Nurturing Inner Peace and Values: A Case Study of Nature Drawing in Non-Art-Specialized Prospective Teachers

Abstract

In schools, administrators and most of the teachers (upto K-12) are often non-artists; they may consider art a fringe subject. Their art experience matters. Therefore, I designed a workshop on ‘nature drawing’ theme, aiming to develop art and nature appreciation through creative pedagogy. 35 Non-art-specialized prospective teachers had participated in the workshop and data was collected in the form of their written reflections along with drawings. Findings revealed that their artwork reflected deep observation, originality, fearlessness, independent feeling-based decision-making, and self-created symbols. Their experiences expressed a sense of holistic experience and calmness. The workshop fostered inner peace and human values, appreciation of art and nature, thereby supporting the Sustainable Development Goals for quality education, and inner peace. Thus, art and nature should be the basis of education, as they are excellent teachers for human development and growth. This workshop can be included in the non-art-specialized pre-service teacher education curriculum.