This article introduces the Mural Painting CCA I have been running this semester (Autumn, 2021). It is worth introducing because it not only looks good (see the photos below), but it is also an excellent activity for practicing teamworking and negotiation skills. It is also, obviously, a fantastic outlet for the students’ creativity.
Why, you might ask, is an English teacher running a mural painting CCA? Well, I wasn’t always an English teacher and my first job on leaving school was painting advertising boards and murals in pubs and restaurants across southern England and Wales. Since qualifying as an English teacher, I have frequently used my painting skills in class and in the wider school community, including mural painting at public events such as Sports Day or open days. Thus, when I joined OCAC in August and was asked to contribute my skills to a CCA, mural painting was a natural choice.
Figure 1 - My initial advert for the Mural Painting CCA,
featuring previous projects, which attracted X students from grades 6 to 9.
Before we started painting, we needed to develop a rudimentary plan to identify a theme, which parts of the available wall space each student would work on and a rough idea of what they would paint. We had a quick discussion about themes and two emerged quite strongly: wildlife and China. I then provided printed copies of the wall spaces shown in the photos below and the students set about designing what they wanted to paint in each space. Part of the wall had already been painted and our mission was to extend this work.
The students then compared their sketches and negotiated what parts of their individual designs would make it onto the wall. Based on these negotiations, four main work groups evolved with some students doing their own thing in the spaces between.
Figure 3 - mixing the paint
The painting commenced. The students were fully engaged and worked quite quickly. The space was filled with colour within a few sessions. The photos below show how the different divs of the mural developed over five sessions.
Figure 4 - starting work on the underwater scene
Figure 5 - Outlining the cat-shaped image
Figure 6 - Mapping out the Chinese dragon
Figure 7 - At the end of the first painting session
The rain started falling during the first session but the students remained enthusiastic and their work remained mostly intact. We enjoyed much better weather in the second session and the work progressed rapidly.
Figure 8 - The four work groups can be seen in this photo
Figure 9 - During the second session, some students used their hands to paint rather than a paint brush.
By the third painting session, the painting covered most of the available wall space and some students began adding details to their work. Around this time, another art CCA group started work on another wall. It is rewarding to know that our CCA group’s work inspired others to join in the mural painting project.
By the end of the fifth session, the paintings were really taking shape. Around this time, several colleagues made some positive comments about the work
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