Integrating ChinaVine into the Classroom

How can ChinaVine reach new audiences in academic environments? Previous iterations of the Vine Online blog have been used in classrooms to promote thought-provoking online discussions of educational value. By publishing intriguing posts related to Chinese art and culture, students and teachers are able to create new dialogue and opinions about the content while learning about different peoples of the world. Emily Hope Dobkin is currently a first-year Master’s candidate in the Arts Administration program at the University of Oregon collaborating with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) to create a firm grounding for ChinaVine’s educational content to be utilized in new academic and museological settings. During this Spring 2011 term, Dobkin works specifically in the JSMA’s Education Department to integrate elements of ChinaVine into their Chinese Art and Culture Outreach kit.

Known as a teaching museum, the JSMA has a lofty vision: to become one of the finest university art museums in the world. The JSMA is located on the University of Oregon campus, and works closely with the university to accomplish their mission. The museum’s website states their mission “enhances the University of Oregon’s academic mission and furthers the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public.” This goal is being accomplished in part by the JSMA’s emphasis on teaching Asian Arts, and particularly through extended materials such as the China Art and Culture Outreach program.

The Chinese Art and Culture program consists of an actual physical kit and teacher resource guide. The primary goal of the Chinese Art and Culture Outreach program is to provide local educators with resources representative of the Chinese collection. These resources help integrate the arts into the general curriculum while fostering the mission and education philosophy of the JSMA. The museum provides books, maps, and projection materials for their learning kits, as well as various examples from the museum itself. Now, in addition, the museum is incorporating ChinaVine’s content as part of its curriculum.

ChinaVine’s mission is to educate English-speaking/reading children, youth, and adults about China’s cultural heritage. This mission is achieved through this interactive website along with a variety of social media platforms. “Vine” is combined with China because of the fluid, ever changing and winding ways of culture. This mission, combined with JSMA’s Chinese Art & Culture Outreach program, allows for a fluid teaching methodology as well.

Dobkin’s work with JSMA revisits the current outreach kit with new resource materials including content from ChinaVine. The ultimate goal will be to upload the revised teacher resource guide to the JSMA and ChinaVine websites, and for educators to actively utilize these materials in their classrooms.

In present-day China, many young Chinese people are moving to urban areas to further their education and careers. Through this migration, many Chinese folk traditions are no longer being practiced. Dobkin is effectively collaborating with the JSMA to celebrate, document, and preserve China’s national identity and history by stressing the importance of cultural preservation. In doing so, both the mission of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and ChinaVine is achieved.

The JSMA is proactively creating education programs that go beyond the walls of museums to reach diverse audiences. The ChinaVine project shares this activity by utilizing digital resources as emerging technologies for learning, such as video streaming. For example, Dobkin has enhanced the first Unit that focuses on Chinese Festivals and Celebrations by including streaming video. Regarding this content, she states, “Under the New Year category, I suggested looking at the New Years paintings and short video from Gaomi:” [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/4215434[/vimeo]

Another example Dobkin includes in the Chinese Festivals and Celebrations Unit is a newly revised kite-making activity relating to the Qing Ming festival. Dobkin writes, “I emphasized that besides picnicking, hiking and tree planting, kite flying is also enjoyed during the Spring Festival, and further directed teachers to information on kite making in Weifang and Beijing from the ChinaVine website.” Among the suggested learning material on this topic, Dobkin recommends the following segment on the Beijing-style of kite-craft: [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/4401305[/vimeo]

Following this first unit, subsequent lessons will teach about traditional Chinese costumes, painting, calligraphy, paper cuts, and dough figures. Dobkin believes “this term is just the beginning of integrating ChinaVine into resource guides for teachers and educators. The JSMA’S guide still has room for even more ChinaVine projects to be infused, and I am excited to see what this summer’s field school brings back that can be further integrated into the JSMA’s Chinese Art and Culture Outreach kit.”

On June 1st, educations across the state of Oregon were invited to the JSMA for “Arts Education Night,” in which Dobkin shared the newly revised outreach kit with local teachers.

“Even though this academic school year is coming to an end, it was a great opportunity for teachers to start thinking about refreshing their lessons for next fall. Every single teacher I interacted with was quite enthused and eager to learn more about ChinaVine; especially creative ways they could share it with their students,” explains Dobkin.

As always, keep your browser directed at Vine Online for continued updates on ChinaVine.