The Art of Teaching: Learning Gratitude Through Primary Art

What happens when an entire primary school comes together to create one piece of art? 

At Nexus International School Singapore, hundreds of individual contributions have transformed a collection of white objects into a vibrant, collaborative installation, with every colourful dot representing something meaningful to one of our learners.

Inspired by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room, our primary learners have each added a dot representing a person, place, experience or moment they are grateful for. Individually, each mark is small. Together, they have created something striking: a piece of art shaped by the thoughts, experiences and creativity of our entire primary community.

But this installation is about more than creating something visually impressive. It is an opportunity for learners to explore an internationally recognised artist, express ideas that may be difficult to put into words, and see how their individual contributions can become part of something much bigger.

In this edition of The Art of Teaching, Natasa Markovic, Learning Area Leader (Primary) & Art Specialist Teacher, shares the thinking behind the installation and why meaningful creative experiences are such an important part of learning. With more than 18 years of experience in education, Natasa brings extensive expertise to her work with young learners, designing experiences that develop creativity while giving learners the confidence to express their own ideas.

Inspired by Yayoi Kusama

For Natasa, bringing this idea into Nexus was an opportunity not only to introduce learners to an influential artist, but to connect her work with a theme that was meaningful to the school community.

“We wanted to honour Kusama as an artist, after her years and years of amazing work and contributions to the art world. We connected this immersive artwork to the theme of gratitude and wanted to show how even one small mark can become part of something much bigger.”

Giving learners a voice through art

“Art gives young learners a way to express ideas, feelings and experiences that they may not always be able to communicate through words.”

This is one of the reasons creative experiences are so valuable in primary education. A simple choice of colour, shape or mark can represent something deeply personal, while the process of making that choice gives learners ownership over their ideas.

“Art develops creativity, confidence, curiosity, and a sense of agency while also showing learners that their ideas and contributions have value.”

The installation put this philosophy into practice. There is no single correct answer for what a dot should represent. Each learner makes their own connection, makes their own choice and contributes it to a shared piece of work.