With newspapers announcing educational cuts in their budgets and some elementary schools that may be closed, I feel concerned about what all of this will mean in the coming weeks and months.
As an art educator I have been reading about the need for the visual arts to be integrated into the classroom curriculums in the elementary schools. The California Alliance of Arts Education has announced on their website plans for Staff Development to have more Integration of the Arts offered to elementary classroom teachers.
Let us begin first by talking about the “Prime Value of the Arts in Education.” Elliott Eisner feels from his point of view that the unique contributions the arts make are to the individual’s experience with and understanding of the world. Eisner feels that the visual arts deal with an aspect of human consciousness that no other field touches on which is the aesthetic contemplation of visual form. Furthermore, the arts are an essential part of public education. Educational policies almost universally recognize the value of the arts. Forty-seven states have arts-education mandates, 48 states have arts-education standards, and 40 states have art requirements for high school graduation, according to the 2007-08 AEP state policy database. From dance and music to theatre and the visual arts, the arts give children a unique means of expression, capturing their passions and emotions, and allowing them to explore new ideas, subject matter, and cultures. They bring “joy” in every aspect of our lives. Dr. Terry Begesen, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington State says, “Arts Education not only enhances students’ understandings of the world around them, but it also broadens their perspectives on traditional academics. The arts give us the creativity to express ourselves, while challenging our intellect. The arts integrate life and learning for all students and are integral in the development of the whole person”. I think it is important too. Let us give more attention and thought to “Why do we teach the arts in the schools?”
For more information contact Jaylene Armstrong, retired art educator from Madison Wisconsin, at 661-255-3050.