(Qamil Metalia School – Teacher)
Elva Tobli, 27, was born in a small Albanian village and has nurtured a passion for foreign languages since her primary school days, where she first encountered English. Realizing her dream, she became a teacher. After high school, she studied foreign languages (English-German) at the University of “Aleksander Moisiu” in Durres, graduating with excellent marks for her fluency and precision in English. Three years later, she earned a Master’s degree in English teaching from the city of Tirana in 2019. Now in her fifth year of teaching, Elva works at “Qamil Metalia” school, striving to create an exceptional learning environment and improve her students’ English abilities. She has also been involved in various projects within and outside the school. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading and indulging in her hobbies of painting and drawing.
Presentation: The Importance of Integrating Art in Schools
Presented together with Dallendyshe Metalia and Mentor Kovaci
Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it is about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality.
Arts experiences boost critical thinking, teaching students to take the time to be more careful and thorough in how they observe the world. Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world.
Why is it important?
- Art in school provides a structured environment that keeps the students motivated and helps them learn and improve their skills effectively.
- It cultivates critical thinking, problem solving and creative expressions
- Art instruction helps students with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking and inventiveness.
- Visual arts teach learners about colors, layout, perspectives and balance: all techniques that are necessary in presentations (visual, digital) of academic work.
- Integrating art with other disciplines reaches students who might not otherwise be engaged in classroom
- Through art we promote our country’s heritages (music, costumes, food, cultural sites, traditions, language and symbols) and make students feel proud of where they come from. By this way they can preserve and promote them.
- Art promotes creativity by allowing students to explore and express their unique ideas
To sum up, art does matter in the school delivering a wide range of advantages for students. Teachers can make the most of that potential by equipping themselves to offer creative practice as a central feature in the curriculum and show decision-makers how these initiatives can achieve transformative results. They ought to be prepared to work in a variety of learning environments, incorporate digital tools into their pedagogy and foster critical thinking and making art becomes the approach to teaching and the vehicle for learning.
“The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” (Aristotle)
Facebook: “Qamil Metalia” School
Dallendyshe Metalia – Head mistress -“Qamil Metalia” School, Has, Albania. dallendyshe.metalia@hotmail.com
Elva Tobli – English teacher – “Qamil Metalia” School, Has, Albania, Fatlumtobli7@gmail.com
Mentor Kovaci – Science teacher – “Qamil Metalia” School, Has, Albania, mentorkovaci@hotmail.co.uk