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Visual art is often misunderstood and under-applied in a venue where it has the
potential to help humans the most: the general elementary classroom. Teacher training programmes that mandate an art class can help propel arts offering by exposing
future teachers to the increasing role mindfulness via art can play in school regarding cognitive, social and emotional well-being. This article cites ways and means to
incorporate mindful art experiences into the classroom to help enhance both teaching
and learning.

mindfulness
cognition
art
teacher education
elementary education

General elementary teacher candidates [TCs] are among the hordes of people
who loved engaging with the visual arts as children, but likely stopped creating and/or created less frequently as they aged (Cox 1992; Dennis 1991;
Golomb 2002). Most people lose their creative playfulness by age nine or ten
(Gardner 1980). If most future teachers quit playing with the visual arts when
they were pre-teens, it is likely they will avoid using it in their future classrooms as adults. Teacher training programmes need to fortify future teachers
with the ways and means for deploying significant art experiences to the
humans who love it most: children.
Let me qualify my point of view. I have spent the past decade teaching future general education teachers about arts benefit to education. My
courses are generally method courses titled something like Art in the elementary school. The majority of the general education TCs who take such a class

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are petrified of it; they have no idea why an art course is required for their
elementary education degree. I have learnt that it is not enough to merely
supply TCs with a few art integration lessons or art project ideas to help
students overcome their general fear of art. Instead, the TCs must experience
the power of art first-hand they need to successfully learn to create so that
they can witness how art-making fuels education by activating the brain and
training for attention. Overall, the goal of the TCs elementary art methods
course should be to: eliminate TCs fear of art; obliterate TCs misconceptions
about art; provide the TC with successes that relate to making and viewing art;
and expose the TC to ways he/she can significantly use art in the classroom.

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Observational drawing is a technique that teaches students how to pay attention to detail and translate their perceptions into a realistic picture of their own.
The core of observational drawing involves learning how to see the world as
it is, not how it might be remembered or thought to be. Observational drawing is different from drawing from imagination and/or using formal one- or
two-point perspective techniques. Using Betty Edwards book Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain (4th ed., 2012), one can guide reluctant general education TCs through a series of exercises that promise great advances in a short
period of time.
The entry-class survey shows that many TCs believe people cannot learn
how to draw. The exit-class survey shows that they believe people can learn
how to draw.
Survey
questions:

5=I strongly
believe this
to be true

Entry survey:
I believe I can
draw

Exit survey: I
believe I can
draw

10

4=This
is true
2

3=My skills
are average

2=My skills
are belowaverage

12

18

1=I strongly
believe I
cannot draw
5
One person
added a 0
column.

20

As students pass through the laddering process of observational drawing

(blind contour, contour, shape, perspective, value, texture), it reminds them to
pay attention to not only how to model the processes, but also how they feel
while they are learning new skills. Ask them to think about their thoughts so
that they may better empathize with their future students, and to pay attention to how their classmates respond and grow as artists too. Invariably, their
drawing and observational skills grow exponentially in just a few short weeks.
They realize drawing is something to practice, not something that just magically emerges. Their ability to focus lengthens. As the fear of creating subsides,
their world opens up and they begin to transfer their observational drawing
skills to everyday life. They suddenly notice shadows, values, lines, textures
and viewpoints in the world that surrounds them. They often hone a sincere
appreciation for mark-making and out-of-the-box thinking.

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Before taking this course ... I would have rated a giant mural in a museum
as highly creative, but I would have given little credit for creativity to someone who redesigned a cell phone.
I have noticed that I pay closer attention to my world. I see where the light is
coming from and love finding shadows. I believe my concentration abilities have
expanded too.
I now understand that observational drawing skills relates to more
than just art. It can relate to the way we see other people and how we
see nature and the world and when applied to creativity, it can encourage people to be active consumers of culture by being active rather than
passive about things they can change and/or use. Before this class, I did not
consider myself to be creative, because I am not artsy. But as a science
lover, I can also own the term creative and I feel empowered to do so.
Langer states that, When we engage in mindful learning, we avoid forming mindsets that unnecessarily limit us. Many of our beliefs about learning are mindsets that have been mindlessly accepted to be true (2000: 220).
Remember, pre-puberty kids are often irrepressibly creative it is the untrained
adults who have learned to be afraid of art. Through having significant experiences with art, TCs learn how to draw and how to teach mindful drawing.
They witness first-hand that:
1. Visual art skills such as observational drawing can be taught.
2. It is important for a teacher to respond to new challenges with an open
mind. For instance, instead of saying, I cant do that, to say, I am learning
how to do that.
3. Their students might feel vulnerable as they attempt new skills and grapple with new ideas and they will likely be more sympathetic with/empathic
of these feelings.
4. Many of their classmates actually thrive in a serious, yet creative atmosphere.
5. There are endless possibilities and benefits for arts integration.
6. Art-making can be a great way to relieve stress.
Drawing from observation is the launch point into experiencing some
of the benefits of art-making: focus, attention, stress relief and persistence.
These skills are valuable for general cognition (something addressed later in
this article). Teaching observational drawing is not fostering creativity, but it
can help build confidence as students delve into more expressive and creative
work. It might be true that without the ability to represent things convincingly
students may continue to feel inadequate in the arts. Observational drawing is
one of the most empowering skills to provide to TCs because: it can be useful
in a variety of arts integration applications (therefore, it is useful curriculum
fodder); it costs nothing to implement; one needs very few materials to do it;
and it can transform their future classrooms.

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Once a TC has some successful experiences with drawing and sensing his/her
environment, it is time to expose them to ways they can use art as a way to
build general cognition through using art as mindful studio classroom rituals.

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Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on
purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of
experience moment by moment (Kabat-Zinn 2003: 144; Meiklejohn et al.
2012). Traditional mindfulness emerges from religious/philosophical meditative practices; however, schools across the nation are embracing secular applications. In alignment with the ideas of brain plasticity, mindfulness is a mental
capacity that can be strengthened through a variety of training methods. The
primary elements of mindfulness practice come through breathwork, physical
exercise and sensory activities all accessible through meaningful art-making opportunities. These guided exercises can last ten minutes to an hour and
foster the ability to tune into the emotions of the mind and body, which is an
act of witnessing ones own personal experience (Davidson et al. 2003; Salmon
et al. 1998). When mindfulness is used in the learning process, students utilize
creativity, experience cognitive flexibility and are better able to retain information (Napoli et al. 2005). Being mindful is the equivalent of being present.
It shifts students into the now and prompts them to focus their attention
which is the base point of raising attentions capacity. When students develop
their attention skills, teaching and learning can become more meaningful.
Elementary classrooms often have routines that begin or end a day. When
a routine combines with mindfulness, it becomes a ritual. When students are
greeted with interesting objects to observe and draw on a regular basis, these
simple observational drawings can be a great way to maintain a mindful ritual
in a class. To begin (or refocus) a class, start by asking students to breathe
deeply and get calm. Then ask them to spend time carefully looking at the
object in front of him or her, perhaps outlining it with a finger, smelling it or
making other sensory observations about it. After some observational time has
passed, they then spend five minutes slowly drawing a contour line drawing
of the object as they continue to keep their eyes on what is in front of them
carefully scanning lines and proportions. Once immersion with the drawing
process occurs, the rest of the world seems to evaporate. Linear concepts such
as time and naming of objects fade into the background. The environment
is clear of previously learned preconceptions as students experience what
it means to be in the moment. The time allotted for the ritual expands as
students attention spans grow with practice. With time, their attention spans
grow as new neural pathways form.
Ritual allows the outside stress and chaos that might surround a student to
dissipate as he/she transitions into the school day. Mindful rituals can enhance
students capacity of self-regulation of attention, impulse and emotions tasks
teachers sometimes wrongly assume children know how to manage. Students
need time to focus and settle in to the process of learning as negative emotions
about things outside of the classroom can interfere with the students ability
to focus on tasks at school. Likewise, negative emotions within the classroom
(such as feelings of academic incompetence) can also interfere with learning
(Dennis 1991). Offering consistent opportunities for mindful art-making is
predictable and stabilizing for children; it builds skills, brains, attention spans
and confidence.
The wonderful thing about mindful arts integration is that the general
education teacher does not need to be a master artist to reap the benefits of
its various offerings, though being a fervent advocate, mild practitioner and
appreciator of art does help. It is the role of the teacher to provide opportunities

)00

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for mindful artistic experiences, not to teach mastery of exotic art techniques.
The most important part is not the quality of the artworks the young students
produce; rather it is the quality of the learning experience.

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The research (making of) and reflective (looking at) practices of the visual arts
causes the brain to continue to reshape, adapt and restructure, thus expanding
the potential to increase brain reserve capacity. The paper How arts training
improves attention and cognition states that recent research offers a possibility that focused training in the arts strengthens the brains attention system,
which in turn can improve cognition more generally (Posner et al. 2009). This
happens within the brains system of neural pathways dedicated to attention.
This pathway gets training via frequent engagement with a subject of intense
interest to a human (like art) and increases cognitive capacities for attention,
memory and learning in general. Wenk-Sormaz (2005) found improved cognitive flexibilities and attentional control among adults who received as little as
three twenty-minute sessions of mindfulness training. The key to beginning
this neural process is to find something that captures a learners attention. The
arts easily capture many young childrens attention. Much of what young children do as play singing, drawing, dancing are natural forms of art. These
activities engage all the senses and wire the brain for successful learning (Sousa
2006). When children enter school, these art activities need to be continued
and enhanced in order to help various synapses grow stronger. Remember,
these synapses must be used in order to develop. Quoting Posner:
The idea that training in the arts improves cognition generally really is
not so bold within the context of what we call activity-dependent plasticity, a basic tenet of brain function. It means that the brain changes in
response to what you do. Put another way, behavior shapes and sculpts
brain networks: What you do in your day-to-day life is reflected in the
wiring patterns of your brain and the efficiency of your brains networks.
Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in your attention networks.
(2009)
Think of the cells (neurons) the brain uses as being akin to muscles in a body.
Children are born with all of the muscles and neurons they will need in their
lifetime. Just as the muscles in the arms and legs develop as they are used, the
nerve cells in the brain also grow and develop as they are used. Muscles must
be used to become stronger. The same is true with the brain. The brain changes
physiologically as a result of experience. There are certain actions that provoke
certain parts of the brain. Observational drawing accesses a different part of
the brain than solving math equations does. At every stage of development, it
is important to give children age-appropriate tasks and to remember all children develop at different rates and speeds. Genes control some of the process,
but experience is also a crucial ingredient. This means that brain development,
especially through childhood and young adulthood, is part innate endowment
and part development through exercise (Wade 2004).
New research suggests as much as 10 per cent of individual variances in
human intelligence can be predicted based on the strength of neural connections between the lateral prefrontal cortex and other regions of the brain (Cole
et al. 2012). During the brains early years, neural connections are forming at

)01

Bg\aHYll]jkgf

a rapid rate. Elementary teachers must take advantage of both student excitement for the visual arts and the brains eagerness to expand. With so many
advances in brain research, the system of education needs to adapt to new
findings regarding cognition and student learning. These include: IQ is not
fixed at birth; the environment determines to a large degree the cognitive ability of the brain; some abilities are acquired more easily during certain sensitive
periods; and learning is strongly influenced by emotion (Wolfe and Brandt
1998).
The mindfulness programmes showing up in schools across America are
taking advantage of such brain research. They are helping students to regulate their emotions, and to learn how to pay attention to their thoughts and
environments. People who have undergone meditation training have shown
improvements on cognitive performance (Cahn and Polich 2006). A paper
titled Integrating mindfulness training into K-12 education: Fostering the resilience of teachers and students suggests potential broad-ranging and universal
applicability of mindfulness in the K-12 education setting (Meiklejohn et al.
2012). Specifically that mindfulness practices can teach students how to curb
an action related to an emotion teaching them to respond versus react. In
terms of basic brain functioning, emotions support executive functions (planning, judgment, decision-making) when they are well-regulated, but emotions
interfere with attention and decision-making when they are poorly controlled.
A 2011 study directly associates the executive functioning skill of inhibitory
control with mindful attention awareness in adolescents (Oberle et al. 2011).

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The mindfulness process is akin to the art-making process. Both are solitary
undertakings that often operate in the context of silence; both require practice
to help direct attention more skillfully. The artist and the meditative practitioner intensely and purposefully organize his/her thoughts, feelings, observations and experiences. In both processes, one is witnessing awareness and
grounding the Self in contemplative and creative practices.
Frequent artistic rituals are akin to an indirect approach to teaching mindfulness in the classroom, and have the potential to significantly enhance learning. A mindful art practice is an inherently powerful teaching tool because,
wonderfully, children naturally want to engage with the visual arts it is often
the adults who want to avoid it.
The arts position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what
adults believe is important (Eisner 2002). If adults fear art, they will not include
it in what they do. To obliterate such fear, adults must experience provocative
and profound experiences with art instead of merely studying art advocacy
propaganda promoted in education coursework. Dewey stated, Knowledge of
methods alone will not suffice: there must be the desire, the will to employ
them (1933: 30). Perhaps only with a first-hand engagement with mindful art
will a TC desire to employ its power; to be able to recognize it as a multifaceted tool that can grab a learners attention, calm emotion and help to train/
keep focus, while simultaneously providing significant immersion with both
academics and the humanness of life.

J=>=J=F;=K
Cahn, B. R. and Polich, J. (2006), Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and
neuroimaging studies, Psychological Bulletin, 132: 2, pp. 180211.

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=ehdgqaf_eaf\^mdf]kknaYYjlaf]\m[Ylagf

Cole, M. W., Yarkoni, T., Repovs, G., Anticevic, A. and Brave, T. S. (2012), Global
connectivity of prefrontal cortex predicts cognitive control and intelligence, The Journal of Neuroscience, 32: 26, pp. 898899.
Cox, M. V. (1992), Childrens Drawings, London: Penguin.
Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Shumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D.,
Santorelli, S. F., Urbanowski, F., Harrington, A., Bonus, K. and Sheridan,
J. F. (2003), Alternations in brain and immune function produced by
mindfulness meditation, Psychosomatic Medicine, 65: 4, pp. 56470.
Dennis, S. (1991), Stage and structure in childrens spatial representations, in
R. Case (ed.), The Minds Staircase: Exploring the Conceptual Underpinnings
of Human Thought and Knowledge, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 22945.
Dewey, J. (1933), How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective
Thinking to the Educative Process, Boston: D.C. Heath and Company,
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Edwards, B. (2012), Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th
ed., New York: Tarcher.
Eisner, E. (2002), What the arts teach and how it shows, The Arts and the
Creation of Mind, chapter 4, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
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Gardner, H. (1980), Artful Scribbles: The Significance of Childrens Drawings, New
York: Basic Books.
Golomb, C. (2002), Child Art in Context: A Cultural and Comparative Perspective,
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present, and future, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10: 2,
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Langer, Ellen J. (2000), Mindful learning, Current Directions in Psychological
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Meiklejohn, J., Phillips, C., Freedman, M. L., Griffin, M. L., Biegel, G., Roach,
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cognition monograph: How arts training influences cognition, The
Dana Foundation, March, http://www.dana.org/news/publications/detail.
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html. Accessed 18 February 2015.

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Wenk-Sormaz, H. (2005), Meditation can reduce habitual responding,

Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 11: 2, pp. 4258.
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KM??=KL=<;AL9LAGF
Patterson, J. (2015), Employing mindfulness via art in education, International
Journal of Education through Art 11: 2, pp. 185192, doi: 10.1386/
eta.11.2.185_1

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Jodi Patterson serves as an Assistant Professor at Eastern Washington
University. Having taught for nearly fifteen years as a tenured art educator,
with a license through the state of Michigan. Patterson earned a MA in painting and has a MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College. She is the
current online coordinator for the Caucus for the Spiritual in Art Education (a
NAEA issue group). Believing in mind-body connections, Jodi is also a certified personal trainer and an exhibiting artist.
Contact: Eastern Washington University, Department of Art, Cheney, WA99004,
USA.
E-mail: jpatterson6@ewu.edu
Jodi Patterson has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was
submitted to Intellect Ltd.

)1*

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