Why Arts Education Must Be Saved

What strikes me most about your work is that not only do you enhance student learning, you deepen the family bond. Beautiful!

Hi I thought that you might be interested in hearing about the work I am doing at the Catholic Education Office Melbourne Australia.

I am an Education Officer ex- secondary school drama teacher, who has been working with primary schools to develop ways to use the arts across curriculum areas, inclusive of families and parents. A couple of weeks ago my Unit; Wellbeing and Community Partnerships, launched a DVD that showcase how three schools went about using the arts for social inclusion. They each strategically planned how they would integrate the arts into Inquiry units that included parent engagement. We know that when parents are involved in their child's learning, academic success is more likely.

Here is the link to the film, I hope you enjoy it. I would love to know what you think.

Creative Connections : Building learning communities through the arts, tells the story of how three schools used the arts for engagement and social inclusion within contemporary learning environments. The Community Arts initiative is supported by the CEOM Wellbeing & Community Partnerships Unit as a strategy for building collaborative engagement with families, teachers, students and community.

http://web.education.unimelb.edu.au/swap/wellbeing/teachers/partnerships...

I recently wrote a post for Americans for the Arts (http://blog.artsusa.org/2011/12/15/are-you-worried-about-your-arts-educa...) detailing how to evaluate your arts program to demonstrate effectiveness. Perhaps it would be useful here.

I have just written a blog post in which I have stated just what the arts means to me and why I want to defend it in education... please see http://wp.me/pKfOP-rM

While art is a blessing in many student's lives, most never discover the benefits of art as it could be taught. Art is optional in most curriculums and if a child can actually find a way into an art class, the next hurdle is the art teacher who seldom teaches all students. Most are artists first and teaching is a distant, annoying requirement or obligation for a paycheck.
Thus many students are not nurtured, they are expected to be artists from day one. If a child actually encounters one of the few gifted art teachers who actually teach to all students, then yes they are truly blessed.
Sadly it's rare to find a good art teacher. It's more common to find something else who shamelessly collect a paycheck for doing less than helping kids discover whatever talent they may have.
Awards and recognition for a few gifted students feeds the ego of the artist/teacher, while doing nothing for students except reduce the less developed students, an after thought. Striving for excellence is good until it overshadows the development of the rest of the students.
There's a difference between a gifted teacher and a disorganized, ethically confused, struggling artist who happens to be working as a teacher with no commitment to developing talent or an appreciation, understanding or love for art - until the cameras are turned on for awards and recognition.

I don't know what it is but at some point in our lives we stop creating. Instead, we settle for trying to fit in and be "normal"  Why is that?  Whatever the medium we teachers/adults have to continue to allow our students to think and create on their own. Take a look at this video: http://technologyinclass.com/blog/2010/06/25/childs-creativity/   

Arts Education is the best way to improve innovation in new and budding artist in my opinion. One major roadblock that historically has stood in the path of nation-wide arts education is the lack of studies proving that it raises achievement levels in all subjects, that it translates into a higher rate of college matriculation and better paying jobs. Today a child's access to arts education is largely a function of his or her parents' income. How do we explain to the larger society the benefits of this civic investment when they have been convinced that the purpose of arts education is mostly to produce more artists—hardly a compelling argument to either the average taxpayer or financially strapped school board. The real purpose of arts education is to create a community network complete with human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society. Learning by doing or experiencing Art is much more compelling, interesting, easier to understand and to remember whats been learned.

I have been criticized by my principal for connecting art to English Language Arts. I have made strong connections between the stories we read and specific artists or a genera of art. Over the years I have received many thank you letters from students for having the opportunity to create art in the classroom. I feel that students who see the world through a different lens often need this connection to relate to the content of a story. It gives them a hook. I wish that parents would become more vocal so teachers like me who value art education would not be marked down on evaluations for doing so.

I concur. Art is essential in the educative community. Art classes serve so many functions; self-esteem to those without academic success, a bridge to foster rapport over cultural diversities, socialization for special ed students as well as others, and yet, art may be in jeopardy in my state. Budget cuts are encroaching too closely for comfort. SB6 is calling for a 9% salary cut for teachers and no tenure for future teachers. Teachers may be cut with no justification. It is alarming and disenchanting to those of us who are passionate about our careers to face such blatant insults to our character and our careers.
Maybe it's time for, NO Teacher Left Behind