Why have Art Education?

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Art education is an important aspect of the overall education of children. It makes parents more involved in their children’s schoolwork by providing an area where parents do not feel a handicapped in assisting their children because of a lack of basic knowledge. Art is a means for children who do not otherwise excel in school to have a subject where they can shine. Involvement in the arts has been shown to increase academic performance in all areas, not just art. These benefits provide the basis of why we should have art education in our schools.

Increased Parental Involvement

As a child progresses through school it is increasingly difficult for parents to be involved in helping with homework and schoolwork in general. This is because in many instances, parents lack or forget the knowledge that is required to assist their children in subjects such as math and science. Art provides a means for parents to be involved because they tend not to feel as intimidated by a lack of educational background in the subject. Art projects can be an excellent means for parent to encourage and become active in their child’s academic life.

Artwork is a tangible medium through which parents can see their child’s progress in school. As McElroy (2005) states “All parents feel tremendous pride when they attend their child's dance or choral performance, view a work of art created by their child displayed in the school or see the youngster excel at something that takes great skill.” Art exhibits at school provide an opportunity for the parents to come to the school and experience what their child is learning. This can provide a gateway for parental involvement in other areas since the parent sees what opportunities are available to them to become more active in their child’s education. Also, just being at the school creates at atmosphere for more parent-teacher interaction in all areas. This interaction allows the parent to gain more feedback on how their child is doing and what they can do to improve their children’s understanding of materials.

Art education also provides the framework for more family activities outside the classroom that build on the knowledge the child has received. In some instances “families may actually gain most of their exposure to the arts through their children's school experiences” (McElroy, 2005). By seeing their child’s artworks they can become interested in art themselves and plan family activities to art museums or galleries. These activities not only increase the whole families knowledge base, but also provide family time in an increasingly face paced world where time together becomes rarer.

After-School Programs

Programs in art for after-school are also very important, especially for children in disadvantaged areas. It is common knowledge that the hours immediately following school are often the most critical for children. With parents at work, children have around two hours of often unsupervised time. For children who are at-risk, it is important to have a place to go in these in between hours. Art programs can provide the safe environment for children to learn and still have fun until their parents come home from work. Further benefits, as stated by McElroy (2005), are “that students in all the programs - whether related to sports, academics, community, or the arts - did better in school and in their personal lives. Interestingly, students in the arts programs did the best.” This is evidence that after-school art programs are making a difference for disadvantaged students, and very often can be one of the best tools to help them excel academically in other areas.

A case study on how arts education helps the underprivileged is demonstrated by Ivanova in her work with orphaned children in Bulgaria. In 1999, she provided 60 orphaned children with two one-week workshops with professional artists. These workshops focused on art history, ceramics, painting, installation art, and fashion design. The results indicate that art helped to counteract the negative influences and experiences in their life and helped to improve their academic understandings (Ivanova, 2004). This example demonstrates the powerful impact art has on the underprivileged children in society. If results can be found with just two weeks of intensive instruction, the benefits of continued programs should be astounding.

Art Education Promotes Involvement in School

Children who are active in art education also demonstrate further interest in school as a whole. They give more attention to subjects during class time. According to Smithrim (2005), “students, teachers, parents, and administrators talked about how the arts engaged children in learning, referring to the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social benefits of learning in and through the arts.” Art classes provide children with opportunities to discuss and help each other to learn how to be better artists. This peer to peer learning is very valuable since it is difficult to have direct instruction with art. Each child’s needs are different because each child’s work of art will be a personal expression of how they see an object or even the world. Students can have social benefits from art by learning to be constructive critics and helping one another to create better art.

Art encourages for self-expression. Therefore, there is not necessarily a completely right or wrong answer. This can encourage students who may have a hard time in other areas where there is only right and wrong. Art can build self-esteem and motivate children to learn. The motivation that is created in the art classroom can be carried over to other subjects. This can help children to stop blaming external, uncontrollable factors in their educational results. They will try harder to understand material and therefore do better. This can lead them to make internal and stable attributions for their success, encouraging further hard work and success.

Conclusions

Art education provides a means to many educational ends. It is a way for disadvantaged children to experience education in a positive and creative manner. It allows them to do better in other subjects as well. Parental involvement also increases when children are involved in the arts. It is a way for parents to relate to their children’s education without being intimidated by their own lack of knowledge. Also in accordance with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, it allows children who may not be the best at math or science to foster a talent. All of these things contribute to make art education an extremely valuable subject.

For further information on the benefits of arts education in general visit:
http://www.scribbleskidsart.com/generic.html?pid=162
http://www.pcah.gov/gaa/profiles.html


For information on how to make arts education a priority in your school district go to:
http://ww3.artsusa.org/services/arts_education/resource_center/resource_center_004.asp

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Art Education

Art’s value extends beyond just the theories of color and design. Valuable lessons such as morals, tolerance, and even math can be taught using art. Morals are taught through teacher behavior and classroom rules as in a traditional classroom, but the students can also creatively explore there own morals through their works as each one tells a story. Tolerance can be taught by exploring the artwork of different cultures. Students are taught to appreciate the beauty of each style and foster an appreciation for the people who made it. Math is taught in art through design. Children learn geometry through working with different shapes and numbers in art. All of these aspects can be found in the art classroom making art a very valuable subject to teach many lessons through one medium.

Art Teaching Morals

With the attention given to school violence in recent years, it is more important than ever to teach children lessons about morals and integrity. The art classroom is a great way to do this. The lessons call for creativity but also respect for one another’s creations in a fun environment for children. However, teachers must actively take the lead in teaching their students lessons of morality. Leshnoff (2003) found that “relevant rules most commonly cited by the respondents in priority were: 1) Respect others; 2) Clean up properly; 3) Listen to directions; 4) Respect art materials and use them properly; and 5) Respect artwork-no negative criticism. These rules apply to how the individual can contribute to the general welfare of the student community in the art room.” Respecting others and the art materials teach children to be responsible and take care of the things that are provided to them. Cleaning up properly also teaches responsibility and how to take care of one’s self. Listening to directions and the no negative criticism rules teach the children to respect authority in the teacher and to be kind to one another. If they positively criticize, then they are learning to assist one another and engage in cooperative learning.

Another way that children are taught morals through art is during dialogue about artwork with one another and the teacher. Creating pictures that tell stories are very useful for this. For example, Leshnoff (2003) suggests using comics. She has her students engage in dialogue with her about the story the comic is telling and why the superhero is winning over evil. This gives children a sense of justice and helps them learn to do the right thing in situations. The comic heroes help the children to value good works. This idea can be applied to a number of mediums including illustrating a favorite fable, writing and illustrating an original story, or working with natural materials to demonstrate moral responsibility for the environment. In all of these instances art teaches children how to be moral and responsible beings in society. They are learning these lessons while having fun, which promotes greater retention and higher learning. The subjects are of intrinsic interest to the children so they are more motivated to learn. Once these lessons are learned inside the art classroom, they can be applied to the child’s world at large.

Art Teaching Diversity and Tolerance

In a world that is increasingly diverse and closely connected, it is important that children learn lessons of appreciation and tolerance for those that are different from them. Art provides a medium for children to explore a large number of cultures in the world as well as different styles and experiences within their own. Art, according to Johnson (2002):
Facilitates the opportunity for students to communicate and to share knowledge and information across cultures; Explores the cultural, historical, psychological, and political roots of students' own identity and examines the complex intersections and interconnections of race, gender, class, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, 'ability, and age that comprise the American culture; Develops critical thinking skills by providing students with activities that will enhance their capacities for imagination, intuition, reasoning, and evaluation, as well as contribute to achieving perspective, constructing and discerning relationships, and gaining self-awareness; Develops skills to differentiate between "looking" at the surface of art and culture, and "seeing" beneath the surface to discover meaning and values in one's own culture and the culture and art of diverse peoples.
Through their own works children are able to not only display their own stories, but are able to learn from one another. By studying works of art from different countries, a teacher can facilitate discussions about what cultural experiences led to the style of art being presented. The children can gain an appreciation for diversity by seeing the beauty in each work of art. This medium allows children to experience diversity through multiple senses and in multiple contexts. For these reasons art is a valuable tool in teaching children diversity and tolerance.

Children can learn to appreciate diversity within their class by creating a larger project through the combing of individual works. An example put forth by Skophammer (2004) is to have the children make a quilt in which each square represents a significant point in each child’s life. This helps the children to see what has made their classmates who they are to day, and hopefully give them a greater appreciation for one another.

A another example of teaching diversity through art is from Sacca (2003) who focuses on how art brings awareness to the political problems faced by native people in North America. The art work is used to trace the history of the people and pass it down to future generations. By displaying it for the world to see, it can educate children and adults alike of different cultures on the struggles face by Native American people. Hopefully this education can teach people to be more tolerant and work to help those who have experience injustices.

Mathematics in Art

For some students, math is a difficult subject and it is hard for them to maintain their interest in it for very long. Art can take a subject such as math and make it come alive by allowing students to see how math plays a role in everyday life. This is especially true when it comes to geometry. Art can teach the basics of geometry to children of all ages. A project that is useful for young children is to make a collage out of different representations of one number (Shreero, 2002). This project helps younger children to expand their schema of what the number looks like so she can recognize it in different situations. Geometry plays a part for older children when the design projects for different genres including architecture and even abstract art. Mathematics in art allows children who might not otherwise have an interest in math to gain insight and appreciation for the subject in a creative and fun way.


Conclusions

Art is a valuable tool to teach children a variety of lessons that extend beyond the subject of art itself. Morals and appreciation for diversity are just two that can make their way into the classroom. Art can also make learning math fun and interesting for students, while giving a concrete example of how what they have learned in math class can be applied to other areas of their life. Due to its diverse benefits, school districts should more greatly value its art departments than is currently the case. Since art can incorporate so many different subjects and learning techniques it should be better funded and considered an essential part of the school curriculum.

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