Different

Over at the Community Arts Network, professor Carol Ng-He interviews professional Teaching Artist Malik Gillani about "Myths to Drama" an arts-integrated education program that brings a global perspective into Chicago Public Schools classrooms. The program, developed and implemented by Mr. Gillani's Silk Road Theatre Project, is aligned with the State of Illinois’ Board of Education standards and helps students explore social studies themes through the arts. Activities include drama, music, reading and writing and the vision behind the project is expansive.

In answer to a question about why the company decided to use the study of myths as a vehicle, Mr. Gillani explains:

"Myths to Drama” isn’t another class; this is not just to repeat what has been offered in other classes. It is to provide a different model of learning. So, the basic theory of how we deliver “Myths to Drama” is the philosophy of multiple intelligences.

People learn differently, so you need to give people different avenues of learning. So for us, myth is a way of learning a culture in an alternative model, in a way that social studies are not taught in school.

This program appears to be pretty cool, the curriculum outline is online and I dig it.

I think the idea that we learn differently seems kind of commonsensical and true. But since I've started reading up I can't find an end to it and the books on the subject just seem to keep coming.

The categories keep coming.

We are of different minds.

It's an endlessly fascinating and lucrative idea.