Leveraging arts, creativity to facilitate learning for children

Nineteen years down the line, the Standard Bearers Nursery and Primary School (SBS) has carved a niche for itself as it has consistently used arts and creativity to facilitate learning and teaching, thereby making the children come out of their shells to express themselves in the best way they can.

SBS is one of the few schools in Nigeria that does not undermine the creativity of children and therefore creates programmes that will make them express properly their hidden talents, at the same time, make learning appealing to them by visually expressing objects for quick understanding.

Samson Mshelia, graphic designer and brand consultant, SBS, explains that one of the ways the school has been making learning interesting for students is the use of graphic design.

According to him, graphic design in itself is communication, and how to visually communicate someone’s ideas. He says the arts are very important because it make children understand from a very young age that creativity is the beginning of it all and one’s ability to express his or herself.

“If most kids can’t tap into that side of themselves it is hard for them to learn anything else. So, the art is an avenue where kids are able to come out of their shell and visually represent things. If you can relate with the kids based on their own abilities to express what is on their heads, that is an opening in itself and through this, they can learn anything,” he explains.

Mshelia says without creativity, children do not like to learn things because they consider it boring and teachers can not just teach children chemistry without expressing it in a way they will relate with it. Children like it when teachers illustrate things, as this drives home the message.

“Nigerian kids are very creative and the reason why most people think they are not creative is because they don’t allow them show their creativity. They have been forced into studying courses they don’t want to and when they do art, people say they are lazy. At SBS, I have come to realise that because of the programmes they have, ranging from the art classes, to the drama, the music show to the recitals, the kids are able to come out of their shells,” he says.

He says further that there could be a quiet child in class but if he is put on stage, he becomes the most vibrant as this is one ways he knows how to show his abilities and teachers in SMS have been able to accommodate the way each child learns.

“In making them creative, there should be a work balance. We can’t let the kids play too much. We find a way to merge the both well. It also boils down to the teachers, the teachers in SBS make their teaching exciting to the kids. It is about the interactions and letting the children express themselves,” he explains.

Mshelia therefore advises parents to allow their children do what they genuinely enjoy doing since the amount of passion the kids have for something goes a long way to determine how successful they are about that thing.

Modupe Adeyinka-Oni, the director and founder, Standard Bearers School, says the first set of children in SBS graduated 15 years ago, and their career path is varied, which goes to show that the foundation they got allowed them to follow their own dreams and not be boxed in.

“I have my son who finished from this school and is a finance major but his passion is venture capital, where he feels that becoming an MD of an organisation as attractive as it is, is not what he wants. He believes he should sufficiently find investors that he can encourage to begin to build small businesses,” she explains.

She continues by saying her son is thinking more of how he can do something that allows small medium enterprises gain access to money without having to go through the 21 percent rate that the banks are offering.

“I also have Victoria who right from the start, we knew she could sing and her parents wanted her to study business. At the end of the day, Victoria today is studying at NYU in the Creative Art department and she is doing Theatre, Music and Drama. She’s auditioned for American Idol and she was told that she was young and she could come back when she is a little more matured. She comes back here to help us with drama productions and many more like that.”

Adeyinke-Oni reiterated that everybody in her school does what they want and the parents have learnt over time that they shouldn’t box them, which has helped the children discover their career path on time.

Osezusi Bolodeoku, head, admissions and marketing of the school, says the children in the school are over 300 and each classroom sits a maximum of 16 pupils, to facilitate learning.

Bolodeoku says the school looks at the values, morals and principles of Christianity and gives every child a sense of belonging to the SBS family.

Ozioma Chigbo, one of the pupils, says she loves the school because the teachers have taught her to be nice and cheerful, and encouraged her to have confidence in herself.

Chigbo, who says the school has helped her develop her skills, also says she has learnt how to play the piano and is presently learning how to play other musical instruments.

David Onome, the liberian of the school, reveals that SBS library sits 20 to 25 children at a time and given the fact that technology is changing and the school is dealing with a new set of children, it now has an e-library, which allows the children to come to the library and Google some of the information they need.

“We live in a society where it is not the knowledge you have that matters but the information you have access to. In the library, we help them get the information they need in order to help them carry their daily learning programmes, like when they have assignments,” he explains.

He emphasises that the school strikes a balance where the children see the physical hard book as well as use the e-library, adding that each child is provided a tablet to help him gain access to the required information.

IFEOMA OKEKE