September 19, 2024 • 28 mins
In this episode, Peter explores how to create supportive spaces for self-expression, especially for quieter individuals, tackling insightful listener questions, ranging from educators and child psychologists to a young artist, about how art, music, and classroom environments can foster creativity and communication. Peter also reflects on his own favorite form of expression and the role of creativity in building confidence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The accomplishment isn't when one is finished with something.
It's the journey, so to speak. It's in the doing that each step you take is
part of the experience of accomplishment.
Starting to make something from nothing can seem like a daunting task,
but one has to feel free enough inside to be able to take it on,
(00:24):
just to venture forth and see what can come of it.
And I think that kind words along the way always help.
Music.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Intentional Expressions podcast with host
Peter Karpu, helping you rethink, create, and empower through the social impact
(00:48):
of artistic expression.
On today's episode, we are going to explore learning to express oneself and
making space for quiet voices.
With questions from listeners, submit after our last episode.
My name is James, and I will be prompting our discussion for today.
Hello, Peter, and thank you for having me. Hello, James. How are you doing?
(01:08):
I'm great. I'm great. It's so great to meet with you again.
And I understand that you have a quote that you wanted to share to kick off
the second episode, Intentional Expressions. Yes, I do.
I thought it was apropos. It's one that I've enjoyed ever since I saw it the
first time it was a combined artwork with the saying itself and it's from the actress Felicia Rashad,
(01:32):
and the quote is before a child talks they sing before they write they draw
as soon as they stand they dance art is fundamental to human expression I've
always been fond of that quote I feel like Like, she's an actress,
and I think she was a dancer as a younger person,
(01:55):
as well as an actress.
But she gets to the heart of it, certainly with children, especially.
And how has this quote helped to guide or inspire you in the work that you've done?
It's important to remember that children are natural actors.
They're naturals. They don't need to be told how to use crayons.
(02:16):
They know how to do it. they know what to do. They, they have a sense of what
they'll do and they have confidence that they'll do it.
And it's like walking on a beam.
Or a railroad track without falling off, or trying to ride a bicycle and staying upright.
(02:39):
What you witness is the confidence to go get on with it and try it.
It's a combination of curiosity and a kind of know-how that can only come from doing.
Another distinction, it's a beautiful quote that I read from an interview with
(03:01):
an artist named Etel Adnan.
She was originally from Izmir, Turkey.
And her mother was Greek and her father was Turkish.
And she also spoke French and lived in Paris.
So here's someone who had a really broad understanding of the world and and
(03:23):
experience in art and different systems of how we interact with the world.
And she feels that the choice of words that we use also is, and children know
this, is that they're likely to say that they make something. They don't say create.
Now, Atela's thought on this was that creation lends more to conversations about
(03:50):
religion or spirituality, which is fine.
But with the idea of making is somewhere more to the point.
And even itself, the word is almost onomatopoetic. It lends itself to the actual act of making.
And the tangibility of making. Children, when they make something, they feel it.
(04:15):
And so this judgment of going for it brings all of the elements together of
the senses, but it's also still a gamble.
It's being new in the world, as all children are.
And some of this echoes as one's older in different ways for someone who's an
(04:35):
adolescent or young adult, or someone who who indeed is an adult, for example.
And of course, I have my background, my work background, as a reference point
for how it is that I've seen these philosophies of making, so to speak, come into being.
(04:55):
So Peter, today's topics are learning to express oneself with intention and
making space for quiet voices.
And can you talk a little bit about, I know those are two points,
But can you talk a bit about those and how they the interplay between them?
Children who are new to school, for example, the young ones I'll start off talking
(05:16):
about in a school setting.
Sometimes it's the first time they've been away from their family and it's the
first time they haven't been around siblings.
So they have the reference point relating to their siblings to be among peers
who they don't know yet. or the teacher as someone of authority who would be
(05:38):
like a parent or a guardian.
But other than that, it's utterly new territory socially.
And it's easy to forget that. Some children are very adventurous and they're ready to go.
They're ready to try something new. Among others, they don't know.
Some children are able to form fast friends with strangers of their own age group.
(06:03):
Others, not so much. And again, for those youths who have a more problematic
relationship with being among others based on perhaps their experience,
for example, working at the Center for Runaway Homeless Youth,
the issues of feeling...
(06:26):
Set aside, much of the interiority of the moment was ever-present for some.
It took some doing for them to loosen up.
But I'll give you a couple of examples from the past that involve young adults.
There was a drawing group that I had once, and youth were working at a table sharing materials.
(06:51):
And there was one girl who never did any drawing at all. She was not interested in drawing.
It wasn't clear what she was interested in. She wasn't talking to anyone,
but she wasn't combative or hesitant with anyone.
But she had a way of keeping her bumpers out.
And she wasn't allowing anyone to really get past this invisible shield she
(07:16):
had around not really wanting to engage.
I looked at her desire to at least
be with the group as her form of engagement. That was her first take.
And I wanted her to know that she was perfectly welcome to enter the group that way.
And I wanted her peers to recognize that as well, which they did.
(07:41):
They were willing to do that.
She stayed with the group long enough, off, I thought, well,
maybe I can try a next step.
Would you be interested in continuing to sit still as you are,
but on purpose? Can I do a drawing of you?
And it'll be a portrait. And when I'm finished, you can have it if you want
(08:01):
to. Well, that was very flattering.
I don't think anybody had ever done a drawing of her before.
And most people find that kind of thrilling in a way, If it looks good, that is.
In the process of doing the portrait, she loosened up quite a bit.
In some ways, I could tell by her facial expressions.
(08:24):
She seemed more at ease, less baleful looking around, none of that.
At the end of the session, I gave her the drawing. And then it came out that
she was interested more in music.
So she engaged in the music program of our art program and worked with my colleague,
who was a musician herself and a singer.
(08:48):
And not only did this girl have a lovely voice,
but in the song she wanted to sing for Performing Arts Night,
she learned the song she was able to hit a high c very difficult note to hit and she hit it and
the performance that came she showed up she was able to see see it through and
(09:12):
she hit the note and it was a transformation in a way she just it was a flowering
so to speak she crossed a personal threshold that involved the fear of failure,
but also the enjoyment of succeeding.
Of setting out to do something and then doing it and recognizing that it was accomplished.
(09:37):
Now you know what it's like to have a goal and now you know what it's like to
complete the task and achieve the goal.
Sounds simpler than it really is, but it's very dynamic crossing for a young person.
For those looking for more information on a nonprofit organization they can
(09:58):
support, helping kids and families who support them to express themselves through
art, visit www.kidsandart.org.
Kids and Art programs are offered directly to patient families as well as through
care centers and works with professional artists to design art experiences,
tailor projects and workshops to the unique needs and circumstances of children
(10:21):
facing serious illness.
What are some other ways that, let's say you're in a, one is in a similar position
that you were in working with youth and trying to help them find their voice
or come out of their shell.
While you were able to draw a portrait, I imagine there are many others who
may not be able to use that as a tool.
(10:41):
And so what are some other ways that one could approach a young person or even
an adult to try to help them get out of their shell or be able to express themselves
when they're having trouble with it?
If they've begun something, for example, and stopped,
or you see that they're struggling with it,
(11:02):
they may have the beginning of an image and enough elements to respond to and
to help them engage with the thing that they're doing and recognize that they're
actually accomplishing something already. ready.
The accomplishment isn't when one is finished with something.
It's the journey, so to speak. It's in the doing that each step you take is
(11:26):
part of the experience of accomplishment.
And for some youth, for some even young adults, and even adults that I've worked
with, that wasn't necessarily anything that they had experienced before.
Starting to make something from nothing
is is can seem like a daunting task
(11:48):
but one has to feel free enough
inside to be able to take it on just just to venture forth and see what can
come of it and i think that kind words along the way always help also peers
that are nearby who are encouraging That always helps.
(12:09):
These are the preliminary actions
that occur when one's setting out to do something, to make something.
For the person who has trouble expressing themselves with words or even facing someone,
even looking at someone in the eye when they're speaking to them,
(12:29):
they may have a very, very strong sense of revulsion to sharing much.
So a breakthrough can be a mark on a piece of paper, not so much a finished
work, but that they do something.
Something also putting it up on the wall with
other pieces if they think it's finished however accomplished it is isn't the
(12:54):
point it's that their effort was an accomplishment in itself the encouragement
to continue is is also important that we'll keep going at this you know it's it,
do continue there's this something that you're doing here with this color it's
marvelous Or a youth will say something that's interesting.
(13:17):
I like how you do this, this certain thing you did here. Can I do mine that way?
Different kinds of interactions that occur that are verbal, that are cues of,
you know, conspiring together to finish something.
In the sense that even though one is working on one's own, it is still a social
(13:38):
action to be among others, but completing a task in art.
We have some questions from our listeners on this topic.
And the first one is from a teacher that asks, as an educator,
how can I create a classroom environment that encourages every child,
especially the quieter ones, to feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas? is?
(14:01):
It's definitely an important question in a classroom that the teacher endeavors
to make it a safe place at the outset.
It's what youth can determine, am I going to be safe here?
Especially if it's a new school, it's a new environment for them.
(14:21):
Everything's new to them. They may have arrived in town with their family in
the dead of night, ended up in a shelter, And now here you are in a new among strangers.
And, you know, how do you cross that threshold into more fully being where you are?
(14:42):
And youth are the ones who sometimes can really make that transition quicker
even than adults having to do with the way they feel safe. So I think that's
an important one right there.
So if there's natural light, that you have natural light in the classroom as
(15:04):
much as possible, and that maybe you arrange the chairs so they're in a circle.
And in the desks, if you can do it so that the children can see each other and
they can not feel that there's a pecking order,
that the people up front are more important to the instructor than the people in the back.
(15:29):
It's the hierarchies are broken down. So, again,
we're looking at the social importance of the environment feeling as free as
possible so that the youth doesn't have to worry about that.
Now they can just get involved in the fun engagement of doing art.
(15:49):
And how about encouraging, and this is just a follow-up for me,
how about encouraging students to give each other space or time to be able to
express themselves, especially when you think in that environment,
there will be some who are very outgoing.
Who take very quickly to the instruction or the projects that are being worked on.
(16:09):
How could one communicate to the group that there are different types of people
there and to make space for them?
Depending on how old the youth are, if it's young people, we're talking about
some of the earliest interactions that bring the class together, focusing on one.
(16:30):
Up here, for example, might be a show-and-tell moment where a youth shows a
photograph of their favorite animal,
for example, or they did a drawing of their favorite animal.
They stand up and they show the picture and they explain what kind of elephant
(16:51):
it is, where it is. Is it an Asian elephant?
Is it an African elephant? What's the difference, you know? And maybe there
are kids present who know.
And so they're engaged with this drawing, which has started a conversation among
the peers with the instructor being involved, too, of course.
(17:12):
It's an important experience for a shy child to find that other youths like
what they're doing or can relate to what they're doing or wish to respond. Bond.
And it's a icebreaker for them.
That's really the biggest challenge at hand, is making the environment safe,
(17:35):
and then the invitation to create, or shall we say, make something.
If it's in drawing or if it's in sculpture, for example,
it was found in a study in Britain that for young adolescent women and middle
school-aged girls who had experienced sexual problems or rape,
(17:59):
that they got the most out of sculpture.
It was extremely gratifying for them.
And I think it was something they didn't expect.
It was the case that the different arts have different effects on children,
sometimes singing together as a class.
Songs that have choruses that are repeated in different sides of the room can
(18:23):
take turns singing different lines from a song. It can be exciting.
It can be fun. Even the flubs that you make, it's fun to laugh and then to repeat the song.
But all of this is a way of experiencing it together.
Certainly with singing, you're using your mind to remember the words,
(18:44):
but you're also physically involved with the song and you're hearing everyone else around you.
I think that it's this idea that as the child is engaged, is personally engaged.
That the walls of division, especially when one is amongst others,
are broken down so that you can find that even when you're in a classroom full
(19:09):
of your peers, you can have your own space.
Say your own piece, you know, express yourself in what it is you wish to say,
but it is also part of a whole.
And when you put your work up on the wall with other people's work on the wall, it's like a chorus.
You have all the voices together at once, and you can appreciate them all together or individually.
(19:40):
Are you an adult struggling with how to communicate with other adults,
especially when in a conflict scenario?
Www.communityboards.org is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization,
one of the longest running in the country, that helps with conflict resolution
and restorative justice training and practice.
So if you're having difficulty getting through a conflict and would like some
(20:03):
assistance, this nonprofit organization.
The next question we have comes from a child psychologist who asks,
Can you share some insights on how different forms of expression,
like art and music, can benefit children who struggle with verbal communication?
And how can we incorporate these forms of expression into their daily routines?
(20:26):
I think that for young people, we don't suspect are going through some traumatic
moment that involves more immediate attention,
such as speaking with a case manager and that sort of thing.
But someone who is just new to the milieu, perhaps they've already done a check
(20:47):
in and those sorts of things are in progress.
It's important to get them into the group as quickly as possible,
but also as naturally as possible.
Again, going back to how does a child feel, maybe they would prefer to sit on
the outskirts of the group and observe what's going on first,
(21:11):
and then join in at some point later where they feel comfortable enough to. you.
Final question we have is from a 12-year-old, a young person that says,
I love drawing, but I'm nervous about showing my artwork to others.
How can I get better at sharing my drawings and talking about them without feeling scared?
I think what's important, and it's worked well with me, is to allow for their
(21:36):
youth to understand is that they can take a pass.
So say, for example, this this thing that
we've done today or you're drawing your favorite
animal you wish to stop and you
don't want to continue or you're you don't even want to begin there's something
else you just want to sit still and look at your at your book and and and perhaps
(22:00):
that's the best thing for you to do and then you know just have a moment where
you can check in with the youth at some point, oh, are you doing okay?
Are things okay with you?
And make sure that they're all right. That's the most important thing.
But also that.
When they see their peers having fun and then showing their work,
(22:23):
and also that they're using colors that perhaps this child would love to be able to use,
at some point, they may just elect to join the group on their own and get on
with it. And I've seen that happen before.
And you never know when that can happen. But when it does, it feels really good
(22:45):
to know that they finally felt
strong enough to be able to assert themselves and step into the group.
And I find that young people are very understanding of how that is.
And also their understanding that when that person wants to join,
they're welcome to join.
(23:06):
It's interesting to see that the dynamics, the social dynamics among young children
is that they understand each other pretty well. And yet, you know,
they're still figuring life out. They're figuring school out.
They're figuring out a lot of things that are still new for them.
And that's the part that I think as a teacher is to encourage them to learn
(23:33):
and to wish to learn and to not resent it,
but because of some sort of enforcement that's going on around them being a part of it.
But at the same time, though it's an expectation that they join in and they
participate, it is something that can be worked out.
(23:56):
And if you give a child a chance to come to you to explain themselves on their
time, they'll do it. They will step forward.
They will express themselves in a quiet, safe way. And it might be the hurdle
that helps them get past this lockup they have around engaging.
(24:20):
Well, thank you, Peter, for that. I have one question for you.
What's your favorite form of expression?
And we talk a lot about different tools and ourselves for young people,
for adults, but what about you personally?
How do you express yourself with intention these days?
It's not an easy question for me
to answer i i have always enjoyed visual
(24:42):
art to make and at
the same time i enjoy literature and writing
poems and that sort of thing and being engaged with with words and i've always
interest been interested in artists that did both because i i wasn't aware that
that there were artists that did both but there have been search as a person
(25:05):
I quoted earlier, Etel Adnan,
who was teaching at Dominican College just north of San Francisco for many years,
but had lived around the world, mostly in Paris.
But such as she, or more famously, perhaps, D.
H. Lawrence, the English author in the 20th century, or going back a little
(25:28):
farther, William Blake.
But I think that the experiences that I have of when I'm writing is that language is vastly rich.
It's like the sea.
There's the surface of it and how one can use it without going very deep.
(25:49):
And then there's the very deep nature of it is that you can, in writing,
produce layers of meaning and a great deal can be gone through and in just very
little space with very few words and with an economy of means.
But I find that also the process, the journey of drawing or painting is very engaging to me.
(26:15):
And when I am able to finish a drawing or a painting,
I have had a great feeling of accomplishment In so far as I felt that I was
following a kind of dictation, that the colors were speaking to me, so to speak,
and I was merely responding the right way.
(26:37):
Towards the resolution of the work.
And that's been very satisfying as well.
It's very hard for me to separate the two. I know I'm cheating, but it's just the case.
Thank you, Peter, and to our listeners for joining us today.
With a special shout out to those of you in Bahrain, Switzerland,
Germany, and Greece, and across the United States who joined us for our first episode.
(27:02):
We're very excited to see how many people came to listen to the first one. So thank you so much.
The theme for our next episode will be about the importance of art and of having
access to the tools needed to express yourself.
Please leave a comment on this episode. If you're listening, please do take a moment.
Leave a comment on this episode with a question for Peter to answer during the
(27:24):
next episode is where we get our questions from.
And we encourage you to please participate.
They're anonymous, as you have heard. We don't give away any information about
those who've shared them. Thank you, Peter.
Thank you, James. Is there anything you'd like to say to our listeners from our first episode?
I'm excited about the possibility of questions and comments and.
(27:50):
Interesting responses that would extend my education, so to speak,
as far as my outlook look for working with young people and older young adults.
But it's been a great opportunity to speak about what I have done and experienced,
(28:11):
and it's been a great pleasure. Thank you.
Peter Karpu has spent decades supporting youth and vulnerable populations through
arts, education, and advocacy.
Listen in on our next episode to learn how you can express yourself with intention. Thank you.
Music.
The accomplishment isn't when one is finished with something.
It's the journey, so to speak. It's in the doing that each step you take is
part of the experience of accomplishment.
Starting to make something from nothing can seem like a daunting task,
but one has to feel free enough inside to be able to take it on,
(00:24):
just to venture forth and see what can come of it.
And I think that kind words along the way always help.
Music.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Intentional Expressions podcast with host
Peter Karpu, helping you rethink, create, and empower through the social impact
(00:48):
of artistic expression.
On today's episode, we are going to explore learning to express oneself and
making space for quiet voices.
With questions from listeners, submit after our last episode.
My name is James, and I will be prompting our discussion for today.
Hello, Peter, and thank you for having me. Hello, James. How are you doing?
(01:08):
I'm great. I'm great. It's so great to meet with you again.
And I understand that you have a quote that you wanted to share to kick off
the second episode, Intentional Expressions. Yes, I do.
I thought it was apropos. It's one that I've enjoyed ever since I saw it the
first time it was a combined artwork with the saying itself and it's from the actress Felicia Rashad,
(01:32):
and the quote is before a child talks they sing before they write they draw
as soon as they stand they dance art is fundamental to human expression I've
always been fond of that quote I feel like Like, she's an actress,
and I think she was a dancer as a younger person,
(01:55):
as well as an actress.
But she gets to the heart of it, certainly with children, especially.
And how has this quote helped to guide or inspire you in the work that you've done?
It's important to remember that children are natural actors.
They're naturals. They don't need to be told how to use crayons.
(02:16):
They know how to do it. they know what to do. They, they have a sense of what
they'll do and they have confidence that they'll do it.
And it's like walking on a beam.
Or a railroad track without falling off, or trying to ride a bicycle and staying upright.
(02:39):
What you witness is the confidence to go get on with it and try it.
It's a combination of curiosity and a kind of know-how that can only come from doing.
Another distinction, it's a beautiful quote that I read from an interview with
(03:01):
an artist named Etel Adnan.
She was originally from Izmir, Turkey.
And her mother was Greek and her father was Turkish.
And she also spoke French and lived in Paris.
So here's someone who had a really broad understanding of the world and and
(03:23):
experience in art and different systems of how we interact with the world.
And she feels that the choice of words that we use also is, and children know
this, is that they're likely to say that they make something. They don't say create.
Now, Atela's thought on this was that creation lends more to conversations about
(03:50):
religion or spirituality, which is fine.
But with the idea of making is somewhere more to the point.
And even itself, the word is almost onomatopoetic. It lends itself to the actual act of making.
And the tangibility of making. Children, when they make something, they feel it.
(04:15):
And so this judgment of going for it brings all of the elements together of
the senses, but it's also still a gamble.
It's being new in the world, as all children are.
And some of this echoes as one's older in different ways for someone who's an
(04:35):
adolescent or young adult, or someone who who indeed is an adult, for example.
And of course, I have my background, my work background, as a reference point
for how it is that I've seen these philosophies of making, so to speak, come into being.
(04:55):
So Peter, today's topics are learning to express oneself with intention and
making space for quiet voices.
And can you talk a little bit about, I know those are two points,
But can you talk a bit about those and how they the interplay between them?
Children who are new to school, for example, the young ones I'll start off talking
(05:16):
about in a school setting.
Sometimes it's the first time they've been away from their family and it's the
first time they haven't been around siblings.
So they have the reference point relating to their siblings to be among peers
who they don't know yet. or the teacher as someone of authority who would be
(05:38):
like a parent or a guardian.
But other than that, it's utterly new territory socially.
And it's easy to forget that. Some children are very adventurous and they're ready to go.
They're ready to try something new. Among others, they don't know.
Some children are able to form fast friends with strangers of their own age group.
(06:03):
Others, not so much. And again, for those youths who have a more problematic
relationship with being among others based on perhaps their experience,
for example, working at the Center for Runaway Homeless Youth,
the issues of feeling...
(06:26):
Set aside, much of the interiority of the moment was ever-present for some.
It took some doing for them to loosen up.
But I'll give you a couple of examples from the past that involve young adults.
There was a drawing group that I had once, and youth were working at a table sharing materials.
(06:51):
And there was one girl who never did any drawing at all. She was not interested in drawing.
It wasn't clear what she was interested in. She wasn't talking to anyone,
but she wasn't combative or hesitant with anyone.
But she had a way of keeping her bumpers out.
And she wasn't allowing anyone to really get past this invisible shield she
(07:16):
had around not really wanting to engage.
I looked at her desire to at least
be with the group as her form of engagement. That was her first take.
And I wanted her to know that she was perfectly welcome to enter the group that way.
And I wanted her peers to recognize that as well, which they did.
(07:41):
They were willing to do that.
She stayed with the group long enough, off, I thought, well,
maybe I can try a next step.
Would you be interested in continuing to sit still as you are,
but on purpose? Can I do a drawing of you?
And it'll be a portrait. And when I'm finished, you can have it if you want
(08:01):
to. Well, that was very flattering.
I don't think anybody had ever done a drawing of her before.
And most people find that kind of thrilling in a way, If it looks good, that is.
In the process of doing the portrait, she loosened up quite a bit.
In some ways, I could tell by her facial expressions.
(08:24):
She seemed more at ease, less baleful looking around, none of that.
At the end of the session, I gave her the drawing. And then it came out that
she was interested more in music.
So she engaged in the music program of our art program and worked with my colleague,
who was a musician herself and a singer.
(08:48):
And not only did this girl have a lovely voice,
but in the song she wanted to sing for Performing Arts Night,
she learned the song she was able to hit a high c very difficult note to hit and she hit it and
the performance that came she showed up she was able to see see it through and
(09:12):
she hit the note and it was a transformation in a way she just it was a flowering
so to speak she crossed a personal threshold that involved the fear of failure,
but also the enjoyment of succeeding.
Of setting out to do something and then doing it and recognizing that it was accomplished.
(09:37):
Now you know what it's like to have a goal and now you know what it's like to
complete the task and achieve the goal.
Sounds simpler than it really is, but it's very dynamic crossing for a young person.
For those looking for more information on a nonprofit organization they can
(09:58):
support, helping kids and families who support them to express themselves through
art, visit www.kidsandart.org.
Kids and Art programs are offered directly to patient families as well as through
care centers and works with professional artists to design art experiences,
tailor projects and workshops to the unique needs and circumstances of children
(10:21):
facing serious illness.
What are some other ways that, let's say you're in a, one is in a similar position
that you were in working with youth and trying to help them find their voice
or come out of their shell.
While you were able to draw a portrait, I imagine there are many others who
may not be able to use that as a tool.
(10:41):
And so what are some other ways that one could approach a young person or even
an adult to try to help them get out of their shell or be able to express themselves
when they're having trouble with it?
If they've begun something, for example, and stopped,
or you see that they're struggling with it,
(11:02):
they may have the beginning of an image and enough elements to respond to and
to help them engage with the thing that they're doing and recognize that they're
actually accomplishing something already. ready.
The accomplishment isn't when one is finished with something.
It's the journey, so to speak. It's in the doing that each step you take is
(11:26):
part of the experience of accomplishment.
And for some youth, for some even young adults, and even adults that I've worked
with, that wasn't necessarily anything that they had experienced before.
Starting to make something from nothing
is is can seem like a daunting task
(11:48):
but one has to feel free enough
inside to be able to take it on just just to venture forth and see what can
come of it and i think that kind words along the way always help also peers
that are nearby who are encouraging That always helps.
(12:09):
These are the preliminary actions
that occur when one's setting out to do something, to make something.
For the person who has trouble expressing themselves with words or even facing someone,
even looking at someone in the eye when they're speaking to them,
(12:29):
they may have a very, very strong sense of revulsion to sharing much.
So a breakthrough can be a mark on a piece of paper, not so much a finished
work, but that they do something.
Something also putting it up on the wall with
other pieces if they think it's finished however accomplished it is isn't the
(12:54):
point it's that their effort was an accomplishment in itself the encouragement
to continue is is also important that we'll keep going at this you know it's it,
do continue there's this something that you're doing here with this color it's
marvelous Or a youth will say something that's interesting.
(13:17):
I like how you do this, this certain thing you did here. Can I do mine that way?
Different kinds of interactions that occur that are verbal, that are cues of,
you know, conspiring together to finish something.
In the sense that even though one is working on one's own, it is still a social
(13:38):
action to be among others, but completing a task in art.
We have some questions from our listeners on this topic.
And the first one is from a teacher that asks, as an educator,
how can I create a classroom environment that encourages every child,
especially the quieter ones, to feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas? is?
(14:01):
It's definitely an important question in a classroom that the teacher endeavors
to make it a safe place at the outset.
It's what youth can determine, am I going to be safe here?
Especially if it's a new school, it's a new environment for them.
(14:21):
Everything's new to them. They may have arrived in town with their family in
the dead of night, ended up in a shelter, And now here you are in a new among strangers.
And, you know, how do you cross that threshold into more fully being where you are?
(14:42):
And youth are the ones who sometimes can really make that transition quicker
even than adults having to do with the way they feel safe. So I think that's
an important one right there.
So if there's natural light, that you have natural light in the classroom as
(15:04):
much as possible, and that maybe you arrange the chairs so they're in a circle.
And in the desks, if you can do it so that the children can see each other and
they can not feel that there's a pecking order,
that the people up front are more important to the instructor than the people in the back.
(15:29):
It's the hierarchies are broken down. So, again,
we're looking at the social importance of the environment feeling as free as
possible so that the youth doesn't have to worry about that.
Now they can just get involved in the fun engagement of doing art.
(15:49):
And how about encouraging, and this is just a follow-up for me,
how about encouraging students to give each other space or time to be able to
express themselves, especially when you think in that environment,
there will be some who are very outgoing.
Who take very quickly to the instruction or the projects that are being worked on.
(16:09):
How could one communicate to the group that there are different types of people
there and to make space for them?
Depending on how old the youth are, if it's young people, we're talking about
some of the earliest interactions that bring the class together, focusing on one.
(16:30):
Up here, for example, might be a show-and-tell moment where a youth shows a
photograph of their favorite animal,
for example, or they did a drawing of their favorite animal.
They stand up and they show the picture and they explain what kind of elephant
(16:51):
it is, where it is. Is it an Asian elephant?
Is it an African elephant? What's the difference, you know? And maybe there
are kids present who know.
And so they're engaged with this drawing, which has started a conversation among
the peers with the instructor being involved, too, of course.
(17:12):
It's an important experience for a shy child to find that other youths like
what they're doing or can relate to what they're doing or wish to respond. Bond.
And it's a icebreaker for them.
That's really the biggest challenge at hand, is making the environment safe,
(17:35):
and then the invitation to create, or shall we say, make something.
If it's in drawing or if it's in sculpture, for example,
it was found in a study in Britain that for young adolescent women and middle
school-aged girls who had experienced sexual problems or rape,
(17:59):
that they got the most out of sculpture.
It was extremely gratifying for them.
And I think it was something they didn't expect.
It was the case that the different arts have different effects on children,
sometimes singing together as a class.
Songs that have choruses that are repeated in different sides of the room can
(18:23):
take turns singing different lines from a song. It can be exciting.
It can be fun. Even the flubs that you make, it's fun to laugh and then to repeat the song.
But all of this is a way of experiencing it together.
Certainly with singing, you're using your mind to remember the words,
(18:44):
but you're also physically involved with the song and you're hearing everyone else around you.
I think that it's this idea that as the child is engaged, is personally engaged.
That the walls of division, especially when one is amongst others,
are broken down so that you can find that even when you're in a classroom full
(19:09):
of your peers, you can have your own space.
Say your own piece, you know, express yourself in what it is you wish to say,
but it is also part of a whole.
And when you put your work up on the wall with other people's work on the wall, it's like a chorus.
You have all the voices together at once, and you can appreciate them all together or individually.
(19:40):
Are you an adult struggling with how to communicate with other adults,
especially when in a conflict scenario?
Www.communityboards.org is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization,
one of the longest running in the country, that helps with conflict resolution
and restorative justice training and practice.
So if you're having difficulty getting through a conflict and would like some
(20:03):
assistance, this nonprofit organization.
The next question we have comes from a child psychologist who asks,
Can you share some insights on how different forms of expression,
like art and music, can benefit children who struggle with verbal communication?
And how can we incorporate these forms of expression into their daily routines?
(20:26):
I think that for young people, we don't suspect are going through some traumatic
moment that involves more immediate attention,
such as speaking with a case manager and that sort of thing.
But someone who is just new to the milieu, perhaps they've already done a check
(20:47):
in and those sorts of things are in progress.
It's important to get them into the group as quickly as possible,
but also as naturally as possible.
Again, going back to how does a child feel, maybe they would prefer to sit on
the outskirts of the group and observe what's going on first,
(21:11):
and then join in at some point later where they feel comfortable enough to. you.
Final question we have is from a 12-year-old, a young person that says,
I love drawing, but I'm nervous about showing my artwork to others.
How can I get better at sharing my drawings and talking about them without feeling scared?
I think what's important, and it's worked well with me, is to allow for their
(21:36):
youth to understand is that they can take a pass.
So say, for example, this this thing that
we've done today or you're drawing your favorite
animal you wish to stop and you
don't want to continue or you're you don't even want to begin there's something
else you just want to sit still and look at your at your book and and and perhaps
(22:00):
that's the best thing for you to do and then you know just have a moment where
you can check in with the youth at some point, oh, are you doing okay?
Are things okay with you?
And make sure that they're all right. That's the most important thing.
But also that.
When they see their peers having fun and then showing their work,
(22:23):
and also that they're using colors that perhaps this child would love to be able to use,
at some point, they may just elect to join the group on their own and get on
with it. And I've seen that happen before.
And you never know when that can happen. But when it does, it feels really good
(22:45):
to know that they finally felt
strong enough to be able to assert themselves and step into the group.
And I find that young people are very understanding of how that is.
And also their understanding that when that person wants to join,
they're welcome to join.
(23:06):
It's interesting to see that the dynamics, the social dynamics among young children
is that they understand each other pretty well. And yet, you know,
they're still figuring life out. They're figuring school out.
They're figuring out a lot of things that are still new for them.
And that's the part that I think as a teacher is to encourage them to learn
(23:33):
and to wish to learn and to not resent it,
but because of some sort of enforcement that's going on around them being a part of it.
But at the same time, though it's an expectation that they join in and they
participate, it is something that can be worked out.
(23:56):
And if you give a child a chance to come to you to explain themselves on their
time, they'll do it. They will step forward.
They will express themselves in a quiet, safe way. And it might be the hurdle
that helps them get past this lockup they have around engaging.
(24:20):
Well, thank you, Peter, for that. I have one question for you.
What's your favorite form of expression?
And we talk a lot about different tools and ourselves for young people,
for adults, but what about you personally?
How do you express yourself with intention these days?
It's not an easy question for me
to answer i i have always enjoyed visual
(24:42):
art to make and at
the same time i enjoy literature and writing
poems and that sort of thing and being engaged with with words and i've always
interest been interested in artists that did both because i i wasn't aware that
that there were artists that did both but there have been search as a person
(25:05):
I quoted earlier, Etel Adnan,
who was teaching at Dominican College just north of San Francisco for many years,
but had lived around the world, mostly in Paris.
But such as she, or more famously, perhaps, D.
H. Lawrence, the English author in the 20th century, or going back a little
(25:28):
farther, William Blake.
But I think that the experiences that I have of when I'm writing is that language is vastly rich.
It's like the sea.
There's the surface of it and how one can use it without going very deep.
(25:49):
And then there's the very deep nature of it is that you can, in writing,
produce layers of meaning and a great deal can be gone through and in just very
little space with very few words and with an economy of means.
But I find that also the process, the journey of drawing or painting is very engaging to me.
(26:15):
And when I am able to finish a drawing or a painting,
I have had a great feeling of accomplishment In so far as I felt that I was
following a kind of dictation, that the colors were speaking to me, so to speak,
and I was merely responding the right way.
(26:37):
Towards the resolution of the work.
And that's been very satisfying as well.
It's very hard for me to separate the two. I know I'm cheating, but it's just the case.
Thank you, Peter, and to our listeners for joining us today.
With a special shout out to those of you in Bahrain, Switzerland,
Germany, and Greece, and across the United States who joined us for our first episode.
(27:02):
We're very excited to see how many people came to listen to the first one. So thank you so much.
The theme for our next episode will be about the importance of art and of having
access to the tools needed to express yourself.
Please leave a comment on this episode. If you're listening, please do take a moment.
Leave a comment on this episode with a question for Peter to answer during the
(27:24):
next episode is where we get our questions from.
And we encourage you to please participate.
They're anonymous, as you have heard. We don't give away any information about
those who've shared them. Thank you, Peter.
Thank you, James. Is there anything you'd like to say to our listeners from our first episode?
I'm excited about the possibility of questions and comments and.
(27:50):
Interesting responses that would extend my education, so to speak,
as far as my outlook look for working with young people and older young adults.
But it's been a great opportunity to speak about what I have done and experienced,
(28:11):
and it's been a great pleasure. Thank you.
Peter Karpu has spent decades supporting youth and vulnerable populations through
arts, education, and advocacy.
Listen in on our next episode to learn how you can express yourself with intention. Thank you.
Music.
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