This Handbook is a collection of the materials used in the Erasmus+ financed project Art of Learning for STEAM (AoL4STEAM) and aims to be a support for anyone wanting to implement the Art of Learning concept and methodology in school.

You can reach and download 3 types of content here: Learning sessions from Art of Learning (144 lessons organised in 24 cross-curricular themes. Each theme consists of 6 x 90 minutes sessions) Recruitment and Training materials for artists to work in Art of Learning Recruitment and Training materials for teachers and schools to work in Art of Learning

How to make use the materials in this Handbook?

The Handbook has been developed as part of a research-, school development and arts project based in Norway, UK and Hungary called Art of Learning for steAm (AOL4STEAM) 2021-2024, where we have investigated whether the implementation of a 48 week, art-based learning programme called the Art of Learning (AoL) might bring about an improvement in the Executive Functions (EF) of the children involved. AoL was tested in primary schools in the municipalities of Lillehammer, Øyer, Søndre Land, Tynset, Alvdal, Tolga in Norway, and in the regions of Budapest and Pecs in Hungary. The main purpose of the study has been to increase knowledge about improvement of EF in children and to consider if a curriculum using the arts as a method is beneficial for the development of EF as compared to standard teaching methodologies practised in primary schools in these regions and municipalities. The results can contribute to better understanding of EF’s development; it can help understand what happens when children work with the arts, and it can contribute to making space for more arts based learning in schools.

Read The Art of Learning Storybook

We strongly encourage you to learn more about the Art of Learning project in order to grasp more of the context from which this Handbook has been developed. In the storybook you find i.e.:

• Video clips and footage from Art of Learning activities in schools
• Teachers’, artists’, childrens’, parents’ and head teachers’ perspectives
• More on Executive functions of the brain and the reseach project
• How Art of Learning came to be
• The principles from which the Art of learning sessions has been developed

Be aware of this: We encourage you to use and develop the exercises and approaches you find in this Handbook, but we also need you to be aware of a few key points when doing so:

• We almost always change exercises as we are doing them, usually to suit what is actually going on in the room. That’s ok.
• The timing of exercises varies depending on the number of participants, the type of participant (e.g. teachers or learners) and what you want the exercise to achieve (e.g. warm-up or deep enquiry). The timings here are what we generally suggest but some exercises may take less or more time depending on the context.
• The reflection questions are starting points. We often asked many more questions than are suggested here or reflect in other ways and we may not have asked some of these questions at all. Use your instinct and consider the participants and the focus on the exercise to decide how best to reflect.
• The key point of all of the above is: Be Responsive to Your Audience! It is more important to listen and adjust to their needs and interests than to just ‘do your exercise’.

1. THE ART OF LEARNING SESSIONS

A wide selection of predetermined art activities integrating art, creativity and national curriculums

• Target group: 6-8 year olds (+ teachers and artists)
• Structure: 24 themes (cross-curricular): Each consisting of 6 sessions of 90 minutes duration.
• Languages: English, Hungarian, Norwegian
• National Curriculum: Integrated into the Hungarian (xxx) and Norwegian version (Kunnskapsløftet 2020)
• Click here to reach all session plans in English, Norwegian or Hungarian
• How to get access: Register your e-mailadress and receive an access code on your e-mail.

2. Recruitment and Training materials for artists

Here you find materials for recruiting and training artists to work in Art of Learning.

The aim of this module is to ensure artists ownership and high-quality delivery of the AoL-content (equals the AoL Handbook sessions) in classrooms.

1. Recruitment of artists: Based on recruitment of young artists that has no previous experience working collaboratively with teachers in a classroom.
2. Initial professional learning programme: Aims to give artists ownership of the AoL-approach, get deep insight into the AoL-methodology, the school context. Aims also to acknowledge the key strengths artists bring (skills, mind-set and signature pedagogics).
3. Quality assurance: The quality of the content’s delivery is key to get a successful Art of Learning experience. These materials are supporting conversations, reflections, and observations during the delivery of Art of Learning in schools.
4. Reflection programme: Aims to provide reflections and evaluating the implementations to provide wider learning.

You can download all content connected to the Artist training module via this link:
https://artoflearning.ktoa.hu/handbook/?io1-artists-module

3. Recruitment and Training materials for teachers and schools

Here you find materials for collaborating with school owners, schools, teachers and school leaders.

School involvement and collaboration is fundamental for the quality of the Art of Learning. The materials in this module aims to ensure that schools and teachers are ready to implement the AoL sessions in their classrooms. While the sessions will be led by an artist in the beginning, the teachers will work shoulder by shoulder with the artists in the classroom and need to fully understand and believe in the approach and methods, and they also need to trust the process.

1. Recruitment of schools
2. Initial professional development training: Teacher training will enable the school owners, schools, school leaders and teachers to engage properly and later take ownership and use the content in their everyday teaching.
3. Quality assurance: The quality of the content’s delivery is key to get a successful Art of Learning experience. These materials are supporting conversations, reflections, and observations during the delivery of Art of Learning in schools.
4. Reflection: Aims to provide reflections and evaluating the implementations to provide wider learning.

You can download all content connected to the Teacher training modul via this link:
https://artoflearning.ktoa.hu/handbook/?io2-teachers-module

IO1 Training of Artists module

IO2 Training of Teachers module

IO3 Art of Learning Handbook sessions

This Handbook is a collection of the materials used in the Erasmus+ financed project Art of Learning for STEAM (AoL4STEAM), and aims to be a support for others wanting to implement the AoL consept and methodology in school. The Handbook materials are all developed and tested during the AoL4STEAM. It has been of vital importance to make sure the teacher and artist training and the AoL sessions are working as intended and thus obvservation and revision are key. The activities has been reviewed and updated after testing and observation, and the updated version is what is presented in this Art of Learning Handbook.

This introduction will give an overview of the context and the way in which this Handbook is ment to be used, as well as an overview of the actual materials and resources contained in this Handbook.

About the exercises presented in this handbook:

We encourage you to use and develop the exercises and approaches you find in this Handbook, but we also need you to be aware of a few key points when doing so:

•         We almost always change exercises as we are doing them, usually to suit what is actually going on in the room. That's ok.

•         The timing of exercises varies depending on the number of participants, the type of participant (e.g. teachers or learners) and what you want the exercise to achieve (e.g. warm-up or deep enquiry). The timings here are what we generally suggest but some exercises may take less or more time depending on the context.

•         The reflection questions are starting points. We often asked many more questions than are suggested here or reflect in other ways and we may not have asked some of these questions at all. Use your instinct and consider the participants and the focus on the exercise to decide how best to reflect.

•         The key point of all of the above is: Be Responsive to Your Audience! It is more important to listen and adjust to their needs and interests than to just 'do your exercise'.

Intellectual output 1: Training of Artist module

The first part of this Handbook is the Training of Artists manual with artists as its target group.

This module is developed to give artists ownership of the AoL approach. They will get deep insight into the AoL methodology, the school context and aims to acknowledge the key strengths artists bring (skills, mind-set and signature pedagogics).

The training is based on recruitment of young artists that has no previous experience working collaboratively with teachers in a classroom, and the training supports the need of substantial training and support, to ensure ownership and high-quality delivery of the AoL-content (equals the AoL Handbook sessions) in classrooms.

The key element of innovation is closely linked with the quality of the content. By creating teaching methods for artists in schools, we demonstrate that artists, creativity and culture have a natural place in classrooms.

The training manual is mainly presented in English, for accessability for a larger European audience, with some adaptations made for this particular project, namely 13 artists from Norway and Hungary respectively.

Intellectual output 2: Training of Teachers module

Collaborating with school owners, schools, teachers and school leaders is fundamental for the quality of the Art of Learning. School involvement and teacher training will enable the school owners, schools, school leaders and teachers to engage properly and later take ownership and use the content in their everyday teaching.

By providing a high-quality teacher training module, we believe teachers can find new and innovative ways to teach arts and creativity, enablinh children to develop better EFs. A professional teacher training module as part of the Handbook is also essential to ensure ownership, engagement and quality.

The training materials are key to ensure that schools and teachers are ready to implement the AoL sessions in their classrooms. WHile the sessions will be led by an artist in the beginning, the teachers will work shoulder by shoulder with the artists in the classroom and need to fully understand and believe in the approach and methods, and that they trust the process.

The training manual is mainly presented in English, for accessability for a larger European audience, with some adaptations made for this particular project, namely 47 teachers from Norway and Hungary respectively.

Intellectual output 3: The Art of Learning sessions

-          A wide selection of predetermined art activities integrating art, creativity and National curriculums

The development and testing of the AoL-sessions is the core of AoL4STEAM. The target group for the AoL sessions are artists, teachers and students between the age of 6 – 8 years old.

The development team has developed and tested 144 sessions, each with a duration of 90 minutes. This is an extremely complex task, which requires world class insight and experiences from Arts in Education. The managers bring years of experience, theoretical insight, practical teaching work and project know-how together in this partnership to develop state of the art learning materials.

An additional XX (number of) sessions has also been developed, fit to potential Covid-19-restrictions in schools and in the event of home school. These sessions is also part of the Handbook, but has not been tested, as the schools were never closed during our AOL4STEAM implementation period.

The sessions has been built thematically, as 24 different themes. Each theme has been contextualized to both Hungarian and Norwegian school contexts, translated into both English, Hungarian and Norwegian, and linked directly to respectively Hungarian and Norwegian curriculum.

The development team has been supported by a reference group with representatives from both school, arts and psychology. The development team has also been monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the AoL sessions, to inform and update the Handbook.

The sessions are all available online in both Hungarian, English and Norwegian, as the core output of the AoL4STEAM, and is made available for school owners, school authorities and teachers. However, we are hesitant to advise others to implement the full project without consultation, to ensure integrity of the methods and approach. The Handbook access will therefor require an extra step in terms of registration to make sure new users fully understand the Handbook and its format.

List of Art of Learning 2021-23 Themes

	English title	Hungarian title		Norwegian title
1	From I to us	Az én-tõl a mi-ig		Fra meg til oss
2	In our homes	A mi otthonunk		Hjemme hos oss
3	Friendship	A barátság		Vennskap
4	The Golden Chest 1	A szavak kincsesládája I.		Ordkista, del 1
5	The Golden Chest 2	A szavak kincsesládája II.		Ordkista, del 2
6	Free choice	Szabadon választott		Visning – fritt valg!
7	In your shoes	A te helyedben		I dine sko
8	The Mystery Box	A költözõ doboz rejtélye		Flytteeske-mysteriet
9	Kingdom of Colour	A színek		Fargeriket
10	Shape Explorers	Alakzatok		Form-fangerne
11	First Day	Az elsõ nap		Oppdrag skolestart
12	Free choice	Szabadon választott		Visning – fritt valg!
13	Our friends in other countries	Barátaink más országokban		Brevvenn
14	The Lonely Creature	A magányos sárkány		Det ensommme trollet
15	Virus 1	A vírusok		Virus
16	Virus 2	A vírus elõadás		Virus-visning
17	Pizza	Pizza		Pizza
18	Free choice	Szabadon választott		Visning – fritt valg!
19	Solar System	Naprendszer		Solsystemet
20	Habitat	Lakhatás		Habitat
21	Maps	Térképek		Kart
22	Energy Poetry	Energiköltészet		Energi-poesi
23	Energy Inventions	Energiatalálmány		Energi-oppfinnelse
24	Free choice!	Szabadon választott		Visning – fritt valg!