WEBZINE ACC

Using music, art, theater, and other creative activities
to resolve conflicts
and understand differences and diversity

With discrimination and hate rising and anger and conflicts building up in societies worldwide, one cannot overemphasize the importance of education on understanding, tolerating, and accepting differences and diversity. The Asia Culture Center (ACC) has thus stepped up to the task.

A special concert was held at ACC Children on July 13. Following is a report on the passion and fun shared by participating children that day, amid the boisterous noises of different musical instruments and hearty laughter and singing from the children themselves.

Inside the Lifestyle Culture Room at ACC Children

The Culture and Education Division of the ACC teamed up with Gwangju National University of Education (GNUE) in March to develop and provide, using the ACC’s resources, various programs themed with cultural diversity and targeting schoolchildren.

The ACC-GNUE Cultural Diversity Program is aimed at developing a practical educational curriculum, through the concerted efforts of ACC Academy-trained specialists (instructors) and GNUE students (trainees/aspiring teachers) that can be readily applied to actual classes. The resulting curriculum and activities should uphold the values of diversity and creativity, particularly as manifesting in Asian cultures and as promoted by the ACC.

Under continued mentoring from the GNUE faculty, instructors and trainees, who were chosen through a selective process, were divided into three groups and developed three specific programs utilizing music, art, theater, and play. Below is a summary of the programs.

Each program consists of four chapters, divided into eight sessions. Participating students were invited to the ACC to join the first chapter of each program. The music concert on July 13 marked the final session of the fourth chapter of March Altogether Concert, where students presented what they have learned about cultural diversity and related activities to the instructors and trainees.

The 20 fifth-graders from Gyerim Elementary participating in a pilot version of the ACC-GNUE Cultural Diversity Program underwent eight sessions and four chapters of the given curriculum starting in mid-June, exploring the importance and real-life applications of diversity, coexistence, and tolerance, and reflecting on their own behavior.

In the first chapter, students participated in theater and playful activities designed to improve their understanding of why it is important to accept and respect differences, encouraging them to explore problems, conflicts, and hurt that could arise when differences are ignored. In the second chapter, students drew pictures and composed lyrics for songs on cultural diversity and tolerance. The third chapter led them to discover the joy of diversity by playing various Asian musical instruments together. The fourth chapter summed up all the previous teachings and presented students with March Altogether Concert for peace and coexistence across Asia.

The concert, held at the ACC, consisted of singing and playing musical instruments together.

Children were encouraged to write lyrics for music composed by instructors on the themes of differences in age, games, religions, and cuisines. Although they were not required to, some students even created funny dance moves for their lyrics to enhance delivery. Below is the lyrics for a song written by children.

“Hindus worship cows; Muslims follow God; Buddhists chant namo Amitabhaya; Christians pray to God.”

“Steaks are chewy and juicy; hamburgers come in different flavors; kimchi is red and sour; curry is yellow and spicy.”

“Jianzhi is so colorful and pretty; tepe sounds like a bell and keeps spinning; gurel can fly quickly; and gendama is so thrilling.”

“Babies are tiny and adorable, children are good and innocent, parents are hard-working, and grandparents compliment us.”

“We are all different, but difference makes happiness! Let’s all march together! We’re all important! We’re all important!”

- From the lyrics written by children. -

Children playing musical instruments together.

Children were then invited to play a variety of unique musical instruments many of which they had never heard of, such as the gamelan, the ranat, the kuaiban, the clatter pillar, the pa-ah, the resonance bell, the xylophone, the ocean drum, the rain stick, the chime bell, the tingsha, the windchime, the temple block, the drum, the jang-gu, the thunder drum, the gathering drum, and the cymbals. By playing these different instruments and playing them together for a symphony, children learned how to make differences come together for a single shared cause.

The instructors and trainees participating in the program agree that music is effective at lowering barriers and enabling people to enjoy each other’s company despite their differences. They also highlight that musical instruments can express our inner feelings because one can play the same instrument lightheartedly or sadly depending on one’s mood. Music is thus an important medium of emotions. There is nothing better than creative activities like music that can help children understand cultural diversity and open their minds.

As these teachers noted, every single child at the concert was eager to participate. They had a great time writing the lyrics and creating their dance moves. The shared fun indeed brought them together closer than ever.

The teacher from Gyerim Elementary who accompanied the children commented: “It was a great time for kids, as they were able to get their hands on musical instruments and learning tools they do not normally see in schools, and experienced and understood the importance of cultural diversity.”

The ACC intends to update and elaborate the program based on feedback from this pilot version so that the standard version can be distributed to local schools beginning next year. The program, utilizing culture and the arts to awaken children to cultural diversity, is hoped to make actual changes in public school settings.

Wi Sang-on, the curator at the Culture and Education Division who led the program, says she naturally thought of the ACC Academy graduates when she planned the ACC-GNUE Cultural Diversity Program. The collaboration of students from the two different institutions through programs like this not only enrich children’s lives with creative, artistic, and social activities, but also enable the ACC Academy graduates to practice and hone their skills, while also giving aspiring teachers at GNUE opportunities to enhance their cultural and artistic sensitivity. The ACC expects more collaborative programs like this to continue in the future.