Mandatory Arts Classes

In their “Music Matters” pamphlet, the Arts Education Association argues that arts education improves students’ abilities in Core tested areas and brain development. It is vital for every child to be able to better themselves in addition to their mind. A new study from the National Institutes of Health Magnetic Resonance (MRI) Study of Normal Brain Development says that training in music helps children be more mature emotionally and behaviorally, in addition to refined fine motor skills (Nutt). These are the developments that all children need in order to develop healthily. Mathematical skills are learned and reinforced in musical practice, which is why band kids perform better in math than their other nonmusical peers as they age in their educational careers (Arts Education Partnership). This is important because this development is dual-purposed for two subjects and relates them both to academic improvement. Leveling the playing field in the terms of students better understanding an essential subject will also aid in their development because they will be able to understand English more. Music students also have stronger determination, leadership skills, and observation and performance abilities that future universities and employers search for in successful students and employees (Arts Education Partnership). These benefits are multi-purposed and useful in numerous aspects of a person’s academic and employment future. Should these be made available for all students in order to give them equal opportunities to prepare them for the real world, then they will most likely have the opportunity to become

According to Sandra Ruppert, the majority of the American public believes that “the arts are vital to a well-rounded education,” with over half of them rating the importance a strong ten on a scale (“New Harris Poll”). According to this Harris Poll among 1,000 American adults from May 2005, a stunning “eighty-six percent of Americans agree that an arts education encourages and assists in the improvement of a child’s attitudes toward school.” Eighty-three percent feel confident that an education involving art helps students communicate better with everyone around them. Seventy-nine percent believe that “incorporating arts into education is the first step in adding back what’s missing in public education today,” and many feel that it is so important that they would become personally involved to help increase the quality and amount of arts education children receive.

Creativity is defined as the ability to produce new and unique ideas that diverge from established customs and norms. Over the years, however, it has diminished greatly in today’s society. From a young age, schools as well as some business force people to learn certain skills in order to please others. For quite some time, colleges based a student’s intelligence on their GPA rather than creative abilities. Those who are creative are restricted in their abilities; it is acceptable for a mathematically inclined person to lack artistic skills, but heaven forbid a creative student find a science based class challenging. Currently, Academy School District 20 has not implemented a creative thinking class in Liberty High School. I believe we should include such a program, seeing that creativity in students continues to weaken nationwide. By requiring students to think creatively, we can encourage students to innovate, grow, and learn.

Fulfilling their highest potential is what teachers and students strive to do in their path to success. Those who took no lessons at all, did not so fantastic as those who did. In addition, the fact that they are younger children they become more susceptible to outside influences. Imagine starting a child out on an instrument around the age of 5, and one starting out playing soccer. Physically one is going to be more advance. Mentally though, that child who is learning complex rhythms, counting skills, reading skills, and comprehension skills. Kids, who are taking fine arts classes, get a head start on a life full of more potential than those who do not

The beauty of creativity is that it is abstract, yet ubiquitous: in art, music or how one decides to compose an essay. However, creativity has recently been declining among the human population. According to an article, named, “The Creativity Crisis,” by Newsweek.com in July 2010, authors, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, state, “the Torrance Test … indicates that the public’s “creativity quotient” has steadily crept downward since 1990” (Prompt 1). Bronson and Merryman report that the test, which evaluates one’s creativity, had been dispensed to myriads of people across the globe, and have concluded that creativity has been slowly diminishing. Kyung Hee Kim, professor at the College of William and Mary, also comments that this is most prevalent and grave among students from kindergarten through sixth grade (Prompt 1). Consequently, society, or in this case, the world fears that current students and future generations will not be nourished with the creativity required to thrive as individuals, affecting the world as a whole. Ultimately, this poses the question whether a creative thinking class, which solely focuses on the education of creativity, should be taught in the school. This school should impose a creative thinking class, due to the fact creativity is a vital element for the future and is the solution to the creative crisis.

First, fine arts classes improve students’ learning abilities. Students that take part in music, drama, and art classes are often more proficient in their other classes. Evidence also suggests that students who participate in fine arts classes are less likely to drop out of school. The fine arts often require a higher level of thinking and require its students to look at situations and objects from all sorts of angles. A common argument against requiring fine arts classes is that they

Sarah Mitty, a journalist, writes, “However noble the idea, this... requirement seems highly unnecessary. After all those... years... [spent] suffering..., why should they be forced to… take an arts class again? If a student has a secret artsy talent he is interested in pursuing, he can make it clear.” However, some students might not even know they are interested in the arts. I didn’t know that I would like the woodshop class my parents made me take in seventh grade, but I ended up loving it. If my parents hadn’t made me take that class, I never would have discovered that I liked that sort of thing. It’s important that students try new things to find things that they love to do. And even if they don’t find something they love to do in a fine art class, sometimes in life you have to do things you don’t want to, and it’s good for people to learn how to do that.

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

In “Top 10 Skills Children Learn from the Arts” Valerie Strauss first discusses why teaching arts promote important life skills in children. Strauss explains why teachers need to be trained in arts, not only the normal science, math, engineering, and technology. She then begins to list skills that children learn from studying the arts. The list Strauss uses is one from the author Lisa Phillips, in her book called “The Artistic Edge: 7 Skills Children Need to Succeed in an Increasingly Right World.” She starts off with creativity and how getting children involved in arts can allow them to “approach tasks from different perspectives and think ‘outside the box.’” This can play a big role on how they handle tasks in their future. Confidence can

Having arts in school is a way a student express himself or herself in ways they are unable to in any other classroom. It is important for each student to have their own identity and have ways of letting their talents and personalities shine. For some, it may be sports or scholars bowl, for others it is art, music, or theater. “I have several students who don’t care to be on the football field or on the basketball court. These students find their nitch in the practice room, on the stage, or in front of an easel surrounded by paints and brushes. As sports are a release for athletes, music and art are ways to express feelings and emotions. Fine arts has helped many of my students find their identity” (Wildeman). There are many benefits to music education include being disciplined, learning a skill, being part of the music world, managing performance, and being part of something you can be proud

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

There once was a time in our society that the arts took a strong role in the lives of our young youth and community, but the stress of regulations and test requirements has put the arts in the hot seat. There is no amount of fine art that students would not benefit from if teachers consistently incorporated it in their classrooms. The importance of arts should not be thrown aside for the sake of achieving test scores. There are 6 critical reasons why communities should not be so quick to cut the arts programs and unintentionally hinder students growth.

Creativity is equally as important as literacy, and we need to start treating it that way in schools around the world. According to Ken Robinson’s claim in his, “How Schools Kill Creativity” speech, he believes this to be exceptionally true. All children are creative and talented, however, we have grown up in a world where we believe that it’s wrong to exemplify our creativity. Robinson uses both, pathos, and ethos to help make his claim. He arises emotion in you; he causes you to really think, to trust him, and to question ultimately, how things are being done in the educational system. We as a world have become so consumed with the idea of putting each child into a category of what they’re going to be successful in, regardless of their creativity or passions. You’re either good at math, science, or English; everything is based on your academic ability. What happens then to the people who aren’t academically smart, but are more creative? They are then made to feel that what they have to offer the world simply isn’t good enough, but the truth is, it is good enough. Over time however, we are taught out of our creativity. Schools around the world kill creativity by instilling a sense of fear in the child that what they are doing, and how they feel is wrong, this ultimately discourages them, and they fall victim to the industrialized educational system that we have present day. Robinson believes now more than

“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).

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.