Art Is Not Considered An Academic

All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers

Education is important as we develop a society of lifelong learners, but budget cuts for schools should not be at the expense of art programs. All students have unique learning styles and ways they best absorb information. To compromise that process is destructive to the success of their overall learning experience. “The Sanctuary of School” makes the reader aware of the many individuals who go through the public-school system. Barry’s essay advocates the need for funding of art programs and the supportive, creative outlets they

Throughout all of high school my friends and I spent the majority of our days in the art room. It was always assumed that there would be at least a few of us there at all times, starting our days there, being excused by our teachers to go there during class, during lunch, between every class, and then for hours after school. The art room was practically a second home to all of us. With the best high school art program in the state paired with a school of students who have been taught to appreciate art all throughout school; amazing, talented, passionate art teachers; and extremely dedicated art students who, on top of normal classes, were taking on very intense art courses, those who invested the time became quite advanced art students.

The importance of education is seen in the goals of society from the dominance of math and science to launch the space race, to the back-to-basics program in order to improve world education ranking and ensure America as a strong educational nation. As a teacher I hope to enrich the lives of students and educated them to the best of my ability. Furthermore, I hope to set an example for students that is based on respect, truth, honor and fairness. Students come from diverse backgrounds and struggle to reach individual goals. As a teacher, I am obligated to see those challenges and help students set and meet their goals. For students in my classroom, that of an art class, must also deal with expression and individual ideas that will allow students to interpret their surroundings.

Some students have had bad experiences with fine art classes in the past because of teachers or people in the class, not because of the subject, but they are hesitant to take the class again because they are afraid of more bad experiences. A high school student said, “I took art in middle school, and it wasn’t my favorite class, but I thought I could enjoy it more with a really strong teacher.” Students might take more fine art classes if they had that little extra push to sign up for the class.

Despite the diversity of art concepts taught, it can become quite difficult for one teacher to teach 23 elementary classes and 11 middle school classes. As part of the Miami Dade College community, we can help and stress the

“Students who study art are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 times more likely to be awarded for school attendance” ("11 Facts about Arts in Education"). Music and art are clearly not two subjects that schools today can afford to cut off funding for based on this evidence. Music and art programs are responsible for increasing school attendance, which can lead to being one of the most important things in a student’s academic success in school. Students have to attend school and be present in order to attain the information from their classes and teachers if they wish to succeed. Better attendance means more students are in class, which means more students are getting the information they need to excel from their teachers, which ultimately means better grades and test scores for schools. As of today, arts are defined as core subjects in only twenty-six states in America (Mandel). If only twenty-six states are treating art education as a core subject, that means that twenty-four states are currently neglecting art programs and not considering them important to their student’s education. If more states are educated on the importance of art programs for young students, and the arts are defined as core subjects nationally, then there will be a

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” During my past career as an art teacher at Intel Academy, introducing and demonstrating aesthetic techniques and materials have thrilled me as much as completing an art piece. Through workshops and demonstrations, I learned how to communicate and suggest better ways of developing their ideas and expressions. Some children had difficulties encountering art due to their behavioral problems; however, respecting their accomplishments and encouraging their process of following the curriculum became a part of the solution. My decision to apply to masters program in art education was pursued as I faced these

When used well, the arts are the cement that brings all the disparate curricular areas together. In the best schools, this is often the case. The arts are valued for their interdisciplinary potential. The result is a more cohesive curriculum in which students explore relationships across disciplines. . . . the arts in conjunction with other aspects of the curriculum afford students more complete and compelling conceptions. (p. 7)

“We as humans are designed to be well-rounded; we have two halves of the brain. We are not ignoring that right side of the brain, but we are certainly underserving that side of the brain. Says Lance eagled an art teacher at Churchill whose budget was recently cut. According to psychology, you have two parts of your brain. Some people have stronger sides than other for instance, if you are more left brained you have more analytical thinking, you think logically , are good at language in addition to math and science . If you have a stronger right, you are very imaginative; you are good at understanding something immediately, plus having creativity, in addition to Art and

Art education has been proven to help with “cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills” as well as “motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork” (Smith). Having the ability and patience to sit down and paint a masterpiece or work through a song on the piano requires high focus and dedication. Students willing to do this will in turn have stronger skills to focus and be dedicated in other subjects. The mixture of all these abilities gained from participation in art programs lead to higher test scores and overall better performance in school. Still, these are only a few of the assets provided by art education.

Self-initiated learning is a key aspect of Rogers’ beliefs for a lasting education. He notes that when a student is fully engaged with the subject matter, they are more likely to retain the significant information they have been taught. When developing a curricular activity to represent Rogers’ experiential learning theory, we must remember to assemble a curriculum where the student can reflect on their work. As a secondary school art classroom focuses on work developed by the student, the assignments are often structured with a curriculum created by the educator. Assignments and art pieces are put in place to help the student learn the foundations of art and art history. Although students create the art pieces, they are often confined to the outline created by the teacher.

As a photography major, it was never clear to me on why I had to take a drawing class. I dreaded each class because of the known fact that I didn’t possess the skills to be a good drawer. When speaking to friends and family, I would always complain to them saying, “I’m going to fail this class. I have no idea why I have to take these drawing classes.” As the quarter went on and the more I learned about the different drawing techniques such as the use of lighting to create interesting shadows or the use of color to create a sense mood and emotion, I began to realize the parallels that drawing and photography have.

Art education is often underestimated by many who believe that school was created to teach only analytical concepts such as mathematics and literature. However, research has shown that art courses are important, even necessary for students in elementary, middle, and high schools. These art classes may include not only visual arts but performing arts such as dance, theatre and choir. Barbara Streisand said, “Art does not exist only to entertain, but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, in a constant search for the truth,” (Quotations). Streisand points out that there are multiple benefits to art whether it be painted by a brush or sung from the heart. Art has the ability to allow people to see situations from

Art, music, and other fine art classes are always the first things to go when schools have a budget cut, however, these things are important and necessary for children. It’s been proven that art not only to their creativity, but their academic achievements and advancements. On top of the academic and creative advantages, fine arts programs just mean a lot to some people. And it seems like the fine arts mean a lot to most students at Lewis Central High School. In my speech I’ll be focusing mainly on the art program. Now I don’t believe that our art program is at any risk of being cut, but I do believe that there are some issues that should be looked at, for example the lower classmen can take very few art classes, there are many outside art festivals and other opportunities that are not touched upon for those same lower classmen, and compared to other fine art programs the opportunities are minimal and the program itself is difficult to be apart of until later years of high school. I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember and recently, end of seventh grade to be exact, I decided to pursue it as a potential career, so I took as many art classes as I could. At the middle school, we were offered 1 art class a trimester and I was even lucky enough to be a teacher aide for Ms. Baker. I had the opportunity to enter contests and submit work to a festival, all in the span of one school year.