This activity was used with pupils in key stage 3, years 7 to 9.

Context

This school always suspends its timetable for three days at the end of the summer term for an event involving all key stage 3 students.

A 'working group' of staff chooses and plans the theme for the event. This case study describes an event about Africa that aimed to introduce pupils to a range of music, dance, drama, and arts and crafts from the African continent. The teachers agreed it was very important that African musicians and dancers led the major activities as the school's population was predominantly white, with about 15 per cent of the pupils of Asian origin.

Aim

• To respect the cultural heritage and traditions of others.

Activity objective

• To learn about and celebrate African culture by participating in, sharing and experiencing a range of activities.

Activity description

A series of activities was run during the three-day event.

Setting the scene

African artefacts such as woodcarvings, crafts, art, books and pictures were displayed with library and internet references attached. Many of the artefacts were borrowed from a new teacher recently arrived from Ghana. She also provided about 40 African costumes for staff to wear throughout the three days. The pupils worked on their projects to a background of African music and the school canteen provided African foods.

An exhibition of African culture and crafts was held in a converted bus, parked on site for the three days, which the pupils could visit at their convenience.

Music making

A Nigerian group (called Kanko) worked with all the key stage 3 pupils (about 60 at a time) in the school hall. All the pupils had access to an instrument and learnt how to play African rhythms, gradually building these up and putting them together into a structured piece of music that they would perform at a showcase on the last day. The pupils learnt about the background to drumming as a means of communication across the African plains.

Dance

Groups of up to 60 pupils participated in the dance workshops led by Kanko. These workshops had two objectives. First, for the pupils to learn some traditional dance movements and dance to the drums. Second, for the pupils to learn how dance can be used symbolically, as a celebration and as a means by which tribes display their identity.

Cooking

The pupils attended a cookery session where the focus was African food.

After being shown demonstrations (sometimes by the African visitors), the pupils made a range of dishes, which when put together made a complete meal of several courses, catering also for vegetarians. For many pupils, the ingredients were new and unusual. At the end, the table was laid and the group sat down together to enjoy an African feast.

Mask making

The pupils were introduced to the history of mask making. Their imagination was stimulated by looking at pictures of masks in books and on the internet, and at real artefacts in the exhibition bus.

The pupils used these images to design their own masks using a range of materials (such as cardboard, paper, textiles and paint).

As well as each pupil making their own mask, they also made three other masks as a group. One was fabric-based, another a sculpted cardboard mask and the third a papier mâché mask. Over the three days, all the pupils worked on developing and making these giant masks.

Crafts

The pupils listened to stories and poems told by an African performing poet. They then wrote their own stories and performed them using writing and dramatic skills. Next, they learnt about the historical background of a range of crafts and were shown the craft skills. The crafts used were:

• calabash: using huge seed pods and painting them in traditional colours;
• sand painting: using different coloured sands to make pictures;
• kente: using yarns to weave. A traditional loom was used to show the technique. Students were able to make bookmarks using smaller versions of the loom.

Jewellery making

The pupils explored different ways of making jewellery and looked at traditional designs for African jewellery. The Ghanaian teacher introduced a workshop in which students worked with materials (such as paper, card, shells, feathers, wool and embroidery thread) to make beads, bracelets, bangles, earrings and pendants. The workshop also covered face painting.

The Masai

A visitor who had worked and lived with the Masai people led this activity. He gave an illustrated talk about the lives of the Masai and their education and culture. This included information about their customs, lifestyle, dance, dress (including jewellery) and everyday artefacts, many of which he brought for the pupils to see and wear. The talk focused on understanding the importance of clean water and the ways in which it is provided for the Masai tribes.

Painting and poetry

In this activity pupils observed features and characteristics of African wildlife. Each pupil chose an animal and found out about how and where it lives. They then painted a picture of the animal and wrote a poem about it. The poem was written in the first person.

Final showcase

The climax to the three days was a showcase on the last afternoon. This was held in the school hall with everyone present. The showcase was presided over by an African King and Queen and their retinue (the pupils in role), all attired in traditional costume. The pupils performed their drumming and dances, and read their poetry. Around the hall were displays of their paintings, masks and jewellery.

Commentary

The quality of work produced, and the fact that numbers attending school for the three days at the end of the year were maintained at a high level, reflected the interest and enjoyment of the pupils. This was an enjoyable and popular event where the pupils worked collaboratively, developed their social skills and experienced new tastes.

The pupil who was the African King for the final concert commented:

For arts week, I was chosen to be the King of Africa. The visiting Africans from Kanko were very friendly and it was easy to understand what they wanted me to do. I had to say a couple of African sentences and lead off the musicians at the end of the concert. Although the African words were difficult, I thought I coped quite well. All in all, it was a really good three days. I especially enjoyed the African drumming.

The leader of the Kanko group said:

Your school went to Africa this week.

The whole school was immersed in the atmosphere and culture of Africa, which was greatly enhanced by the first-hand experiences of expert visitors and members of staff.