Using an ESOL art gallery for SEL and cross-curricular instruction
Tim Redden is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher at Rota Elementary School in Spain.
Have you ever visited a 19th century one-room schoolhouse? Some of them have been converted into living history museums. When I go to places like these, I look beyond the plexiglass to see how they actually lived. Each one-room provides its students at least two amenities: a woodburning stove for heat and a wooden bench for a seat. In addition to meeting these physical needs, many rooms reveal that the schools had been customized to acknowledge students’ interests and to give them a sense of ownership. Proof? Take a look under the antique benches, and you’ll find students’ initials — some inside hearts — carved into the oak. As kids, our great-great-grandparents added the customization themselves.
Times haven’t changed. Our students today want to feel known and welcome and ownership in their classrooms — they want to have their initials and interests metaphorically carved into their seats.
Short of issuing students chisels, DoDEA is committed to meeting this desire for ownership. Classrooms are more conducive to learning when they are student-centered and provide both physical and emotional safety. To foster this feeling, the agency emphasizes direct instruction of social emotional learning (SEL).
The Multilingual Learners Program, formerly ESOL, even taught a course to help teachers discern and meet the unique SEL needs of DoDEA’s approximately 7,000 multilingual learners (MLs). Getting to know your MLs is crucial for designing effective classroom procedures, décor, and instruction through which social and emotional tools can be learned and practiced.
Art is language-rich but requires none to view, so it makes a good SEL entry point for all kids who are developing emotional language. My classroom’s “ESOL Art Gallery: Mirrors, Windows, and New Points of View” provides MLs and their peers a chance to see themselves carved into the walls of their school and develop curiosity about, connection to, and empathy for each other.
How it started
The concept of an ESOL Art Gallery developed from an accidental SEL success rather than a search for one. When I taught ESOL at Ankara Elementary High School in Türkiye, Zeynel Guven was our supply officer as well as a photographer with a profound eye for the human condition. I bought several of his pictures to hang in my home but left one, unframed, on a bookshelf in my classroom.
In it, a young boy stands in front of a graffiti covered wall outside Ankara’s Kocatepe Mosque. Although I have never pointed it out nor initiated a discussion about it, students gravitate to it. They want to know who the boy is, if I know him, how old he is, what he is doing, and if he is okay. After the 20th or so student expressed such strong empathy, I knew that I should hang it more prominently in my room. Then, I began to wonder if I should find more art to hang as mirrors and windows for my MLs and their classmates.
My initial plan was not to create themed art exhibits in my room and invite teachers to bring their classes, but that is what happened in the end.
Before landing on the ESOL Art Gallery, I considered other great options for using art to create a student-centered ESOL classroom. My original idea was to create a mini-gallery in the alcove by my door — transform a small blank, white wall into a space conducive to learning. There is enough room for three to four photographs or paintings, and I could easily refresh the gallery every two to three weeks. Labels would briefly describe each piece and give a picture of the artist. I also planned to hang a few SEL questions as a jumping off point for passersby. As nearly every class walks by my room each day, the art and the artists would reflect a lot of faces, open a lot of windows, and facilitate a lot of learning!
Art acquisition
For any size gallery, the greatest challenge is art acquisition. I own enough Turkish art to get through a few weeks in the alcove and even to curate the “Turkish Art” exhibition held Nov. 27-Dec. 15. The problem is that most of my MLs do not have Turkish connections, so I needed to find more art to fill the gallery with a variety of exhibitions. The search for art is tricky. Famous works lose some of their force through familiarity, especially as scaled-down prints. At the same time, the art needs to be of professional quality. Finally, the art needs to appeal to its audience: kids.
Several online sites sell affordable prints from lesser-known artists. Others are outlets for artists and craftspeople to sell their own work. From these, I purchased art that is created by people similar to my MLs and portrays subjects with which they can identify. I also found some prints of my town, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in a local shop. I bought them because Sanlúcar is also the hometown of some of my MLs.
Acquisition is ongoing.
Involving the school and community
When a new exhibition in the ESOL Art Gallery is ready, I email our pre-K through fifth grade teachers the descriptions of the works and artists and invite them to bring their classes.
In cases where my exhibits are less directly connected to MLs, like “Art or Science,” showcased Feb. 16-March 21, I selected art based on the artists’ cultural backgrounds and perspectives. In this way, it is easier to represent our diverse student population and, in many cases, provide new role models. Among the pieces of science art was a multilingual eye exam chart designed in 1907 by a German immigrant. He created it with California’s then 25% immigrant population in mind. We leveraged our MLs’ linguistic expertise when classes visited. Across visits from only six classes, we were able to administer the eye exam in English, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Hebrew.
My MLs amazed their classmates.
My current exhibition “PCS Art” is open through the end of the year. It contains 39 originals and prints that represent our MLs and all of our military-connected children. In addition to art from San Diego and Virginia Beach — the duty stations from which we receive most of our students — there are works from China, Hawaii, Brazil, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Ghana, Italy, Bahrain, South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.
The PCS Art exhibit at Tim Redden's "ESOL Art Gallery: Mirrors, Windows, and New Points of View" at Rota Elementary School in Spain.
In the first week, over 200 students visited the gallery with their classes. As a part of Rota Elementary’s Social Emotional Wellness Family Night held April 17, I opened the ESOL Art Gallery to families. Around 60 parents and students visited that night. To further student learning and discussion, I created a sticker with a QR code to give parents access to the gallery guide via a PDF, which included SEL questions for our families.
Student impact
One student shared that his favorite art was the map of Istanbul “because it has Arabic on it and that’s my language!” Another student connected with the prints of Sanlúcar de Barrameda because that’s where he is from and where his family lives. A sample of responses from the ESOL Art Gallery is available on this video slideshow.
By giving students representation of their cultures and backgrounds, it helps them feel seen and proud of their heritage and experiences. This sense of belonging fostered through social-emotional learning creates a supportive environment where students feel safe to take risks, collaborate, and reach their academic potential.
The “ESOL Art Gallery: Mirrors, Windows, and New Points of View” has a gallery guestbook. Maybe kids should initial it rather than sign it and draw a heart around the title of their favorite piece.
