Integrating Arts into the Curriculum to stop Apathy

The educational subject areas focusing on the fine arts and cultural studies are notable for their many shared developmental outcomes and related teaching methodology challenges. Analysis of previously implemented art-based programs and learning strategies devised to supplement cultural studies indicates it may be a uniquely productive approach. The use of creative instruction in forms including but not limited to play-acting, creation of visual arts, and musical instruction has high effectiveness in the context of maximizing student receptivity to cultural transmission. Students of both subjects have also been observed to demonstrate markedly improved intellectual, behavioral, and emotional growth from programs which integrate up-to-date modern research and intuitive planning to navigate the complex environment of cultural pluralism. Many such programs feature the direct involvement of artists and other relevant professionals with students to enrich and ensure the quality of the educational experience.

Despite taking the place of a core class, fine arts can bolster and strengthen a student’s abilities in said core classes. Art is accessible to everyone and therefore can create a new sense of unity and connection among peers in and out of school. Students often don’t have many ways to express themselves, but by taking classes in the fine arts, students would have an expressive medium to do so inside of school. Skills learnt in fine arts classes can be used for a student’s entire life, regardless of age or condition, and thanks to the many other advantages of these courses, should be required for students to

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.

Greek philosopher Aristotle defines the arts ¨as the realization in external form of a true idea, and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes humans, and to the pleasure which we feel in recognizing likenesses.¨(IEP). The fine arts which have been a part of human history for 30,000 years have played an essential role in the development and advancement of our societies. As of today, the fine arts are facing the danger of vanishing in the education system of the United States Schools in places like Minnesota, Michigan and Philadelphia struggle to obtain arts programs within their schools. Districts like the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district, have been struggling with raising student’s academic scores in courses

The arts require a large portion of the budget, not only to pay art teachers but also for the materials needed. Yet it doesn't receive the money it needs in view of the fact that a lot of people demean the prevalence of the arts in education claiming that in the real world the arts aren't essential. In recent years the budget cuts have made art education almost a fictitious concept. This is a problem that is critically wounding student's right to a well-rounded toolkit. "A well-rounded educational experience that includes the arts is closely linked to academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity" (Velasco). The benefits of the liberal arts are limitless, by riding schools of art programs, public education is restricting innovativeness and diminishing the limitless of

Art in our culture today is not as appreciated as it used to be, due to the decrease in interest, many people find creative arts classes such as drawing classes, and theatre classes are not as important and are useless to the educational system. Schools all over the country have begun cutting art classes from the academic programs, assuming it will be better for the student’s sake. However, a recent poll found that eighty percent of the American people believed that creative arts classes will enhance academic performance. In addition, studies have also shown that arts programs teach a specific set of skills that are not taught in the academic curriculum. This means if the studies are true, cutting arts classes could lower students’ test scores and their overall grades. Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland, the authors of “Art for our Sake: School Art Classes Matter More than Ever-But Not for the Reasons You Think,” stated that, after visualizing different art classes in different schools, they realized that the students are not only taught the basics of art but also the willingness to learn from their mistakes, which are not taught elsewhere in schools. The students are also taught how to analyze their work and their peers work, as well. According to Winner, arts classes are important to the educational system because it teaches appreciation and self-value. It also teaches the students certain aspects of knowledge that

The arts have been long-recognized as a vital component of the well-rounded student, but for the past several decades, the importance of arts programs in many U.S. schools has been steadily compromised (Rabkin & Redmond, 2006). Pressure to compete internationally has influenced educational institutions to believe that an almost exclusive focus on academic fundamentals is the sole way to raise standards and close the achievement gap (Sholl & Sweetland, 2016). Katz-Buonincontro, Phillips, and Witherspoon (2015) expound on the predicament of today’s schools: expected to promote twenty-first century skills, including creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, leaders are simultaneously pushed to uphold standards-based

Arts education provides students with valuable opportunities to experience and build knowledge and skills in self-expression, imagination, creative and collaborative problem solving, communication, the creation of shared meanings and respect for others (ooo). Dewey (1934) states that “Arts ….” The arts allows language and thought to be expressed through a variety of representation not in the

First, educators need to have a paradigm shift in the idea that arts education is the responsibility of only the art teacher. Fowler (1994) offers that strong schools tend to have strong arts program. Fowler (1994) states,

There needs to be an understanding to the strength and diversity art can offer additional subjects. Developing the skills to observe and learn to comprehend is valuable to not only art but all academic classes.

Participating in as few as one or two art courses can help boost a child’s creativity levels. These creativity skills could possibly help the student become a better leader and potentially help him or her attain a higher ranking position in his or her future job than he or she would get without having taken any courses in the arts. The arts also help students communicate with one another. For example, if a student is very introverted and he or she decides to enroll in a speech, debate, or drama class, he or she would have the chance to speak out. This experience of being in front of others while doing what he or she enjoys could help him or her overcome the fear of standing out and shyness he or she deals with on a daily basis. Classes like band, choir, and dance can also help students come out of their shells. By being around a group of students that enjoy doing the same things as them, children can easily find out things they have in common with the others, helping them cope better with being around many people at one time as well as helping them build strong relationships with their

“The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading writing, and arithmetic…music dance, painting, and theatre are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment” (William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education).

We, as educators, must provide children the instructional opportunities that can tap on their latent potentials. I recognize the importance of student achievement scores of reading and math is at the forefront of teacher practice; but we are also responsible to create learners who have a strong self-identity and recognize the importance of their culture and acceptance of other cultures. I believe including arts-based education can help educators achieve such a

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.

Art is all around us. It is a large part of our everyday lives. It makes our lives infinitely rich. It gives us a way to be creative and expressive. Upitis (2011, p. 2) quotes Dewey as saying in 1906/1977 that ‘to feel the meaning of what one is doing, and to rejoice in that meaning: to unite in one concurrent fact the unfolding of the inner life and the ordered development of material conditions – that is art’. Education in the arts refers to education in the disciplines of dance, music, drama and visual arts. Froebel (1826) believed that it was very important for young children to be involved in art and to enjoy the art of others as it encouraged each child’s ‘full and all-sided development’. However, this view was not shared by all. Swanwick (1988) cites Herbert Spencer as putting forward the view in 1911 that the arts were only meant for leisure and nothing else was achieved through them. Thus, in this paper, I intend to explore the values and aims of arts education suitable for young children. I