discarded materials. Using evidence from news articles, picture books, and their parents’ stories, I guided students in thinking about how the environment had changed in the past 50 years.

Imagining the Future
As they engaged in these activities,
many of the 2nd graders spoke of a
newfound motivation to address the
loneliness of seniors in the community. Students seemed particularly touched by the answer many Sungsim House residents gave to the question of what hey desired: “I want to see my children and grandchildren, who are living some- where else.” Many students also began to speak more about their future goals and commitments, perhaps because the seniors reiterated the importance of studying hard and leading a meaningful ife as a citizen. The students decided they wanted to portray an image of “the future me” on the cover of their collage books. Their
various images included a baseball
coach, a scientist, and a figure resem-
bling King Sejong from Korea’s Lee
Dynasty. Each student wrote a brief
description of how he or she intends
to contribute to the community—for
example, one student wrote, “I want to
be a doctor. I will invent needles that
don’t hurt.”
These engaging activities not only
connected different disciplines, but also
helped students get a sense of the
importance of citizenship, equal
treatment, and providing for the needs
of vulnerable members of society—key
concepts of social studies. They brought
together different learning points and
proved to be important tools in the
interdisciplinary teaching process. By
creatively using interdisciplinary
methods, elementary school teachers
will be able to convey to students the
importance and meaning of subjects not
covered on standardized tests. EL

References

Gregg, M., & Leinhardt, G. (1994). Mapping out geography: An example of epistemology and education. Review of Educational Research, 64( 4), 311–361.

Macken, C. T. (2003). What in the world do second graders know about geography? Using picture books to teach geography. The Social Studies, 94( 2), 63–80.

Young Imm Kang Song is assistant professor in the Creative Arts in Learning Division, Graduate School of Education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; ysong@lesley.edu.