ministère Élèves et étudiants parents réseau scolaire

Ministère Élèves et étudiants Parents Réseau scolaire Loisir et sport

Essor Awards Contest

The 2006 Essor Awards GalaThe six provincial awards for 2006Other Inspiring Projects

Congrès 4 Arts 2006

OPENING ADDRESS OF CONGRÈS 4 ARTS 2006How to Foster Quality Arts Teaching inthe Current Education System

Profiles in Arts and Culture

Lucie Papineau: A Special Way With Words...

Volume 15

Number 3

March 2007

INFO WATCH

To keep up with the latestdevelopments with respectto programs andmeasures under theCulture-Educationagreement, consult ourWeb site.

There you will findinformation on:

The Culture in the Schools

program

The Essor Awards Contest

Arts and Culture Week in

Québec Schools

Financial support for cultural

committees

The magazine Arts and

Culture in Québec

Schools

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By Way of Introduction


Financial Support for CulturalCommittees

Congrès 4 arts

Carrefour Culture-Éducation

Québec’s New English-LanguageArts Network


Arts in Action

Credits

Archive

Français

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/ministere


http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/eleves

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/parents

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/scolaire

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/loisirSport

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/ministere/abonnement/

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/cultureEducation/index_en.asp

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/artetculture/index_en.asp?page=gala_nationaux

http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/artetculture/index_en.asp?page=gala_autres


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http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/ministere/nousJoindre/index.asp?page=faq

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http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/ministere/nousJoindre/index.asp?page=plan

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http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/cultureEducation/index_en.asp?page=prm_revueArtCulture&annee=2008


http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/artetculture/index.asp



Lynda FortinDirectorDirection de la diffusion, de la formation artistiqueet des programmes jeunesseMinistère de la Culture et des Communications

Margaret Rioux-DolanDirectorDirection générale de la formation des jeunesMinistère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport

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We are pleased to introduce Art et culture à l’école in a new, virtual format. This marks a significant turningpoint for the magazine, dramatically increasing the possibilities for reaching more readers than ever before.

We believe that publishing the magazine on the Internet will contribute to the growth of our readership andthat, as a result, student projects made possible by the Culture-Education agreement through the Culture in theSchools program, the Essor Awards Contest, and Arts and Culture Week in Québec Schools will receive muchgreater exposure. In fact, from now on, anyone anywhere who has an interest in education and culture will beable to read about our projects.

We hope that many of you will take advantage of this exciting development by reading Art et culture à l’écoleon-line and forwarding it to colleagues and friends interested in the issues it covers.

We hope you find the magazine informative and enjoyable to read and we look forward to receiving yourcomments.

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The 2006 Essor Awards Gala

By Marie-Josée Lépine

The Essor Awards Gala aims to highlight the exceptional commitment of teachers to the realization of artisticand cultural projects. This year, in addition to announcing the six provincial winners, the gala, held November25, 2006, was an opportunity to honour the 18 regional prizewinners and to recognize the contribution of the10 provincial first prizewinners since the creation of the Essor Awards. The mood was convivial as youngpeople representing the recipient schools performed on stage to entertain the crowd. Excerpts from theevening were later broadcast in a special one-hour show on Télé-Québec, Artishow 2006.

The Essor Awards Contest is part of the action plan of the Culture-Education agreement. For the officialawarding of the individual prizes, the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) and the Ministèrede la Culture et des Communications (MCC) were joined by various partners and sponsors, all workingtogether to promote arts and culture in Québec schools and to promote active cooperation among membersof the educational, artistic and cultural communities. The projects entered in the Essor Awards Contest giveparticipants the chance to win various awards, including cash prizes that can be used to sustain the winningproject or to set up a new project that will ensure the development of artistic and cultural education in theschool. In addition to the prizes that were awarded, a draw was held for a $5 000 gift certificate for thepurchase of musical instruments from Yamaha Canada Music Ltd. École René-Pelletier from the Montréal

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region was the lucky winner.

In demonstration of their commitment to art and culture in education, several public figures attended theceremony. These included the Minister of Culture and Communications, Line Beauchamp, as well as theparliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, and MNA for Acadie, YvanBordeleau. This year’s guest artist was Alain Lefèvre, an internationally renowned pianist and composer, whoperformed two of his compositions. Despite his busy schedule, Lefèvre considers it important to continuevisiting schools regularly to share his love of music with the students.

The gala’s master of ceremonies, Télé-Québec journalist François Bugingo, reminded the audience that thestudents, by expressing themselves artistically and by gaining access to the infinite riches underlying culture,are learning things that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. This comment took on its full meaningwhen the students, proud and confident, performed for the audience.

During the evening, Minister Beauchamp declared that learning to create is just as important as learning toread and to count. This statement was in keeping with the video testimonies of the first-prize winners of theEssor Awards from the last 10 years. The recipients said that art helped them discover themselves. The factof having won first prize was, for most of them, a driving force that pushed them to continue their project or togo further by undertaking even bigger projects.








By François Fréchette

The role of cultural committees in the school system is to establish a cultural policy for allthe schools in the region, organize cultural activities in the school board and implementmeasures to promote the integration of a cultural dimension into all the schools.

In recent years, initiatives to develop the cultural concept in schools have led to the creationof cultural committees in the school system, made up mostly of school staff who believe inthe importance of culture in schools. From an historical perspective, the first culturalcommittees were “school” cultural committees, grouping together several schools in thesame geographical area. Over the years, “school board” cultural committees, with a largerreach and a more official capacity, were created to meet specific needs. Their mission isalso to provide the school board with a cultural policy adopted by the commissioners’committee as well as an action plan to implement this policy. In addition to encouraging andsupporting school administrations and school cultural committees in organizing culturalactivities in the context of current provincial programs, such as Arts and Culture Week inQuébec Schools, the Essor Awards Contest, cultural outings to professional venues, etc.,the school board cultural committees collaborate in implementing concrete means forpromoting the importance of integrating a cultural dimension into schools and throughout theschool board. Mindful of this crucial role, each year, the MELS provides support for thetraining and operation of these committees.

With more than 40 school boards having formed cultural committees that are now workingacross their territory, and many others being created, the Financial Support for CulturalCommittees in the School System program is taking a new direction this year. With the goalof ensuring sustainable relationships with the school community and in keeping with a desireto adequately meet continually growing needs and to foster partnerships with cultural

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resources, it should be noted that, beginning in January 2007, only the school board culturalcommittees will be eligible to submit requests for financial support. The 2007-2008 brochure,containing all the information and the application form, is currently being prepared; it willspecify the mandates and criteria. The documentation and form will soon be accessible inthe new section of the MELS Web site devoted entirely to the Culture-Education Agreement.

In preparation for the 2007-2008 school year, school board cultural committees are invited toconsult the various resources that have been made available to them on the MELS Website, at the following address:

www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/cultureEducation/index_en.asp

The deadline to submit a request for financial support is June 1, 2007.









How to Foster Quality Arts Teaching in the Current Education System

By Caroline Raymond

The fourth edition of Congrès 4 arts was held in November 2006 in Québec City. Thisbiennial event gives elementary and secondary arts teachers a chance to exchange withtheir peers, keep current and think about the role that artistic and cultural education plays intheir education community. The opening address focused on favourable conditions for qualityarts teaching in Québec schools.

Guest speakers were Margaret Rioux-Dolan, director of the Direction générale de laformation des jeunes at the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (DGFJ-MELS),Paula Duguay, first vice-president of the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE),and Paule Breton, principal of an elementary and secondary school in a youth centre in theCommission scolaire des Navigateurs. The speakers were each invited to discuss theorientations of the institution they represented (ministerial, union or school) and the meansadopted to ensure quality arts teaching.

Rioux-Dolan answered questions about the orientations of the education reform with respectto artistic and cultural education. In particular, she spoke of the consultation process that ledto the adoption of the Basic school regulation for preschool, elementary and secondaryeducation, the suggested nature of the time allotted to arts education, the responsibilities ofthe school boards vis-à-vis provisions in the collective agreement regarding the qualificationof arts teachers, activities offered under the Culture-Education agreement, and the creationof learning guidelines for arts subjects that are not taught continuously in elementary school.

Duguay addressed the issue of arts teachers' rights entrenched in the collective agreement,the role of their local and provincial delegates, and the capacity criteria that aim to protectarts teaching duties. These questions underlined the importance of proper qualifications forarts teachers.

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To find out more about the content of these addresses, consult the Web site of theAssociation québécoise des éducateurs spécialisés en arts plastiques (AQESAP), chaired byby Daniel Charest, at the following address: www.aqesap.org.

While each speaker brought complementary information that was essential to understandingthe issues at stake in teaching the arts in schools, the point of view of school principal,Paule Breton, clearly illustrated the value-added contribution that teachers make to students’artistic and cultural education and the influence that teachers can have throughout theeducation community. “After all, it is in working with their school administration that teacherscan envision the possibilities for recognizing and developing arts teaching in their school andwhat it will look like on a day-to-day basis. This double role of the school administrator—thatof manager and pedagogical leader—is a vital condition for ensuring quality arts teaching,”Breton stated.

As for the unallocated time in the subject-time allotment table, Breton suggested usingconcrete strategies that reflect a vision based on empowering teachers in order to ensurereal development of the arts in the school, and not just their survival. She proposed makinggreater use of the tools that exist to promote the arts in schools—tools such as Arts andCulture Week in Québec Schools, supported by the MELS and the Ministère de la Culture etdes Communications (MCC). She noted that the suggested activities provided for this eventare an undervalued resource that can be used to breathe new life into a school’s educationalproject. February, the month devoted to this event, is a time particularly suited for taking partin the decision-making process surrounding the subject-time allotment at the governingboard level.

Finally, Breton believes the integration of multimedia into the arts programs in SecondaryCycle Two is a promising path for strengthening the recognition and development of the artsin schools.

A variety of workshops were held at the conference. In our next issue, we will providesummaries of some of them.

Sources: Paule Breton and Georges Bouchard.

See you on-line! At the booth devoted to the Culture-Education Agreement, participants at the Congrès 4 artsconference had a chance to try out a new Web site. From now on, all publications producedunder the agreement will be available in electronic format only. Schools are therefore invitedto consult or download documents related to the Culture in the Schools program, the EssorAwards Contest, Arts and Culture Week in Québec Schools and the Financial Support forCultural Committees in the School System program.

Find all these tools and much more at:

www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/sections/cultureEducation/index_en.asp



http://www.aqesap.org/







By François Fréchette

Last summer, arts teachers from elementary and secondary schools across Québec tookadvantage of a major choral singing event to share and enrich their teaching practices. TheCarrefour Culture-Éducation, a training camp organized as part of the SemaineInternationale de la Chanson, was held from August 14 to 16 at Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy.

At this gathering, music educators made connections between their own training andprofessional practices in the music world. Participation, meetings, exchange and discoverywere the key components that made the Carrefour Culture-Éducation a success. Manyparticipants found it to be a source for ideas, renewal and inspiration for continuing along thepath of the education reform in their respective schools.

The expertise and valuable collaboration of seasoned and committed organizers were crucialingredients in this cultural and pedagogical undertaking, offering participants a variety ofquality workshops led by competent professionals who are well known in their field. Theworkshops were planned with openness and passion, as they sought to meet musiceducators’ needs and expectations.

Workshop leader Maude Fréchette-Gagné recommended, for the specific needs of choralsinging, vocal warm-ups that aimed to enhance voice tone and expand the singer’s range.These original warm-ups focused on both the physical and musical aspects of singing. Aswell, this workshop gave participants a tour of the world of song by introducing them toworks from several different countries. By performing pieces in foreign languages, such asItalian, German and even Zulu, the singers became aware of the cultural differences in voicecolour and the specific rhythmic and harmonic characteristics of works from the past andpresent, from here and elsewhere.

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Participants greatly appreciated the workshop given by choir director Julie Lachance. Thegoal was to initiate participants in the use of software for producing musical scores. Manychoir directors saw this technology as being a practical and very helpful tool. Some indicatedtheir desire to learn more about these tools so as to be able to use them in their work inschools.

In his presentation, music teacher Jacques Lévesque from Polyvalente des Baies, in Baie-Comeau, delighted participants with his originality. His workshop looked at the use ofharmonic and diaphonic singing as a fun and effective technique for warming up andbecoming familiar with using one’s voice.

One of the more unusual workshops gave participants a chance to witness the live creationof a sonata, which served as both a synthesis and a preparation for a greater performance.In the course of their presentation, Patricia Gauthier, a choir director, harmonist and musicarranger, and Patrick Sobczak, a student in music composition, illustrated and shared theircreative process.

Andréanne Gallichaud, a multidisciplinary artist from Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, shared herexperience as a composer and choir director. Exploring and structuring melody, developing atheme, creating meaningful contexts for learning to listen to others and, in so doing, givingrise to a new and autonomous work, were some of the topics she addressed in herworkshop.

Suitable acoustics and appropriate lighting are an integral part of a successful performance.Jacques Lambert, recognized in the field as a technical expert, gave participants informationand advice on the technical aspects of preparing a musical event. Several participants sawhow they could apply these concepts in carrying out musical projects in their schools.

The collaboration of Robert Léger, a talented author, lyricist and musician who has gracedus with many melodies and beautiful texts, helped participants make connections betweenthe professional music world and the education world. His workshop, coming in the wake ofhis book Écrire une chanson, suggested concrete tools, procedures and processes forwriting texts and setting them to original music.

Orchestrated by the MELS, this major gathering is a tangible example of collaboration andpartnership between the artistic and cultural communities. In reading the comments of bothparticipants and workshop leaders, it becomes clear that the event was greatly appreciatedby all arts education professionals. Many manifested their desire to repeat the experiencenext year. The message is therefore launched to all those who believe in the synergybetween Education and Culture.








By Eve Krakow

Founded in the fall of 2005, the English-Language Arts Network (ELAN) bringstogether over 800 writers, visual artists, dancers, musicians and other artists. It seeksto create connections between artistic disciplines, as well as between Québec’sEnglish-speaking and French-speaking communities. It is also interested in buildingstronger ties with the education sector.

ELAN came out of the Québec Arts Summit, held in fall 2004. “It had been a long time sincethere had been any formal polling of English-language artists,” explained Guy Rodgers,ELAN’s Executive Director. “For the most part, people were just working away on their own.They were largely integrated into the francophone community, and weren’t that interested inpushing their anglo identity.” In fact, many people were initially reluctant to participate in theSummit. “They didn’t want to get involved with anything that was remotely ‘anglo.’”

That attitude changed when people got to the Summit and realized that “they weren’tsurrounded by a bunch of demagogues or political maniacs.” In the opening speech,Rodgers told an anecdote. “I work mostly with French producers, and from time to time,everybody starts going on about ‘les anglos.’ So I say, ‘Hey, I’m English.’ And they alwayssay, ‘Oui, mais toi, t’es pas un vrai.’ And everyone in the room said, ‘Yeah, that happens tome, too!’ So we realized, maybe it’s time for us to admit who we are, and maybe by doingso, we can start changing the stereotype.”

Thus, in fall 2005, ELAN was born. “We realized that, if nothing else, by getting together wecan share experiences, share contacts, and in some cases, co-produce.” Being organizedand having a structure also makes it easier to establish contacts with other groups, and it

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gives English-language artists access to funding available under the minority languageprovision in the Canadian charter.

On-line showcase and services

Much of ELAN’s first year was devoted to setting up the Web site (www.quebec-elan.org),which includes an Arts Showcase, an Arts Calendar, and the Arts Services Kit. Theshowcase features text, photos, and audio and video samples of the work of ELANmembers, while the calendar lists performances, arts shows, readings, launches, festivalsand other public events.

The Arts Services Kit, funded by Canadian Heritage, has three sections. Its centralcomponent is a directory of service providers that cater to artists—from editors, translatorsand accountants to massage therapists and movers. It will also soon contain a sectionproviding links to other arts services and organizations, and a section listing all the grantsavailable to artists, each with a short description and a link to the agency offering the grant.

Rodgers says ELAN is trying not to overlap with existing groups and services. “If anotherorganization already has a full range of services and information, we’ll just give a shortsummary and put a link to it. But this is probably the best single place to start looking forinformation about services geared to artists. We’re really hoping the ELAN site will becomea first stop for people who want to find out about [English-language] arts and culture inQuébec.”

The focus of ELAN’s second year will be moving from a Web-based network to a people-based network. To that end, four action groups have been created: a ProfessionalDevelopment Group to plan and organize workshops and seminars; a PR Group to look atways to create opportunities for promoting artists, events and venues; a Social Events Groupto organize activities for socializing and networking; and an Outreach Group to increasedialogue with francophone colleagues and to make contact with potential allies—such as theeducation sector.

Reaching out to schools

“We’re trying to find people within the education sector who are interested in having artistswork within the schools, and to find new ways and new sources of money to make thathappen,” Rodgers explained. For example, the Québec government’s Writers in Schools andArtists in Schools programs are very popular. ELAN is interested in finding out aboutadditional programs and structures for bringing artists into schools.

Rodgers invites anyone with ideas for activities involving artists to contact ELAN. So far,whenever educators have approached them looking for a certain type of visual artist or folkmusician, for example, they’ve been able to find somebody. In some cases, they’ve evenbeen able to find funding to make it possible.

For students, he says, participating in a workshop with a professional artist can have alasting impact. “When you meet a working artist, it personalizes the experience. As well,somebody who has sung in a choir or has been involved in painting is going to have a muchgreater interest in and appreciation for that art than somebody who has never been exposedto it.”

ELAN also wants to reach out to the regions. “We know there are pockets of English-speaking schools in small communities on the North Shore, for example, that would like tohave more art.” School and community events could be combined: an artist could talk tostudents on a Friday, hold a public reading for adults that evening, and do a workshop for a

http://www.quebec-elan.org/

mixed audience on the Saturday. “That’s certainly part of our mandate; we just haven’tfigured out how to make it happen.”

Rodgers also invites French-language schools to contact ELAN to have English-speakingartists visit their English as a Second Language classes.

Building bridges

ELAN also plays a role bringing people together within artistic disciplines—such as in themusic sector, where there is little crossover between genres. “If you wanted to get to knowmusicians in others genres, you would have to start hanging out where they play andintroduce yourself,” said jazz musician Susie Arioli, ELAN’s current president. “Most peopledon’t have the time, or wouldn’t know where to go. So ELAN is very good for networking, forgiving people some direction and a chance to see who and what is out there.”

Last year, ELAN received a grant to organize the visual arts sector. A survey of theprovince’s English-language visual artists revealed that visual artists felt very isolated, andwere interested in having a place to meet and a structure to give them a voice. So ELANmet with the Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels (RAAV), mandated to represent allvisual artists in Québec, to raise their awareness of the needs of English-language visualartists. They helped RAAV translate parts of its Web site, and last fall, RAAV offered its first-ever professional development workshop in English.

Helping English-language artists better integrate into the Québec arts milieu is an importantpart of ELAN’s mandate. A dialogue between the Quebec Drama Federation and the Conseilquébécois du théâtre led to the creation of a seat for English-language theatre on thelatter’s board. ELAN hopes to encourage the Regroupement québécois de la danse, theConseil québécois de la musique and the Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois torepresent their English-speaking members more actively.

Finally, ELAN gives Québec's English-speaking artists a stronger presence with advocacygroups such as the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the Mouvement pour les arts et leslettres, and Culture Montréal.

Arioli is optimistic and enthusiastic about ELAN’s future. “It’s still a neophyte organization, sothe coming year is still about being allowed to be, about knowing who we are. But we have alot of really cool and dedicated members.”








By Sébastien Boulanger

Prolific author, journalist, performer, series editor at the publishing house Dominique etcompagnie and the recipient of several awards, Lucie Papineau has devoted herself tochildren’s literature since the mid 1980s. A professional speaker and a pillar of the Culturein the Schools program, Papineau has met hundreds of children over the years through herappearances at schools, libraries and book fairs in Québec, other parts of Canada andEurope.

You’ve been writing for teenagers and children at a steady rate for many years. You musthave a long list of books to your credit…

L. P. I’ve always written for fun, ever since I was 10 or 12. I published my first book at 26,but for two years before that I was the editor of Le petit Devoir, a weekly insert for 6-to-12-year-olds in the Montréal daily Le Devoir. Since then, I’ve published about 40 picture booksand novels for young people.

Why did you choose children’s literature in particular?

L. P. I got the bug when I was working on Le petit Devoir. Every week I had a column onQuébec authors and illustrators of children’s literature. I was reading lots of kids’ books formy articles, and my desire to write just naturally led me to publish my first novel for youngpeople. I also like pictures a lot, and the imaginary worlds they evoke.

You have written some very beautiful picture books for children. The series Les amis deGilda la girafe, illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin, comes to mind. You love sharing yourcharacters’ stories with your young readers; you’ve enjoyed doing this for a long time…

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L. P. I’ve been to schools all over Québec. If you count the old program, I’ve been part ofCulture in the Schools for about 15 years now. In the last few years, I’ve averaged 15 to 20days of appearances a year. Before, I did as many as 24 workshop days a year, with threesessions a day…

The Québec Writers’ Union provides teachers with copies of books by an invited author inadvance of the author’s visit to the class. Have the students usually read your books? Whatis a typical visit like?

L. P. The children have usually read the books. Often the teachers will have read them totheir students. Mostly, I see the younger kids in elementary school. The more preparation theteacher has done with them, the more enthusiastic they are.

When I tell a story, I usually encourage the kids to participate. If they’ve prepared questionsahead of time or something occurs to them that they want to ask, they can interrupt me. Ioften bring visual material, sketches, enlargements of rough drafts, colour illustrations,preliminary drawings by the illustrator… Using these visual aids and a few lively anecdotes, Iexplain my writing process to the children. For example, I might talk to them about thedifferent steps involved in producing a book, from the time the initial ideas take shape rightup to the book’s appearance on the store shelf. The students often realize that they usetechniques in their own school work that are similar to those used by an author.

Of your many meetings with young people, some must stand out. Can you describe for us anespecially interesting project recently carried out under the program?

L. P. There was a workshop in the spring with Elementary 2 students at École Barthélémy-Vimont, under the Commission scolaire de Montréal. The students were asked to do a classproject in French based on my books from the series Les amis de Gilda la girafe.

One group put on a short play with costumes, scenery and props; another group learnedsongs from the book and CD, Pas de taches pour une girafe, and performed them withactions. Still another group made posters for each title in the series. The posters featuredgames, questions based on the books, drawings and the characters in the stories.

Where is École Barthélémy-Vimont located on the island of Montréal?

L. P. The school’s in Parc-Extension, one of the most multiethnic districts in Montréal. Formost of the students, French is their second language. The effort put in by the teachers, theenthusiasm of the students, the incredible progress they made in French in just a fewmonths, the energy and dedication of the entire school staff—it was so amazing!

As a follow-up to this project, a teacher from the school and five of her students learned asong over the summer that I had composed for the launch of the book Un chant de Noel,illustrated by Stéphane Poulin. Every fall, our distributor invites booksellers to an eventpromoting our new releases. And so, toward the end of August, the students had anopportunity to perform the song, accompanied on the accordeon by Stéphane Poulin, for anaudience of over 350 booksellers. The students’ parents also attended the performance,which was held at a hotel in downtownMontréal.

What do you feel children get out of these sessions or this type of project?

L. P. In addition to the joy of reading and writing, children get a tremendous sense of pride.The parents of the students from École Barthélémy-Vimont who were at the book launchcome from places like Sri Lanka and Pakistan. They were so proud to see their children havea chance to shine and to know that they were already well integrated into their newcommunity. And, you know, the children of newcomers often act as interpreters for theirparents.

I would say that, in addition to letting students in on all the secrets of creating a book, thesemeetings with authors help them understand the importance of having a passion for whatyou do and of working hard to realize your dreams.

[A number of Lucie Papineau's books, including those in the Gilda the Giraffe series, havebeen translated into English. Ed.]








Go Fly a Kite!

By Eve Krakow

A hands-on kite-making workshop gives Secondary V students greater insight into an Afghan novel.

It is 1975 in Afghanistan. The night before Kabul’s annual kite-fighting tournament, 12-year-old Amir is soexcited he can hardly sleep. Tomorrow he is determined to win. He is determined to gain the admiration of allthe kids in his district—and most of all, of his father.

This is an early scene from the book The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. But why would a kite tournamentmean so much to someone? What is so special about flying a kite? Later in the story, we see Afghanistan’shistory unfold: the Soviets invade the country; Amir and his father flee to the United States. Under theTaliban, kite tournaments are banned. “Why would they care about people flying kites?” you ask.

Two groups of Secondary V students at Heritage Regional High School (Riverside School Board) can tell you.Coached by an internationally renowned artist and kite builder, they made, painted and flew their own kites.The pride, exhilaration and freedom they experienced gave them a deeper understanding of the novel, itscharacters and its themes.

Norma Hubbard, the English teacher who organized the workshop, said she actually got the idea after

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choosing the novel. Her students are in the International Baccalaureate program and are required to read abook over the summer. Hubbard assigned The Kite Runner because it was a good book that was not yet toopopular, and it had an international theme. “After 911, everyone looked at Afghanistan as a terrorist country.With this novel, the writer wanted to show people what it was like before,” she explained. “It was a beautifulcountry, with real people and families living there.”

Over the summer, Hubbard saw a television interview with Québec kite builder Robert Trépanier. Hementioned that he did workshops in schools—and he mentioned kite fighting, a prominent theme in the book.In a kite-fighting tournament, the idea is to manoeuvre your kite so as to cut the lines of other people’s kitesand bring them down. The last kite in the sky wins.

Hubbard tracked Trépanier down, and he came to give the workshop in October. The students werespellbound. Trépanier talked about the history of kite flying and kite fighting, showed them a video, broughtsamples of kites from around the world, and even demonstrated kite flying in the classroom using a tiny,bumblebee-shaped kite on a thread. He also brought a sample of manja line, the thin, glass-coated line usedby kite fighters. “He had the kids hold up the regular white cord that most people use, which feels quitestrong, and then he took the manja line and sliced right through it,” Hubbard recalled.

Traditional vs. modern materials

Then came the kite building. Trépanier had prepared all the materials: a special paper woven with plastic andglass, thin dowels that he had heated and pressed himself to give them the perfect curve, lengths offibreglass for the cross section. He talked about the traditional materials that would have been used by thecharacters in the book as opposed to the modern materials used today. He explained the kite’s structure andbalance, for example, how a long tail offers more stability. “It took the students a few hours to put the kitestogether,” said Hubbard. “They had to be meticulous. They were surprised at how much went into making asimple kite.”

At the end of the day, before the kites were painted, students got to try them out. “They all went runningoutside like a bunch of banshees, they went all crazy!” Hubbard said. “Some of them had never flown a kitebefore.” This sense of exhilaration had an important educational impact. “The first impression I had when weflew the kites was that the reason the Taliban banned this is partly because you feel so free,” said studentJanice Lagiorgia. “They don’t want society to have freedom.”

Afterward, Hubbard led her students in a discussion on dictatorships and the concept of assembly. “The bookmentions that hundreds of people would come out for a kite tournament. We discussed how when adictatorship comes in, one of the first things they do is to ban assembly.”

Later, students painted the kites. Hubbard told them to “put something symbolic of themselves on the kite.”Some students chose pastels, others bright colours; some did abstract or geometric designs, while otherspainted a picture or a symbol: a bird, the Batman logo, the Channel logo, the AIDS symbol, the Japanesecharacter for “to fly.” “It really made them dig into themselves, as self-expression, which art should be,” saidthe teacher.

“It got the artist out of us,” said Janice. She really enjoyed meeting Trépanier, who had brought some of hisown work—huge kites with detailed faces. “In all of high school, it was the first time we got to meet aprofessional artist. We go to museums, but that’s not the same as meeting the actual artist.”

ArtsSmarts grant

The project was funded through ArtsSmarts, a program that aims to incorporate art into non-arts subjects, togive students an opportunity to meet professional artists in the community and show them alternative careeroptions. (See the article “Annual Art Exhibit Invites Community to Appreciate Student Talent” in the January2007 issue of Schoolscapes to learn more about the ArtsSmarts program.) Hubbard, who has a backgroundin ceramics and fine arts, says she always tries to include art in her teaching. “It brings those ‘aha!’ momentswhen things click for kids.”

Students also loved the hands-on aspect of the workshop. “Some students said, ‘I can’t remember the last

time I painted,’ or ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever used a brush before.’ In today’s world of technology, sometimes it’sjust good to get down and dirty,” laughed Hubbard.

“The workshop definitely opened my eyes,” said student Meaghan Tomalty. She enjoyed learning about kiteflying in other cultures and came to understand why it was banned in some countries. Yet she remembersbeing sceptical at first. “I thought, ‘We’re in Secondary V, and we’re going to make a kite?’ But it turned out tobe a lot of fun.”








Arts and Culture in Québec Schools is produced by the Direction générale de laformation des jeunes (Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport) in collaborationwith the Direction de la formation artistique et des programmes jeunesse (Ministère de laCulture et des Communications), the professional associations of Québec arts teachers(AQÉSAP, ATEQ, FAMEQ, RQD), the Association québécoise des comités culturelsscolaires (AQCCS) and the English-Language Arts Network (ELAN).

Editorial Board: Georges Bouchard, Sébastien Boulanger, Denis Casault, AmélieCauchon, Ginette Côté, Martine Labrie, Diane Shank

Coordinators : Martine Labrie, Diane Shank

Contributors: Georges Bouchard, Sébastien Boulanger, Amélie Cauchon, FrancineGagnon-Bourget, Denise Gouin, Eve Krakow, Martine Labrie, Claire Lamy, Marie-JoséeLépine, Caroline Raymond, Ève Renaud

Translation and Revision: Direction de la production en langue anglaise, Secteur desservices à la communauté anglophone, Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport

Graphic Design: OrangebleuGraphic Internet: Internet team, Ministère de l'Éducation du Loisir et du Sport

Production : Arts and Culture in Québec Schools, Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir etdu Sport, Direction générale de la formation des jeunes, Édifice Marie-Guyart, 1035, rueDe La Chevrotière, 17e étage, Québec (Québec) G1R 5A5withthe participation of the Secteur des services à la communauté anglophone, Ministère del’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 600 Fullum Street, Montréal (Québec) H2K 4L1

Next Issue: May 2007

Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, 2007ISSN 1488-3074

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