Admiring student paintings of Moroccan landmarks in and near Rabat. (students artists were between 9 and 13 years old)

Guiding Question 

How does education in Morocco leverage its rich culture to promote social emotional well being, literacy and creativity in classrooms? Supporting Question - How are students empowered through the arts in schools?

I was very fortunate to be partnered with a  Moroccan teacher who is an artist like I am . The responsibility for art education is usually primarily placed on  traditional art teachers. My host teacher and I are both language and literacy teachers who believe  in the importance of the arts for the social and academic growth of our students. It really helped me focus my experiences on my guiding question throughout my field experience.

During my field experience, I had the opportunity to visit various schools, including an Arts Integration School (pictured on the left). Every school I visited had evidence of the arts being in practice . Some of the evidence I saw consisted of: 

-posters advertising play auditions, 

-student illustrations and art murals, 

-students rehearsing for choral performances, 

-students performing original music (with peer and teacher encouragement)

-Original Paintings 

According to my observations, even though academic achievement is the priority for most teachers,  teachers still try to encourage students to develop their creativity. For example, in the public schools, this was demonstrated by allowing students to share their talents in the classroom (i,e students were encouraged to share musical talents during my visit). 

Moroccos's rich culture can be seen celebrated  in schools and classrooms through the visual arts projects such as the one pictured on the left. Students painted landmarks found in and near Rabat, Morocco.

Social emotional learning is not explicitely practiced, however, learning environments are conducive to social emotional growth by creating spaces that celebrate talents and the arts. Students are most empowered through literacy and language  learning.  

Th arts integration school is a well rounded hub for students to develop their creative thinking skills and capabilities. Students participate in a variety of artistic endeavors such as singing, theater and visual arts.

All in all the arts are present in Moroccan schools and empower students to achieve beyond academics.