Exploring the opacity, transparency and translucency of materials in visual creation – a curriculum integration experience

Abstract

This article presents and reflects on an experience of curriculum integration between the subjects of Visual Education, Technological Education and Portuguese, in the 5th year of the Portuguese education system, experienced by a group of students aged 10 and 11. The activity took place at a higher education school that trains teachers, where the students visited to get to know the spaces and use teaching resources that are different from those at their own school. The aim was to provide the visitors with an educational and artistic experience that allowed them to apply their learning about ‘opacity’, “transparency” and ‘translucency’ and also to stimulate their imagination and creativity through written and plastic expression. The use of selected materials (opaque, transparent and translucent) and an overhead projector (a device that projects images through light), the writing of a story and the construction of visual artefacts to represent the elements of that story, were actions that made it possible to integrate knowledge from different areas in a new approach for the students. This experience made it possible to address various points of the formal 5th grade curriculum, crossing disciplines and, as it was experienced in a relaxed and shared group setting, it also made it possible to realise collaborative learning. Analysing the data collected made it possible to identify learning in various curricular areas and made it possible to reflect on the Visual Arts and the artistic experience as axes of interdisciplinarity.