Role:
Arts & Humanities Teacher

Where:
PODO International Academy, Seoul, South Korea

When: 2021 – 2023

A hands-on approach to understanding Archaeology

During my role as an Arts & Humanities Teacher at PODO Club International Academy, I was given full creative freedom to develop lesson plans and activies for my students. Each week I created thematic lesson workshops focused on Archaeology, the Arts and Humanities. I brought my knowledge and passion for these topics into my classroom, facilitating unique experiences to ignite curiosity and excitement for history and understanding the human experience throughout time. My largest project of the year was giving my students an overview of the entire archaeological process through a hands-on approach. To begin, I took my students to a nearby park to look for ‘artefacts’ (modern trash). Armed with paintbrushes and small shovels, I guided the students in carefully uncovering found ‘artefacts’ with patience and a gentle hand. Old medicine bottles and broken pottery sherds were treated as priceless objects to be brought back to the class and later analysed.

The following stages of this project were teaching object photography, cleaning, analyses, handling, technical drawing and finally museum catalogue entry. Before any further work was to be done with the objects, I conducted lessons teaching how archaeologists look at the environment and a find site to uncover clues to understanding more about the previous life of an artefact. The students were then given a lesson on proper object handling for a lab or museum setting. After all of this, the students were guided in how to photograph an object before they had the chance to carefully clean their finds. Already at this point, in what would be a multi-month long project, the students were heavily invested in this learning experience. After the objects were clean and dry, it was time to create a catalogue entry for what would become our own classroom museum. I developed a form for them to fill out detailed object information and held a separate lesson teaching technical drawing. The culmination of this project was a class museum organised by typology by the students. By the end of this school year my entire class of five year olds was familiar with the archaeological process and how objects make their way from the dirt into a museum. Through this experience they developed more patience, critical thinking skills, and a newfound interest in the human past. Many students were inspired to engage with history and archaeology further by requesting to go on museums trips with their families outside of school. I received glowing positive feedback from parents and my Director for how I much I invested in creating unique learning experiences for my students throughout the year. Developing and conducting this program was incredibly fulfilling and has only further fueled my passion for Arts & Humanities education.