ACQUISITION OF COMPETENCIES IN VISUAL ARTS THROUGH OUT-OFSCHOOL AND EXTRACURRICULAR PROJECT AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The action research titled ‘The Color Week’ involved students of the Petar Kočić Gymnasium in Novi Grad and the Sveti Sava Grammar School in Prijedor, who learnt firsthand about colors, their meaning and psychological impact on individuals and surroundings, with the aim of reducing their own and other people’s prejudices toward colors and connecting them to their personal experiences. The participants kept diaries, in which they wrote about their daily experiences. Several methods of work were used in the research, such as teamwork, support groups, action-directed method and problem solving. The results mostly point out there is insufficient knowledge of colors in our communities, generally reserved and unwilling to accept otherness and change, and thus profile both our society and the individuals that comprise it. Schools must be aware of their obligation to develop young people’s thinking skills as the only way to prepare them for life in the future.