Ecolmaginario

“The art classes have allowed me to see other ways of existing on the planet – like the art teacher says – that are faithful to principles that enable me to establish relationships of respect and harmony with all the beings that surround me.” 

Laura Restrepo  laurilla

This initiative was selected because it showcases how educational activities of an interdisciplinary nature–in this case, tying art in with ecology and the media–can generate new learning and foster in children, young people, and young adults an awareness of their bodies and environments and can also influence their ability to gain self-awareness of their particular realities.

Promoting an educational experience geared toward reasserting the place of human beings as part of the universe, taking advantage of new technologies and the media, offers the possibility of building their capacities to learn from and assimilate their environment.

Through this, the initiative fosters responsibility and the capacity for change in children, young people, and young adults.

This experience also reflects the leading role played by teachers in the creation of experiences with a significant impact throughout the school system.

GOALS SOUGHT

By promoting the pursuit of artistic practices and the use of new technologies and the media, this initiative seeks to foster attitudes of leadership and empowerment among young people and instill new knowledge under the codes of artistic and ecological language.

This goal is in line with the principles of what is known as “human ecology,” the new proposal for 21^st-century citizens that offers a new perspective for understanding humans and their communities vis-à-vis the ecosystem.

WHAT IT INVOLVES

The initiative promotes interest in everyday existence, in the actions, thoughts, and feelings of every day, which are revealed in how people relate to biophysical systems–in other words, with the physical principles that underlie all the processes of those systems where life is found–from an ethical perspective, and leading to a fundamental transformation in people’s thoughts, perceptions, and appreciations.

“Ecolmaginario” is an initiative that acts on the basis of interactions between three areas of knowledge–ecology, the arts, and technology–to enable access to different forms of expression that encourage the implementation of ideas, intentions, and/or results, as well as of other proposals that arise within and from the different agents involved.

Intervention takes place through a workshop that identifies materials and practices with which the participants feel comfortable. This workshop creates a space in which the students can express themselves through different artistic media and the languages of information and communication (ICT) (without the separation generally seen in differentiated disciplines), thereby fostering a dialogue between school, city, and culture.

TARGET AUDIENCE

It takes place in Medellín’s 13^th commune, in the context of a community with a high level of marginalization and with the presence of armed actors, conflicts, and social tensions.

Although the initiative began as a classroom project with youngsters of the 8^th to 10^th grades, it soon evolved into an institutional project that covers preschool and primary up to high school.

In 2009, the initiative served two thousand, two hundred and fifty-seven (2,257) children and young people; in 2010, two thousand, one hundred and twelve (2,112); and in 2011, one thousand, nine hundred and eighty-seven (1,987). Outside institutions have also participated every year.

The initiative also involves parents and local residents.

“Being a part of this initiative has allowed me to understand that in spite of my very difficult situation, particularly in money terms, I can see an option that is different from what my family or even this neighborhood can offer me.”

Juliana Gómez

ACHIEVEMENTS

Through this initiative, the students have increased their abilities to reflect and assume ownership of their context, history, and reality, and to understand the nature of human beings and their relations with the environments and ecosystems of which they are a part. It has also brought about changes in reading vis-à-vis ways of acting, thinking, and appreciating the environment, in permanent connection with information and the mass media.

Thus, the initiative allows the participants to construct an experience that is then reflected in their actions in the family, school, and community arenas.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

According to the initiative’s nominator, “Describing the participation methodology is somewhat complex, because it would have to include details of the different mechanisms used to serve a population that is highly heterogeneous as regards their beliefs, ideologies, and, consequently, forms of behavior (phenomenon of displacement and establishment); in addition, because of the conflicts and adversity they have experienced, they belong to a family and local context that has smothered the creative spirit.”

However, it should be noted that every step of the initiative provides for that situation. This can be seen in its design, which is structured around four stages: motivation – development – execution – evaluation. The motivation stage is led by teachers from the generating areas, as the subjects where the initiative commences are known, and the students are invited to detect the possible causes of a given set of problems affecting the community (diagnosis). Although the generating area is that of artistic and cultural education, other subjects are also involved, such as environmental support, physical education, and technology, in addition to other complementary areas in the applied sciences, language science, ethics, and religion.

The development stage is led by the support areas and the student leaders (Chikas Lolistas). At this stage, roles and functions are planned, distributed, and assigned depending on the capacities, skills, and talents of the parents, students, and teachers.

At the execution stage, when the youngsters’ material and immaterial productions are realized – in other words, as either producers or spectators – there is a mobilization of actions that seek to take appreciation to a higher level, with the subject’s creative procedure (art, ecology, and communication) the starting point for overcoming his or her own contingencies.

The final stage is that of evaluation, which is conducted in three different scenarios.

A summary of how the initiative is structured is presented in the data-sheet provided by the nominator:

Generating area of the initiative (artistic and cultural ed.)

Luz Elena Acevedo

Support areas (environmental ed., physical/sports ed., and technology and informatics)

Luis Fernando Cárdenas, Lisiria Santa, Astrid Elena Moncada (B.P.), and Edner Prado

Complementary areas (applied sciences, human science, language science, ethics and religion)

Aisnardy Soto, Aida Zapata, Margarita Restrepo, and Margarita Vélez

Chikas Lolistas (group of students who lead the initiative)

Logistics officers

Environmental leaders

Representative of each group and liaison to ensure that the information is clear, relevant, and above all, internalized constantly in the classroom.

Coordinators

Scheduling and location of activities

Principal

Resources and permits

Parents

Involved at the level of what has been called “arts and professions”

Students and community in general

Material and immaterial production according to the topic proposed for the year and to the allocation of roles and functions, which underscore the applicability of the learning and, consequently, the securing of achievements.

TEACHERS’ PROFILE

The profile of the teachers involved in the initiative is interdisciplinary, although they all have specialties related to the subjects taught.

The experience’s nominator is an art-education teacher, but since the initiative entails interaction with other subjects, science and technology teachers are also involved (see data-sheet, previous section).

EVALUATION

The evaluation is educational in nature and was designed on the basis of identifying shared skills in all the areas and subjects; these, in turn, are based on the crosscutting axes established for the initiative: communication, information technologies, and the principle of human ecology.

Because of this, an appraisal is detected not only of the progress made by students in their overall development, but also of the involvement of different educational actors in a committed and dynamic way.

The parents, teachers, leaders, and the institution itself play a leading role in the evaluation processes of the students and in assisting them in attaining basic skills. This task is carried out with specific emphasis on the idea that emotion and reason are not antagonistic.

RISKS

According to the nominator, one of the identified risks relates to the human factor, in that it is necessary to promote awareness to give priority to initiatives of this kind within a context dominated by a culture that prefers addressing consequences over prevention; this phenomenon has affected the growth of the initiative in other schools. Similarly, economic factors could also pose a risk to the initiative.

Drop-out rates at schools and other institutions is another social risk that could affect students’ continuity in the experience; one of the main causes of this is social conflict.

INVESTMENT AND FINANCING

According to the nominator, since it is a public institution, the estimated amount for executing this initiative is relative:  because of its nature, it must preserve the available resources to the greatest extent it can. The reutilization principle is applied to this amount, as are the donations and investments made by the students and parents themselves. At the last count, the funds received totaled nine hundred (900) U.S. dollars per year.

FUTURE PLANS

After the accumulated experience of five years, the priority for the future is to create stimulating spaces at the collective level that encourage student participation, making use of technology and information and communications media to establish themselves as genuine communities with their own identities and sense of belonging.

For that reason the experience emphasizes the importance of the phrase “Work in Progress,” which offers the possibility of understanding that initiatives and projects are not an end in themselves but, instead, are a way to think and rethink the value judgments on which “truth” is built. For that reason, a dialogue was opened with various art teachers involved with leadership and empowerment projects regarding a proposal for recording the impact of all those initiatives within a context, where art or artistic activities are validated as a crosscutting axis for the transformation of a world view, an institution, or a context. 

PERSON IN CHARGE: Luz Elena Acevedo Lopera, Teacher in artistic and cultural education. I.E. Lola González (PUBLIC LOCAL-AREA INSTITUTION). luzelenaacevedolopera@yahoo.com