Introduction
The educator needs to provide an open class-oriented school activity that allows children to fully express themselves and show their abilities and skills. The desired effect of inclusiveness and comfort can be achieved by providing a safe learning environment in which all students can communicate normally. This will promote understanding and respect for all students with special needs. Children will be able to develop their self-esteem and self-confidence, which will contribute to their self-regulation and problem-solving skills. When developing a curriculum for students, it is crucial to consider each person’s particular needs and provide them with appropriate conditions (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2017). This can be done through the provision of a range of activities and materials that can help guide the learning process. In addition, classes that can reveal the emotional side of students and contribute to their self-expression are also a necessary part of training. These types of activities can be beneficial for children with intellectual disabilities. At the same time, an essential mandatory element for facilitating the student life of children with special needs is to provide the right curriculum that is suitable for different students.
How Arts-Based Centers Nurture Children’s Creative Expression
Art can be a pretty powerful tool to encourage student self-expression. For children with special needs, it can provide the necessary opportunities for self-expression and development (Wilson et al., 2020). Some of the teaching methods may not be available for formation in this class since it is necessary to consider students’ specific needs. By designing an arts curriculum that accommodates student diversity, educators can provide a safe and inclusive environment that promotes creativity, self-expression, and emotional regulation.
In the special education classroom, children with special needs may spend a significant amount of time engaging in highly focused tasks that are designed to meet their unique learning needs. These tasks may be necessary for their academic and cognitive development and play a prominent role in shaping them as individuals (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2017). Being open and process-oriented when learning an art can provide a respite from narrowly focused tasks, allowing children to participate in more informal and enjoyable activities. Thus, their nervous system will not succumb to a high load, and they will be able to relax more while maintaining their emotional well-being.
In addition, by preparing and adapting the arts curriculum for children with different needs, the teacher can provide opportunities for students to develop their skills in a more comfortable environment. Art activities can be collaborative and can provide opportunities for children to work together and share their ideas and feelings (Aljabreen, 2020). Educators can promote socialization and help children with special needs build relationships with peers by creating a safe and inclusive environment that encourages communication and collaboration.
How Teachers Must Adapt Arts-Based Centers for Different Age Levels
For the correct educational process with children with special needs, it is crucial not only to create a training program but also to select suitable tasks. A framework using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can provide educators with guidelines for creating an educational program suitable for all groups of learners (Orndorf et al., 2022). Some examples of the principles of this strategy can be adapted to the needs of all students. Such assignments and adaptations can be incorporated into art class programs to develop children’s creativity and artistic abilities. For the means of self-expression, various tools can be used with which the student can convey their feelings and thoughts.
Emotional and intellectual challenges
Children with intellectual and emotional developmental problems can significantly benefit from artistic pursuits. Such a pastime will help develop their creative abilities, thereby improving their creative abilities and imagination. For such a group of children, one of the examples of activities could be to implement a collage of feelings. In this type of activity, the child should be offered various materials such as tissue paper, scissors, glue, or magazines. Students can use these materials in order to collect any images that will reflect the emotions that the child is currently experiencing (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2017). Thus, students will be able to develop their ability to perceive and express emotions by developing this area. At the same time, the color palette is an essential element in this exercise since, first of all, with their help, children will express their feelings, such as fear, misunderstanding, confusion, or satisfaction.
Visual impairments
Children with visual impairments may benefit from activities based on sensory and tactile principles of interaction. In this context, the appropriate activity to implement might be to create a painting with texture. For this activity, the child will need to provide various materials such as canvas, paper, sandpaper, cotton balls, figured fabrics, and paints (Ferguson et al., 2019). In the course of completing this task on creativity, the child will be able to create a picture that can be perceived not only visually but also by touch. In this way, it can significantly expand the potential abilities of the child to perceive and create anything. Depending on the student’s assistance, the assignment can be adapted with the addition of auditory cues or assistance with material placement.
Hearing impairments
Hearing-impaired children can be effectively engaged in activities that focus on tactile and visual cues. A suitable example of an exercise for this group of students would be creating a fine art magazine. The child may be provided with various materials for this, such as an album or notebook and colored pencils or paints with which the student can recreate what they saw or any other image (Saha-Gupta et al., 2019). In addition, they will be able to create a journal that will display what they feel and what they think with the help of visual images. As an additional feature, this task can help children develop a creative approach to tasks. The exercise can be modified depending on precisely what needs the child is experiencing. An example of this would be the use of sign language in the process of drawing or developing fine motor skills.
Orthopedic impairments
Children with orthopedic disorders will be suited to tasks adapted to the level of physical activity that students can handle. One of the activities for children from this group can be wall painting (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2017). To imitate a wall, the student may be given a large canvas as well as paints, stickers, and felt-tip pens. These children can then work together with other students to create a common idea for the big picture. Such an exercise will be helpful and can be adapted depending on the specific level of mobility of the student.
Conclusion
When creating a curriculum, an important consideration will be the use of appropriate language and terminology. Educators must understand the unique needs of all students and adapt to them by choosing appropriate ways to communicate the principles of learning. They should focus on the strengths of children with disabilities in order to design assignments in such a way that students can discover their talents. This will help them develop in those aspects that will be of interest to them. In this way, the stigmatization and marginalization of such a group of students can be avoided. The ongoing development of educators as professionals can also be a vital aspect of helping them fulfill their responsibilities in child development.
References
Aljabreen, H. (2020). Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia: A comparative analysis of alternative models of early childhood education. International Journal of Early Childhood, 52, 337-353. Web.
Ferguson, B. T., McKenzie, J., Dalton, E. M., & Lyner-Cleophas, M. (2019). Inclusion, universal design and universal design for learning in higher education: South Africa and the United States. African journal of disability, 8(1), 1-7. Web.
Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2017). Creative thinking and arts-based learning, 7th ed. Pearson Education (US). Web.
Orndorf, H. C., Waterman, M., Lange, D., Kavin, D., Johnston, S. C., & Jenkins, K. P. (2022). Opening the Pathway: An Example of Universal Design for Learning as a Guide to Inclusive Teaching Practices. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 21(2), ar28. Web.
Saha-Gupta, N., Song, H., & Todd, R. L. (2019). Universal design for learning (UDL) as facilitating access to higher education. Journal of Education and Social Development, 3(2), 5-9. Web.
Wilson, C., Sitbon, L., Ploderer, B., Opie, J., & Brereton, M. (2020). Self-expression by design: Co-designing the expressiball with minimally-verbal children on the autism spectrum. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13). Web.