Screenprinting in the Classroom
For Teachers, Administration, and Parents
Our mission is to empower anyone, anywhere to screenprint.
Screenprinting is an extremely versatile printing process that involves pressing ink through a stencilled mesh screen to create a printed design.
Unlike other print processes, screenprinting is accessible and can be economical. It’s often bold effects make it popular for posters, fine art prints, and textile production. It is also a modern manufacturing process used to make printed electronics for mobile phones, control systems, medical devices, auto parts, solar cells, batteries, and much more.Screenprinting is an art form, an applied skill and applied technology, and can be a stimulator for entrepreneurship. In your school, it can be used to satisfy curriculum requirements (keep reading!) as well as for extra-curricular activities.
Most importantly, screenprinting is FUN!
CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES
Screenprinting can satisfy the curricular requirements of your courses. Below is a brief outline of how screenprinting can be applied to the BC curriculum.
Note: this list just scratches the surface of ways in which screenprinting can meet the curricular requirements of your class! We are happy to work one-on-one with you to create a customized program that can fit within the context of your classroom. Please reach out!
Applied Design, Skills, & Technology (ADST)
Screenprinting is an applied design, skill, and technology. From K -12, screenprinting can help you meet ADST curricular competencies.
ADST EDUCATION BIG IDEAS
| GRADE | DESIGN | SKILLS | TECHNOLOGIES |
|---|---|---|---|
| K – 3 | Designs grow out of natural curiosity. | Skills can be developed through play. | Technologies are tools that extend human capabilities. |
| 4 – 5 | Designs can be improved with prototyping and testing. | Skills are developed through practice, effort, and action. | The choice of technology and tools depends on the task. |
| 6 – 8 | Design can be responsive to identified needs. | Complex tasks require the acquisition of additional skills. | Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies. |
| 9 | Social, ethical, and sustainability considerations impact design. | Complex tasks require the sequencing of skills. | Complex tasks require different technologies and tools at different stages. |
| 10 – 12 | Social, ethical, and sustainability considerations impact design and decision making. User needs and interests drive the design process. | Design choices require the evaluation and refinement of skills. | Complex tasks require different technologies and tools at different stages. Tools and technologies can be adapted for specific purposes. |
ARTs
Screenprinting is a professional and viable art medium which can engage students, encourage artful habits, and easily be leveraged to benefit the surrounding community. Screenprinting is its own unique language for creating and communication – see how it fits within your curriculum.
ARTS EDUCATION BIG IDEAS
| GRADE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| K – 1 | People create art to express who they are as individuals and community. | Engagement in the arts creates opportunities for inquiry through purposeful play. | People connect to others and share ideas through the arts. |
| 2 | Creative expression develops our unique identity and voice. | Inquiry through the arts creates opportunities for risk taking. | People connect to the hearts and minds of others in a variety of places and times through the arts. |
| 3 | The mind and body work together when creating works of art. | Creative experiences involve an interplay between exploration, inquiry, and purposeful choice. | The arts connect our experiences to the experiences of others. |
| 4 | Creative expression is a means to explore and share one’s identity within a community. | Artists experiment in a variety of ways to discover new possibilities. | Exploring works of art exposes us to diverse values, knowledge, and perspectives. |
| 5 | Engaging in creative expression and experiences expands people’s sense of identity and belonging. | Artists experiment in a variety of ways to discover new possibilities and perspectives. | Works of art influence and are influenced by the world around us. |
| 6 | Engaging in creative expression and experiences expands people’s sense of identity and community. | Artistic expressions differ across time and place. | Experiencing art is a means to develop empathy for others’ perspectives and experiences. |
| 7 | Through art making, one’s sense of identity and community continually evolves. | Experiencing art challenges our point of view and expands our understanding of others. | Engaging in the arts develops people’s ability to understand and express complex ideas. |
| 8 | Individual and collective expression can be achieved through the arts. | Creative growth requires patience, readiness to take risks, and willingness to try new approaches. | Artists often challenge the status quo and open us to new perspectives and experiences. |
| 9 | Identity is explored, expressed, and impacted through visual arts experiences. | The visual arts provide opportunities to gain insight into perspectives and experiences of people from a variety of times, places, and cultures. | Art experiences can build community and nurture relationships with others. |
| 10 | An artist’s intention transforms materials into art. | Traditions, perspectives, worldviews, and stories are shared through aesthetic experiences. Growth as an artist requires time, patience, and reflection. | Visual arts offer unique ways of exploring our identity and sense of belonging. |
| 11 | An artist’s intention transforms materials into art. | Visual arts reflect the interconnectedness of the individual, community, history, and society. Growth as an artist is dependent on perseverance, resilience, refinement, and reflection. | Artistic expression is an artist’s physical and cognitive articulation of our humanity. |
| 12 | An artist’s intention transforms materials into art. Visual arts are an essential element of culture and personal identity. | Refining artistic expression requires perseverance, resilience, and risk taking. Purposeful artistic choices enhance the depth and meaning of artistic work. | Aesthetic experiences have the power to transform our perspective. |
BUSINESS & CAREER EDUCATION
Screenprinting is an entrepreneurial venture with a low barrier for entry. It is viable for students to develop, create, and market their own screenprinted products. The learning potential is immense from business math to manufacturing and marketing to reaching an audience. The impacts from a student venture will be seen immediately within the community.
CAREER EDUCATION BIG IDEAS
| GRADE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| K -3 | Confidence develops through the process of self-discovery. | Strong communities are the result of being connected to family and community and working together toward common goals. Communities include many different roles requiring many different skills. | Learning is a lifelong enterprise. Everything we learn helps us to develop skills. Effective collaboration relies on clear, respectful communication. |
| 4 – 5 | Exploring our strengths and abilities can help us identify our goals. Public identity is influenced by personal choices and decisions. | Family and community relationships can be a source of support and guidance when solving problems and making decisions. | Good learning and work habits contribute to short- and long-term personal and career success. Leadership requires listening to and respecting the ideas of others. |
| 6 – 7 | Our attitudes toward careers are influenced by our view of ourselves as well as by our friends, family, and community. Practising respectful, ethical, inclusive behaviour prepares us for the expectations of the workplace. Our personal digital identity forms part of our public identity. | Safe environments depend on everyone following safety rules. | New experiences, both within and outside of school, expand our career skill set and options. Leadership represents good planning, goal-setting, and collaboration. |
| 8 – 9 | Reflecting on our preferences and skills helps us identify the steps we need to take to achieve our career goals. Our career paths reflect the personal, community, and educational choices we make. Adapting to economic and labour market changes requires flexibility. | The value of work in our lives, communities, and society can be viewed from diverse perspectives. | Achieving our learning goals requires effort and perseverance. |
| 10 – 12 | Career-life choices are made in a recurring cycle of planning, reflecting, adapting, and deciding. | Career-life decisions are influenced by internal and external factors, including local and global trends. Cultivating networks and reciprocal relationships can support and broaden career-life awareness and options. | Lifelong learning fosters career-life opportunities. |
Art
Extra-Curricular
Screenprinting is an engaging, empowering, and creative practice. Students may me motivated to screenprint taking part in extra-curricular clubs. Schools have many potential ways to leverage screenprinting capabilities within their school, possibly sharing the costs with different classes, departments, or clubs.
School and grad apparel
Custom apparel can be expensive and ultimately the costs get pushed onto students. With screenprinting options in your school, any school and/or grad apparel can be manufactured on-site by students. Students would be able to design their own school and/or grad apparel allowing for more affordable apparel, creative opportunity, and a closer connection to the apparel. Additionally, students will gain real life experience with manufacturing and business.
Orange and Pink Shirt Days
Increasingly showing care and support is being done through shirts. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Orange shirts) and Anti-Bullying Day (Pink shirt) are being celebrated across Canada and has measurable and visible impact in our schools. Access to orange and pink shirts is not always simple or equitable for the student population. With screenprinting capabilities, orange and pink shirts can be manufactured on site greatly lowering their cost especially with student, staff, and/or parent volunteers.
fundraising
Screenprinted merchandise make for great fundraising. From art prints to apparel, the potential mark-up on screenprinted goods is well worth staff, student, and parent’s time and effort. Screen the World offers simple tools to calculate production costs in order to estimate the potential profits.
HOW TO START
Screen the World enables rapid and concise skills development while learning the basic steps in screenprinting. Additionally, Screen the World provides instruction on how to economically build equipment for all aspects of a start-up screen printing operation. The plans and courses are designed for both individuals or groups, with lesson plans for teachers.
We would love to chat about how screenprinting may fit into your unique context. Feel free to reach out.
INTRODUCTION TO SCREEN PRINTING
We will guide you every step of the way – no experience necessary! We can offer ready-made courses including rich media such as text, images, and multimedia tools enabling students to learn in whatever way works best for them. Students will learn to screen print on flatstock (art prints, posters, stickers, signs), textiles (t-shirts, bags, cloth), and 3 dimensional objects and materials (wood, plastic, glass, metal)
STUDIO DEVELOPMENT
The studio is where the magic happens! Screen the World offers detailed instructions on how to make inexpensive, yet effective, equipment. This can be done using local tools and materials, saving shipping and construction costs. By the time you are finished, you will have a fully functional screen printing studio. The presses (vacuum table and t-shirt jig) knock down and store away when not in use, and set up on a regular table in less than 5 minutes.
Studio Equipment
- Compression Exposing Unit – use an inexpensive worklamp or the sun
- Rabbit Vacuum Table – runs off a house vacuum
- TEE Rex – t-shirt jig – easy to use 1-colour garment printer
- Backlit Washout Booth – from 1 piece of plywood
- Screen storage and drying solution
- Water filtration system
COMMUNITY
Join our forum to connect with the world-wide screen printing community; share ideas, ask for help, and offer support. For those who want to continue to build on their screen printing skills, we will link to studios and printers who can provide more advanced training.
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Brought to you by Wachiay Studio
