PHILOSOPHY OF APISCOR
To best explain our philosophy, APISCOR reviews the main themes linked to our work:Art and the human being
Pedagogy and child development
The importance of drawing
The bees
The colours
On the way of sustainability
Art and the human being
For many years Art has been recognised as an essential element for human beings. It is one of the first forms of expression used by Men. Art expresses life, emotions, feelings and aids in the thorough development of the individual through the process of creation. This process makes us more assured of our potentials and more conscious of our limits. As a result the individual can behave in a more participative and active manner in society and surer of his attitudes.
Through the use of art in education, not only artists are being born, but the space is given to develop conscious beings who are more than acknowledging themselves, see others too. Beings capable of reflections, criticism and who are able of transforming the society.
Art, through education, contributes in the development of an honest and harmonious individual. It allows for the practice of co-responsibilities and the favours the ability to observe external phenomena.
An artistic education is as important as any other subject. A child, experiencing any type of art (dance, drawing, theatre, etc) appreciates much more its meaning, and understands their cultural habits, learning to detach them from other cultures.
Also used for therapeutic purposes, art, as mentioned above, helps the individual to connect his internal and external worlds. Once both worlds are transformed into images, they can be interpreted as symbols and then worked on in therapeutic sessions.
An individual’s artistic work can help the psychological understanding of his person.
“Art is the purest and simplest expression of the collective unconscious psychic processes. It is liberty of expression, sensibility, creativity, it’s life” (Jung 1920)
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Pedagogy and child development
APISCOR offers a line of pedagogical products aimed at best helping a child’s education. Inspired on the Waldorf (Rudolf Steiner) pedagogy, APISCOR products can be used in any pedagogical line.
Art classes seem invaluable so that children develop a harmonious imagination, thought judgements and may be used as method to acquire knowledge. Elements which are essential for adult life.
In many pedagogies art classes are present from early childhood throughout adolescence.
The choice of natural materials helps the children to develop observation and creativity skills and provides a feeling of peace and oneness with the world.
Studies show that it is important to respect every step of the child’s development, always keeping them in contact with nature.
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Drawing – the importance of drawing in the child’s development
Through drawing the child is expressing a form of communication, enabling her unconscious to pronounce itself. Aspects of their personality, family and social situations reveal themselves through their scribbles.
They also translate vital necessities through which the child needs to go through – action and knowledge of the world and how to interact with it. Moreover they represent the child’s emotions, history, thought process, comprehension of a situation and lived moments.
The simple process of drawing can be therapeutic and it is used in many hospitals, learning centres and institutions to allow a “discharge” of emotions, feelings and frustrations.
For a child, a drawing isn’t the copy of an object, but the manifestation of the world. In bringing a real manifestation to the paper the child is processing and working with the information.
From the scribbles to the image
A child’s developing phase, from 0-7 years old, is extremely important. It is during this period that the child’s psychic and cognitive structure is moulded, depending directly of their stimulation. It is a period of discoveries.
The development of drawings, for the majority of children, is similar and evolves according to their age, temperament and stimuli. But it isn’t directed by the adult’s aesthetic values.
The first phase, that of scribbles, starts at the end of the first year. Taking a crayon the child manages to leave marks and feels great pleasure in this discovery. The colours at this stage are of secondary importance.
At the age of 3-4 the figurative drawings start and the colours start to have a significant value. Landscapes start to show and often with human characteristics (anthropomorphic).
When the child enters the phase in which she recognises perspective, colours, and proportions she also starts to form her first words and phrases.
The drawing is thus directly related to the alphabetisation.
At 6-7 years old, when the child starts her school life, the written world becomes a competitor to the drawing. There’s an enormous intention to get the drawings closer to the reality and the symbols are integrated as a whole.
At the age of 12-13 the use and perception of different tones is very conscious. A more refined understanding of perspective and depth come later in life.
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Colours
Human beings get in “direct” contact with colour through drawings, they learn to distinguish, use and mix them very early in life.
The use of colour is directly linked with the development. Many studies show that the brain is stimulated through different manners and improve their motor and cognitive capacities of thinking, speaking and listening, to mention a few when they are exposed to different colours.
Each colour produces a different sensation.
Depending on the colour the process of assimilation is improved. There are studies that also show the how colour can affect the behaviour and development of a child.
When the child arrives in this world she is in a state of “unconsciousness”, and requires a lot of internal work to be able to mature. Colours in this phase are of great influence and studies show that they assist the formation of internal organs.
Thus the first colours to be introduced should be those we classify as “joyful” and “warm” such as light red, salmon, pink, orange, golden yellow, during the phase that the baby sleeps more than stays awake.
Once the baby passes this phase, we can start to introduce blues, greens, lime yellow. For a small child it’s important to keep the sensorial stimuli (sound, light, etc) to a minimum, so that they can concentrate their energy in themselves.
Slowly the child starts to be put in contact with the primary colours (the initial palate of pigments from which one can make colour) and as time evolves and lots of time is spent in experimenting and mixing colours the secondary may be introduced.
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About the Bees
Bees are insects that live within a homotypic society (with a distinction of functions within the society). Known and studied for more than 40 000 years, bees are considered to be the greatest nature pollinisers and having a structure completely adapted for this purpose.
Pollinising (the process of transferring the pollen from one flower to the other, allowing the exchange of gametes (sex cells) between the plants) is an invaluable phenomenon to maintain the biodiversity and extension of species. Without the help from the bees many plants wouldn’t be able to reproduce and survive.
The bee starts the production of honey, their main product, as they collect the sap from a plant as they stop at their flower. Following this gathering they transfer this sap to the honeycomb cells. Then with the help of the enzyme in the bees saliva the chemical reaction produces honey. Once all honeycombs are filled, the bees remove the excess humidity in the honey and seal the combs with a thin layer of wax, known as operculum.
To extract the wax from the honeycombs one can place them in a cloth bag, submerge them in water and warm it up. Every 8kgs of honey produces about 1 kg of wax.
As well as producing honey, bees play a big role in our agriculture with the production of royal jelly and propolis.
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Sustainability
APISCOR seeks to work in a sustainable manner. For this, we take three main aspects into careful consideration:
Social cultural – respecting our social responsibility. We aim to design ways to give support to social projects that are concerned with equality and the development of social responsibility.
Ecological – APISCOR is constantly looking to, whenever possible, use raw materials from renewable sources, to minimise waste disposal, to recycle our waste almost in its totality and to give preference to partnerships with suppliers who also trained and prioritize sustainability in their companies.
Economical – APISCOR has the intention to keep our prices competitive and stable, aiming at a stable and fair future. Keeping in mind the fact that many of our customers are beginning their educational institutions, we opted not to stipulate a minimum purchase price.
In order to transform these aspects into reality, APISCOR is currently analysing plans of action to be a key player in the market.
As times changes, we will continue to adapt our actions so that these goals are always met in accordance with the current time and situation in Brazil.
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