A Flowing Through

This episode is based on the book A Flowing Through by David Esling. It is about one teacher’s artistic approach to teaching and learning in a primary school within a socially disadvantaged suburb of Hobart in England.  Welcome to this weeks edition of Newsgram A common theme here on Newsgram is our ongoing mission to change the world. […]

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This episode is based on the book A Flowing Through by David Esling. It is about one teacher’s artistic approach to teaching and learning in a primary school within a socially disadvantaged suburb of Hobart in England. 

Welcome to this weeks edition of Newsgram

A common theme here on Newsgram is our ongoing mission to change the world. I would like to leave this world a better place than I found it or at least a better place than it is now and while that may not be possible I have found that introducing you to forward thinkers and change makers can be quite satisfying. Change makers like David Esling. David is a dreamer and we need more of them. He grew up in the UK and attended a boarding school for his education. It was not an easy life and it was probably not the most ideal place for a dreamer but some good came out of all of it — but I’m getting ahead of myself. About the boarding school…

David Esling – The Lessons were very uninspiring. We sat at desks in rows and we had tests every fortnight. The tests we had determined what row and what desk you were sitting in. I frequently could not  accept this form of teaching so I tended to dream of imaginary classrooms where we could use our hands to paint and make things. 

How many of us can relate to that? An uninspiring eduction that was also accepting of corporal punishment.  

David Esling – I was caned for inattention. I was caned for being untidy. 

My, how things have changed since 1952. I grew up in the 60’s. A time when we thought hiding under our desks would protect us from a Nuclear bomb and we practiced this exercise regularly. It’s still a threat more now than ever before but we no longer have to worry about being caned or slapped with a ruler. We do have to keep an eye out for mass shooters. My point is, the upside of adversity is it does make us want to change things for the better. Hopefully we can. 

David Esling – I had to find another way. All the time as I went through the rest of my schooling I dreamt of being a teacher where I could do things in a different way. 

Not only did his dream become a reality but he’s also written a book about it called A Flowing Through: A Series of Artistic Explorations That Flow from Simple Starting Points, Pass by Milestones and Finish with Polished Achievements by David Esling where he documents his process working with primary school aged children.

David Esling – When I started teaching in 1967 I had a class of forty two children. All at desks facing the blackboard and all I had was a stick of chalk and I was dumbfounded. I thought God I’m going to have to teach the way I was taught myself!  But I had to find another way so I tried and I began with creative writing and then as my career progressed  and the classes got smaller I was able to find other ways through art and mathematics to do practical explorations and by the time I went to Hobart in 1993 I had built up quite a repertoire of creative explorations across the curriculum.  

David developed quite a reputation for himself being invited to speak at conferences, contributing to the publications of others and like I said writing his own book. But it wasn’t easy. Change is hard for some. The traditionalists considered him too avant-garde. He had to stay committed to his goal to “find another way” and that meant earning the trust of the school administrators, parents and the kids. 

David Esling – I said, I think I can make you want to come to school but I need your help. So I told them about my school days and they couldn’t believe it! I said your school seems to be an awful lot better than mine. Let’s do something about our then to make it even better. They were really excited about the prospect because then they were like, what are we going to do? What’s different? What are we gonna do? And I said, we’re going to do a lot of things together. We’re going to start with Art. We’re going to start with painting abstracts. These are paintings you can do where no one makes mistakes. There’s no fear of failure. So we did it together. I showed them how. A small group at a time and then one group started influencing another group and it spread right through the classroom environment. 

A Flowing through — if you will. His idea turned out to be a huge success. It raised their self-esteem and gave the kids a better attitude towards learning, it also improved their relationships with each other. School became an exciting place because now the teacher and the students worked together playing an active role in the learning process. They were learning how to learn by working together. 

David Esling – Mr. E often likes to paint alongside the children. It helped him to feel part of the learning group as we were all learning together. Brent saw his teacher practicing his trees on the middle ground of his landscape painting. I think you will be better off testing out a few fir trees, suggested Brent. You’re quite right Brent. I haven’t quite worked out how to paint fir trees, replied his teacher. Come with me Mr. E I’ll show you how beckoned Brent. The teacher pulled over and sat beside him at his workplace. You see Mr. E they are sort of triangle shaped and some of the branches go sideways. They even bend down toward the ground in some places. You only need to paint a few trucks and branches as you can’t see the rest. The leaves, well I just dab them on with a small bristle brush just like what you told us before. He was enthusiastic with his instructions and advice. He had worked it out for himself and was justly proud of his discoveries. His confidence and self satisfaction glowed within his smiles as he continued with his painting . His teacher shared his pleasure. The teacher had become the pupil. The pupil had become the teacher. Pupils and teachers learning together. That was the heartbeat of your learning environment. It was beating, beating, beating, beating….

Anyone who has ever advocated for the removal of art or funding for the arts in school should read this book. And by the way, shame on you. And, I should point out that it wasn’t just about painting landscapes you need to think more broadly. 

David Esling – If you look at the book you will see that I spent some time talking about imagery. We started looking at idioms and illustrating the interesting associations of ideas and then we went into the other aspects of imagery and then I got them to consider painting their feelings and then it moved from feelings to concern. 

Can you see how painting your feelings and concerns lets you express them in a way that might be hard for some children that are not vocal? Can you see how it allows for the open exchange of ideas, thoughts and can lead to important conversations? Art is also mathematics because imagery can be 3-D and lead to design. What a great way to get kids interested in engineering without even using that word. David is an interesting guy and his  book is fascinating. Let me…or better yet him, leave you with a quote from the Chinese philosopher, Confucius. 

David Esling –  I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. 

Pretty much the story of my life. If you learn by doing, you’re gonna love this book. If you’re a teacher or you work alongside children you will love these stories. Plus, there’s pictures! You not only get to see some of the kids painting but you get to see their finished work. The abstracts are very good! 

Each “explorative journey” is accompanied by David’s photographs to help bring life to the explorations. The children’s art was often outstanding, but the journey, rather than the destination, carried the greater significance. 

A Flowing Through: A Series of Artistic Explorations That Flow from Simple Starting Points, Pass by Milestones and Finish with Polished Achievements by David Esling. 

There are four books in “The Flowing” series. Hop online and grab a copy of your favorite or send one to someone you know that might enjoy it. It’s available now at all the usual places, Barnes and Noble, Amazon. It’s one sale at Better World Books. There are links to all those places in this shows description and that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com. 

Listen to the Books On Air podcast with Suzanne Harris for an interview with the author. 

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