Why the diversity of paper-folding techniques has become a foundation for creating our program.
The program was not established along with the registration of the society or even during first few years of its activity. Promoting origami art as a support to development of youth and children was a spontaneous initiative of the founding group. We knew intuitively that utilizing origami in pastimes and didactic classes could be beneficial and so our goal became to make the society work for the development of both children and ourselves as class masters, pedagogues and educators. Paper-folding art has brought us a wide field of experience, which did not at first seem clearly indispensable to accomplish the statutory objectives. Since the early days of POC’s existence, we have tried to find an approach on how paper-folding should be promoted. Is it just supposed to put a hobby to good use and limit the range of the program to a narrow group of talented, young enthusiasts in love with this art or could it be the case that origami might be popularized as a tool to achieve many other goals, including purely educational ones? Answers to these questions were obtained by experiences and observations of first failures, ineptly run workshops as well as successful, interesting and well-organized open-air events, exhibitions and contests. Long-term analysis of children’s behavior while folding paper, their statements and occasionally a struggle with a stubborn sheet of paper not so easy to be taken control of by yet untrained hands, required us to examine the motor activity of our pupils, their imagination and perceptive abilities. In so doing, it became clear to us that in order to make origami-kids successful, we need to acquire in-depth knowledge of paper-folding art and concentrate primarily on child’s development itself as well as the way in which children can explore the world with the use of origami.
Akira Yoshizawa – a forerunner of modern folding techniques
Following the example of the great Japanese origami master, we have begun the process of exploring and arranging various origami techniques. It was Yoshizawa who initiated a path of change in origami art formerly perceived as a very optional folding method, which allowed folders to illustrate or cut their models. As he points out in the preface of his first book, it is necessary to plainly differentiate between cut-outs and folds. For this reason, he avoided using scissors, drawing noses or eyes, so that ‘models did not go beyond paper-folding in any way’. Yoshizawa employed a method of folding from a single origami plane, mainly from square paper. His innovations and aspirations to find a new technique were based on a beautiful aim – to make origami forms more expressive, three-dimensional, to give them soul, to found origami art upon certain principles, and first of all to describe the truth about model creation with an exquisite story. Building models, he always folded only one origami plane. This is how animals were created, but also individual parts of the body e.g. a rump or head, which would then develop into a given mammal after they have been combined. Yoshizawa folded his models not only from equilateral triangle but also from a triangle made by cutting a square along its diagonal.
Taking advantage of a boundless space of origami showed to us by Yoshizawa where certain rules are applicable, we began to wonder how children could move in it. What we can or must do to engage our pupils in origami, and not just the gifted ones but also those who despite finding some difficulty in geometry still have a dream to personally make e.g. a favorite pet. In addition, we asked ourselves a number of questions as regards methodology of working with children and adults, who were willing to learn origami in order to utilize their skills in pedagogic work afterward. Their reflections about particular hardships in mastering some abilities when it comes to paper folding served as a hint for us. Proficiency in folding refers to both eye – hand coordination and imagination, which from the earliest childhood should be familiar with all the forms and shapes that appear in origami models prior to and during their creation, as well as in the final effect. To experience these essential shapes, one first needs to single them out precisely and then make a proper use of them.
Plato – placing what children should play with in a sphere
In times when Plato discovered that there are only five solids, which can be inscribed in a sphere, so-called regular solids, children obviously have not yet known origami art. These solids however, make the basis for building many modular forms, liked so much and willingly folded by the kids. Platonic bodies can be folded from paper provided that our manual abilities, visual perception of the eye and sense of touch allow for it. Activity of the inner senses, i.e. sensory-cognitive system: central common sense, sense of imagination, judgment of usefulness and memory, also has a great value. When children begin to learn to fold, their developing bodies are still not harmonized enough so that a cohesive work of inner and outer senses is possible. Child’s growth determines gaining experiences that are helpful in the proper use of imagination, memory or motion itself. To throw a ball and catch it is not just about grasping or passing it the right way, but also exploring its shape by means of touch. If we were to take all the platonic solids inscripted in a sphere out of it, children would experience by touch as follows:
Manipulation (examining by touch) with such solids (forms) and first of all their disassembly, as well as analysis of particular small elements (faces) are necessary for a child to move freely in the origami space. We have come to believe that as long as children do not know how to depict three-dimensionality on a piece of paper, it would be advantageous to introduce basic planes for manipulation and folding. These were the component parts of platonic bodies – faces (square, equilateral triangle, regular pentagon) and the image of a sphere, which children draw as a circle (sphere image). This psychologically and mathematically justified choice of planes for folding gave us food for thought. Drawing on the heritage of Yoshizawa and Plato, we are going to lead the kids to origami space, but will they be able to move in it on their own? At what age might they start and in which area of origami space should they move so that their activity is most evolutionary for themselves?
Feeling of safety guarantees success
Origami planes presented by us to children once again became a mathematical and pedagogic-psychological task. Although finding a solution to this task was by no means easy, it involved a pleasure of seeking, analyses and experiments as well as first attempts of creating very own models. All together, the society’s work on collecting origami models from various parts of the world made us certain that contemporary origami is a boundless space with many creators occupied with an assortment of planes to fold. We sought to utilize natural experiences of children and their basic requirements in order to work out a set of origami models, intended just for implementing these developmental needs.
Our wish was to construct a specific model of education through folding paper, where the initial origami plane would be a previous sensory experience of children and models serve as a description of reality, in which our pupils live, learn and play. From regular figures, so beautifully portrayed by ancient mathematicians, we have successively chosen: a circle, square and equilateral triangle as shapes that children discover in their surroundings in a similar order. Circle being the child’s first sensory experience (mom’s and dad’s head, teddy’s tummy, sun, plates, etc.) guarantees play safety. ‘I know the circle, so I will fold it and make pictures although I am 3 years old.’ All in all, we put forward the flat circular origami folding technique, which turned out to be an absolute success. Three-year-olds in polish kindergartens began to fold paper. Educators believed that such prelude to origami is a great invitation to the world of geometry and a basis of three-dimensional thinking. We decided to follow it up. We offered a little older children to play with squares, so often seen in drawings (houses), bricks or abacuses. Another technique – flat origami from square paper – has proved worthy in first endeavors to fold 3D models. Equilateral triangle played the same role, however many children take no interest in this plane. This was a confirmation of our assumption. Few sensory experiences connected with equilateral triangle fail to inspire trust among children, not giving them a feeling of safety whatsoever.
Still we noticed that children’s approach to flat origami techniques is quite self-reliant and spontaneous; they feel safe and naturally find relations between geometric figures, entering the world of mathematics as its discoverers without any ‘taming’, which we utterly object to. Child who explores enjoys a success – this is a fundamental way to penetrate diverse elements of origami space.
‘That which is not just is not law’ – William Lloyd Garrison
Despite many children being successful, we had to slightly change our solutions with regard to individuals with disabilities. According to teachers’ observations, circular origami space is the safest one when it comes to special education and so it should be used regardless of the age of pupils. There are children whose perceptive abilities will never let them feel the joy of folding kusudama or a cube on their own. With a view to assisting such children, we have prepared models that allow for some cuts (not cutting the target shape!) so that it is possible to work with a new tool, i.e. scissors and still have the feeling of safety (even now kids fold a circle – a well-known shape). Because models of foreign creators who applied cuts e.g. along the creases were familiar to us, we drew up simple rules of cutting a circle designed for folding. Again, our experiment went off well, as this little trick made within the origami plane ultimately expanded the space of folding, creating and playing with new models. Innovative plastic and technical solutions sprang up, while teachers enamored with didactics started to make use of e.g. the kirigami technique in the introduction to fractions.
‘The only source of knowledge is experience’ – Albert Einstein
Folding techniques proposed by us and the experiences of many teachers in utilizing them were of much assistance in building a comprehensive program of the Polish Origami Center. Knowledge of various ways, in which origami can be employed in education came to us through experience, i.e. genuine work of numerous pedagogues in Poland. Their observations, self-development, ingenuity and analysis of their work’s effectiveness with the support of origami led to constructing a methodology in relation to work with selected origami techniques. However, the most important thing to see is that these experiences are open doors to origami space for three-year-olds, preschoolers, pupils, students and grown-ups. Everyone can find their niche in this space, discover the joy of creation and gain experience that is knowledge. Everyone will find the rules of moving in the origami space. For the sake of pedagogical clarity, these rules do not need to be stiff since it not necessarily might lead to creativeness, narrowing the range of experience instead. Flexibility, in turn, creates beauty, law and order, joy of discovering and first of all a new principle, groundwork for an original, completely new and different quality. This way, by means of his works and introducing certain rules based on Japanese tradition to origami art, master Yoshizawa strove to send a message of peace to the world.
We have also discovered the joy of creation in the works of a remarkable origami artist Yoshide Momotani, whose varied models arouse admiration in origami devotees. The utility of models by Mitsunobu Sonobé, Kunihiko Kasahara, Toshie Takahama, Kazuo Haga brought us into the world of geometry that irreversibly changed its face ever since. Steve and Megumi Bridlle showed us the Chinese roots of origami art.
Being grateful to them for that, we are nowadays taking advantage of their heritage as well as the variety of paper-folding techniques in children’s education. We implement pedagogical goals within each technique in order to make origami a friendly art for children, a great adventure, perhaps even a lifetime passion.
Dorota Dziamska
The President of the Polish Origami Center
Bibliography:
Paper Magic of Origami – Beacon Magazine of Hawaii – Leland Stowe 1970
Original materials conveyed to POC by Rae Cooker – the English version of a preface to the first book by Akira Yoshizawa.
Reflections on the Yoshizawa Seminar by Ray Blackburn – The Newsletter for The Friends of The Origami Center of America.
Twierdzenie papugi – Denis Guedj – Bertelsmann Media Publ. House Warszawa 2001
Integracja psychiczna – Anna A. Terruwe; Conrad W. Baars – W drodze – Poznań 1989
Myśleć jak Einstein – Scott Thorpe – Rebis Publ. House – Poznan 2002
Akira Yoshizawa – www.art-riko.com
 "Cat, author: Akira Yoshizawa")
 "Alpejski kwiat Campanula lasiocarpa, author: Yoshihide Momotani")
