Art in schools? Imagine a child laboring the school work load for one hundred and eighty days out of the year. They have only core classes and work very hard to excel, but feel as though something is missing. This child is very stressed about upcoming tests and midterms and feels overwhelmed. What the child needs is a creative outlet, but then the question is how does one fit time for this in school. The simple answer would be that it would be provided by the schools, however some do not believe this should continue to be instated, there are many reasons it should. Visual art is needed in schools across the nation because it increases problem solving abilities, creativity, work ethic, and overall happiness. Art is very important in the developing process of children among many reasons, one being that it increases problem solving abilities. Children can figure out relationships between shapes, colors and scenarios through their art which can help them solve other problems in their lives as well and distinguish them from other children. A child is given a basic prompt with no further instructions other than to make something. This actually gives the child a way to figure out what looks aesthetically pleasing, learning about would hold it together and a variety of skills they hadn’t known previously to experimenting with the materials. The art process is a way to solve new problems in itself because it challenges the artist and perfects their techniques. Through art in
The brain is divided into two separate bisections, the left and right hemisphere, children need both sides of the brain innervated in order to learn properly. The left hemisphere is responsible for perceiving information more logically and analytically, it is the side that processes things math, science, and writing. Whilst the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for more imaginative creative thinking, the importance of developing both segments of the brain is not something that should be overlooked. With the aid of the arts, children see there are an infinite set of different perspective, each complexity is in the eye of the beholder, this shapes how kids view and react to problems. Every child is different, and art can be compromised to each child's individual personality in a way math and science cannot. This results in separate individuals and a diverse society where no one is the same. Since the beginning, humans have naturally been innovative and found experimental ways to negotiate through life. Creativity is valued in any career path, just as much as logic, employers are looking for fresh new ideas rather than regurgitated information. For example in his article Anthony Fasano, a internationally known inspirational speaker who specializes in
To create art takes a lot of planning with the mixing of colors and shapes of different sizes. Children will learn decision-making, and will learn from their mistakes when something does not turn out as they plan. (Mincemoyer.)
The arts are a fundamental element of ones human condition as it provides a medium for the freedom of self-expression such as thoughts, ideas, beliefs and culture. There is a natural necessity to create as it shares an insight into identity and culture (Wright, 2003). Through implementing arts into early childhood, it can foster and support a child’s mean making, self-expression and holistic development (Ministry of Education, 1996). The arts play an immense role in a child’s holistic development as it supports the links between body, cognition, spirit and culture. It also has multiple benefits to a child’s visual, spatial, aural and bodily-kinaesthetic modes of learning or multimodal leaning (Wright, 2003). A children who contributes participates and views art, experience and demonstrate imagination, creativity, pride and pleasure. Through this, children are able to record their thoughts and feelings without verbally communicating. In all environments and cultures, there is a vast amount of visual arts. These arts can be
Anyone who spends time with children knows they draw all the time. On paper, on tables, on themselves; children constantly explore their world through mark making and scribbling. Children can use art to help them develop other cognitive skills such as writing or anger management; and although every child progresses differently, this paper discusses the possibility of universal, age-correlated stages of art development.
Having arts in school helps students with learning and decrease the dropout rate. The article states, “Washington said the arts classes taught her about collaborate with others. They also helped her learn to be responsible and to think outside the box.” Arts in school can help students figure out patterns and think by using multiple perspectives. The article provides these quotes, “‘It's not that the arts are something to put on in the final period of the day once all the 'real work' is done,’ Washington said. ‘Arts are actually how we can help them get the 'real work' done.’” Art in school also provides a way to improve the understanding of core subjects in school. Another quote says, “Gubitz said the arts are an ‘accelerator’ for improvements
Early childhood environments should set out to provide children with the freedom to express and respond freely. The more children are given opportunities to recreate things they see in their everyday lives, the more they can create their own meaning and understanding of the world around them. Hyun (1998) believes that educators should teach and learn in environments which require in-depth reflection on their own lives and values. I feel this can connect with the way an educator values art with in the learning environment. By having your own personal understanding, values and connection with art and its impact on your own life, can help in allowing the flow of artistic creativity in your teaching practices. If you are open to the world of art in the form of experiences, discussion and critiquing, then you can pass this enthusiasm towards art onto your learners. Teaching pedagogies which take a more hands on approach to art
Art is an escape from reality. An artist can depict a single tree into something bigger with a more meaningful importance. Art begins at a very young age; children use their imagination to doodle and create whatever comes to their young mind. There are many developmental benefits of art, like developing motor skills, decision making, along with visual learning according to the Public Broadcasting Service. Studies have also shown that art has improved academic performance, leading up to more academic achievement at a young
It has a contribution to a child’s development because it makes an experience for the child to understand the world around them in a visual form. This visual education deals with an aspect of humanity that no other subject can touch on. There are many developmental skills of art such as motor skills, decision making and visual awareness. It’s also beneficial for young children in the long run because “throughout the centuries art has been practiced to articulate, refine and give expression to our visual sense” (Barnes, 2015). When using enquiry based learning in art, as teachers we must consider how we can teach art practically and visually to children rather than us speaking and them taking notes on what we say. “In this view of how children learn art, the role of the teacher would be to provide contexts and materials and allow children to create art in response to their own ideas and interests” (Edwards, 2013). One indicator of enquiry is that children are able to investigate objects and materials by using all their appropriate senses and being supported by high quality resources. By the teacher providing information and materials, the children would
With the growing demand for schools to meet the criteria set for them to focus more on core subjects such as science and math, the classes deemed as “non-essential” are struggling to make it by. The arts department in schools across the country is dealing with extensive cutbacks in financial support as well as teacher and students involvement. As the cuts made to the arts department is overreached The United States is forgetting about the significant impact art has made in not only this country, but the history it has made across the globe. For centuries, different forms of art became beneficial in shaping generations and society. The arts give beneficial, developing factors to the youth and by eliminating these classes the key forms of growth
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed in 2004; and it declared art and music core subjects, like geography, math, and english. At the time it was lauded as a huge step forward for arts educations in public schools, However, as art wasn't given a part of the test standards, its status as a ‘core subject’ soon meant very little. A report by the Department of Education reported that, “Schools in some states report the amount of instructional time devoted to reading, writing, math and science has increased, while for the arts it has declined.”(Ruppert) Because schools had to focus on improving students success in math and english, or risk losing funding, art was cast aside so that precious time could be used teaching the parts of the core curriculum that were tested. It is time to reverse that trend of art not being truly valued by the American education system. If schools were given incentives for providing an arts education, it would help to connect people to art in a more meaningful way. This would lead to the spread of effects like those felt by the community around the Little Black Pearls Community Center. Art has been approved in a study done by the American Journal of Public Health as an activity that will help to reduce stress: “Engagement with creative activities has the potential to contribute toward reducing stress and depression.”(Stuckey) By giving funding and attention to art will give an opportunity to teach teens a health way to deal with stress, and an effective method of dealing with stress that they can use for the rest of their life. But despite the good changing the education system would do, there are many, many obstacles. It would cost Americans lots of money in taxes, take an incredibly long time to become approved and an even longer time for the effects to be felt. For the people who have
It has been proven that students in art and music programs are about four times as likely to win an academic award than a student who is not into the arts. This means that students who participate in music and art programs already have a much higher chance of achieving things as those who don't participate in those programs. In school districts today, art has been seen either as a distraction or a value. Although art programs aren’t required in all school, all schools should include some art and music programs because, these programs can only be a good thing for artistic students.
Arts are always related to the easiest and less important part of the children learning areas, just because It won’t help to develop any important skill for the near future. But more than a beautiful picture, full of details and colorful, children are acquiring better benefits developmentally talking. Children like exploring, discovering and also have a natural curiosity that make them figure out how the world works and also obtain new knowledge of their immediate environment. (Michigan State University, 2015) Regards to this, Arts provide the flexibility and freedom to create and manipulate different materials, in a natural approach that allows experimentation which is not only enjoyable
In the recent years, schools have been focusing on the idea called Common Core which normally includes; math, science, history, and English. Because of these different types of classes results in a reduction in fine arts classes. But many students learn different types of real life skills which they need in the “adult world”. With the usage of visual and performing arts, students can begin to improve their personal growth. When producing original works, the students tend to enjoy the time spent on the piece of art, and draw in a sense of pride
So why fine art and education together? I believe that using art within a classroom as a teaching method is a great way to actively involve pupils, and get everybody engaged with learning. I also see it as a way of inspiring children to do their best, and being able to see a child overcome struggles within their education and within their personal life will be very rewarding.
When I first started my art class I could not find a reason to get excited about it and I was not very confident about my art skills, so I wasn’t sure what I would get out of the class. As the class progressed I realized it wasn’t all about drawing and creating art project but also about the importance of the History of Art being taught in the classroom no matter what cultural or economic backgrounds the students come from. When one refers to Art education they are referring to education in the disciplines of music, dance, theater, and visual arts. Visual art was the arts our class focused on which refers to drawing, painting, sculptures, printmaking, crafts, photography, and filmmaking to name a few. Art can be very beneficial to all students from K-12th rather they are in a regular education class or a special education classroom. The good thing about art is it allows students to create things at their own developmental stage. It is critical for every student to be exposed to the benefits of integrating art into the academic curriculum. The teacher can add art to a science lesson and it would bring learning about blood cells to a different level. Instead of just reading about what a cell is they can draw it, or color code it by the different parts of the cell giving them a more in-depth understanding to how the different parts of the cell work. There is a lot of learning that takes place in the classroom but we must include the art so that all children will have the