Soft Clay Medium of Translating Children's Imaginary: Exploration of Stateless Children in Sabah, Malaysia
Amsalib Pisali, Nor Shuradi Nor Hashim, Chamil Arkhasa Nikko Mazlan,
Norzuraina Mohd Nor, Ismadi Mohd Arsad
This research examines the function of soft clay as an effective medium to translate the imagination of stateless children toward their environment. Given their limited access to formal education in Malaysia, this research aims to reveal the potential of soft clay in helping creative learning with an improvisational concept that can stimulate self-expression. Therefore, a qualitative approach was used covering field methods, observation, interview protocol, and analysis of soft clay works conducted on 18 stateless children aged 8 to 15 years from an alternative school for stateless children in the State of Sabah with the implementation of activities carried out in three phases with using thematic analysis. This research identified key themes that highlighted their experiences and perspectives. The study results reveal that interaction using soft clay facilitates creative expression, allowing them to convey their experiences and perceptions of the world around them more deeply and reflectively. The main themes that emerged consisted of self-expression and tactile-psychomotor learning, learning through play, development of imagination and creativity, emotional and social impact, and reflection on the environment. All of these themes show the significant benefits of soft clay as a learning tool that breaks the barriers of self-expression that stateless children often face in the situations they face. These findings provide new insights into alternative educational approaches for marginalised communities and suggest the need for more resources and support to expand access to arts activities in alternative education systems.
Keywords:Soft clay, Stateless children, Alternative school, Children imaginary, Thematic analysis
