How Arts Education Contributes to Student’s Success

First, art improves the way we communicate our thoughts and emotions to others. According to Lesli Walsh, author of “Why We All Need Art in Our Lives”, when we create and view art, we use logic and reason to create meaning in what we are seeing. We are already practicing actions that help us view and create art, so it will be easy using them during our learning

To begin with, education and engagement in fine art programs are an essential part within the school curriculum because subjects such as mathematics, science, and language arts all require cognitive and creative capacities which are enhanced with the process of learning art. For instance, in the article, Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefits Student Achievement, it states that “researchers

“After a certain high level of technical skill achieved, science and arts tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientist are artist as well” (Albert Einstein). In this advanced modern tech-world mostly people are dependent on science and technology, but arts also play an important role in education. Art creates balanced thinking and better imagination which helps humans to be successful in their career. Yo-Yo Ma intensely informs about important role of arts in modern education society throughout his essay Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and education. Ma illustrates that arts should be also part of education, because it improve students to filter their imagination through disciplined knowledge. Liberal arts should be equal to science and technology because it creates new idea, and in this modern world people should think critical than divergent in their lives. Empathy teaches students to understand and simplify the complicated life. Collaboration include discussion amongst people or group to make things effortless. Moreover liberal arts itself is beauty such as performing arts, it values the beauty of imagination in modern society by art and sculpture.

Art is around us everywhere we go. Art can be in architecture, landscaping, performances and paintings. The arts can affect the way people think and how they act, like when a young child draws or paints a picture, they have to make small choices that can help them in many aspects of life. BUt sadly the beneficial education tool of The Arts has been in a rapid decline. In her article, School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved?, Valeria Metia says, “During the 1999-2000 school year, 20 percent of schools offered dance and theatre classes, but in the 2009-10 school year, only 3 percent of schools allocated funds for dance classes, and only 4 percent taught theatre.” Since this decrease in art programs students ages 5-18 are missing out on valuable characteristics in their education. Art gives students improved test scores and better thinking skills, significantly higher graduation rates,better performance in schoolwork,development of habits including problem solving, critical and creative thinking, and working with others and a happier and better school day. SInce art is so beneficial to a student's learning we should push harder and get art programs into our public schools again.

One reason they should not be cut from schools is, fine arts have tremendous benefits. The arts also help with early childhood development. Some say they are the building blocks of child development. Arts education helps with motor skills, language development, decision making, visual learning, inventiveness, cultural awareness and diversity, and even improved academic performance. High arts education in a school engages, learning, results in higher test scores, and lowers drop out and truancy rates.

Composing music, playing an instrument, learning dance, reading notes, painting, preforming, etc. is not simple when learning its learning a whole different language with different concepts, and vocabulary. Art helps make students with problem solving skills. It teaches students that there is more than one solution to a single problem. It encourages students to open ended thinking which is thinking with no limitations. Regardless of you are learning how to sing, dance, how to paint, or to play an instrument students learn how to dedicate their time to become better which results in discipline and patience. Students use that progress of growing with other aspects of education and everyday life. Discipline, patience, language skills, critical intellectual skills, creative skills are just a few of the many skills that art teaches

A student who does not enjoy the fundamental classes might not find interest in going to school. The innovated minds that find tranquility in a music class or rather a basic art class is more likely to look forward to attending school the next day. Fine arts enhance the mind. It enhances what is already there or

While reading both opinions on how art, whether it be music or paintings, does or does not improve cognitive ability, I’ve come to the conclusion that it does. The articles that were in favor of the arts had great points. They were able to state their point of view, while backing it up with research and scientific facts. The articles against the arts stated that they do not improve learning ability, but rather auditory and visual skills. Despite auditory and visual skills not directly improving a child’s learning ability, they are still a substantial part in child development. Even so, the author of the passage still acknowledged creative imagination’s potential to help a child perform better in learning assessments and IQ tests. Involving in art in the school system, whether that’s learning about it or having the students do it themselves, really can improve school performance in several ways, including heightening brain activity, making them more attentive and enhancing their wellbeing.

Throughout the years, hundreds of studies have been conducted regarding the correlation of art, creativity and one’s ability to learn. Although there is no direct scientific explanation for the results of these studies, their numerous and repetitive findings give them credibility. Reading through studies conducted by the Dana Foundation as well as the Arts Education Partnership one can find correlations between an arts education and improved learning as well as attention. In terms of engagement, one Dana study found that:

There are many ways that this decision of keeping art out of the school is hurting the children instead of helping them. With the addition of art children get to develop their own creativity and thinking style. Exposure to art can have positive effects mentally on the child in numerous ways. In participating in artistic projects, children will be able to try and experiment with new ideas and techniques that will help them develop and learn cognitive skills, problem solving, and cause and effect.

It can teach patience and determination. Having something tangible to see what they are capable of helps students with self-esteem. It allows them to develop confidence instead of just being told that they need to have it. Art is not just a grade but rather something that students created and something that they can take pride in because there is no one else out there that can make what they did. Art allows students to become engaged in what they are doing because the outcome is not some number on an arbitrary scale. It is something real that ecourages students to want to solve the problems that they encounter. It lets them experiment without fear of failure because there is always another

Bob Bryant, the Executive Director of Fine Arts for Katy ISD in 2000, emphasises the importance of utilizing art in schools’ curriculums: “The arts are what make us most human, most complete as people. The arts cannot be learned through occasional or random exposure any more than math or science can” (Bryant). Art is a way of expression and leads to acquiring a deeper understanding of the details in life. The first day of preschool, teachers teach through the help of art. This is due to the fact that art is the foundation of a child's learning. Art is a way, where one can explore their ideas and thoughts. Creativity should neither be contained nor limited. Art is an outlet used for people to show who they are. The aspect of art is carried along in each generation. Different cultures use art to show who they are as one. Art appeals to people's senses and emotions, which helps people connect with one another. Since art is an essential, integral part in a student's academic learning, schools should make art classes mandatory.

Do you want to add light to your life? Arts programs in schools are crucial to students learning for many reasons Kids in school that take arts are guaranteed to expand their brain, and make life a little brighter. Kids cannot do this if schools have no programs in the arts. We need the arts in schools for all sorts of things and it is of great importance that they are included in the school curriculum .

Schools that offer fine arts classes have lower dropout rates and raised attendance. The fine arts positively impact students of lower socioeconomic status more those of a higher  status. The fine arts have no barriers for race, religion, and culture when it comes to being involved in the arts. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be involved (Katy Independent School District). Without the arts these students have no outlet for creative capabilities and no way to express their talents. Students who need this way of expressing themselves are overlooked and they are the ones who need it the most (Dickson). When viewing the participation of arts in the eyes of a ten-year old, “It cools kids down after all the other hard stuff they have to think about” (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

Art Education is very important for students. A growing body of research suggests that the arts offer students a unique, valuable way to grow intellectually, socially and emotionally. These things are all associated with creativity. Schools today want to focus more on the four core classes math, science, english, and social studies which is acceptable for some students who are academically stronger in school. Opposed to the students who have a harder time focusing in school and we see them drawing when they need to be taking notes. Creativity today has become less and less more visible in classrooms in America. Due to the expansion of technology people see that it takes less time to look an idea up on the internet rather than taking the time to come up with something original.