"Weaving Connections" is the continuation of a partnership that began in 2006, and connects to the three-year pedigogical cycle at Montessori. As a means of celebrating cultural diversity and to help students better understand the role cultural traditions play in shaping the world, we began a project with Sarah exploring various weaving techniques around the world. We want the students to understand the world is interconnected in many ways and the arts are linked to daily lives of people throughout the world.
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Weaver Sarah Saulson shows examples of African textiles.
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Students studied Africa as a cultural studies unit, in fitness with African dance, and had the opportunity to study drumming. We incorporated the weaving style of Ghana, where Sarah has traveled and studied weaving extensively.Children were guided to think about textiles as a practical need and as a method of storytelling and recording history. We also wanted to build on the skills the children had previously learned and expand on the process, so we incorporated patterning and changed the type of materials with which they were working.
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The students now have a real ownership of both the work they do and the looms that we bought for classrooms last year. The older students support and teach younger students to weave, and are able to problem-solve. Students also had more opportunities to do different patterns and have more input into the kente cloth weavings, now that they have had the experience from the previous year’s work.
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Left: Two students adjust the loom settings. Right: Students at the loom creating fabrics based on African kente cloth.
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Students loved having Sarah in the room with them to work on the looms, and the teachers felt similarly. They appreciated the independence that students showed in doing their work, as well as their abilities to work in teams with a friend.
We looked at the idea of children in other parts of the world doing this as a daily job, instead of going to school. The students seemed to be able to appreciate the impact this might have on another child’s life.
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Saulson shows how patterns are created at the loom.
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Saulson demonstrates the operation of the loom.
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We also learned flexibility in terms of scheduling, and expectations. Sometimes a projected outcome was not necessarily what we experienced, but instead the children were able to demonstrate learning something unexpected. They asked great questions, were excited about the lessons and always eager to share what they learned.
We want to continue to have weaving as an active part of our classrooms, and we are hoping to continue our partnership with Sarah for one more year.
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