The creation and appreciation of art in all its forms is an intricate part of cultural identification. It conveys a sense of geographical placement, of social mores, of a people's history and its future. In art there is symbolism, there is storytelling, there is the sense of humanity's place within the universe.
If these abstract concepts are not instilled in generations to come, if the true sense of artistry is lost to the masses, then the artistry of reading and writing, of mathematics and science will be lost. Humans will be little more than drones, until we are not even that.
Many schools face nasty budget cuts that threaten to eliminate their art programs, so the prospect of carving off a chunk of time for classroom instruction in drawing, painting, or sculpting seems rather bleak. Such gloom, however, perpetuates the myth that the arts should be confined to their respective sections of the school day, isolated from more "intellectual" endeavors.
In fact, according to a compendium of research published by the Arts Education Partnership, a coalition of philanthropic and government organizations focused on the role of arts in learning, academic success may actually depend as much on drawing as it does on geometry.
The partnership's research builds on educator Howard Gardner's seminal theory of multiple intelligences to indicate that arts education -- including the visual arts, dance, music, and drama -- enhances a student's ability to acquire core academic skills. Study in painting or drawing, for example, can improve complex reasoning, writing, and reading readiness, partly because the critical and creative faculties required to generate and appreciate art transfer cognitively to future learning experiences, and partly because the arts make learning fun: A student personally invested in his or her work will be far more likely to stick with it.
No surprise, then, that students exposed to these forms of creative expression achieve higher scores on standardized tests, or that at-risk students are more likely to stay in school when they participate in an arts program. At New York City's Heritage School, for instance, the arts are considered as important as other major subjects, says Principal Peter Dillon. Three-quarters of the students head off to four-year colleges.
"The observational skills needed to draw a careful sketch of a leaf, are the same skills you need to figure out scientifically what's going on in a pond, which are the same skills you need to 'read' your classmates," explains Dillon. And although his school's success depends on many factors, "I know there's a strong connection" between the arts and learning, he says. "I see it every day."
So, while it still may be tough to set out paint and clay for concentrated instruction, it's easy to add some colored pencils to an activity for a few moments at the beginning of the day or just before a break. It's worth the minutes.
facts
- Students who participate in arts programs are at least three times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, elected to class office within their schools, participate in a math and science fair, win an award for school attendance and win an award for writing an essay or poem.
- Third grade art students who participated in the Guggenheim Learning Through Art Program performed better in six categories of literacy and critical thinking skills - including thorough description, hypothesizing and reasoning - than did students who were not in the program.
- Studies show that students of the arts in all disciplines outperformed their non-arts peers on the SAT in 2007.
- Numerous studies affirm that students who receive music education in school improve their SAT and ACT scores in math, foreign language and creative writing.
- In California, 500,000 fewer school children are taking music education now than five years ago.
- Nine out of 10 parents surveyed opposed cuts to the arts in our schools, yet many policy makers seem tone-deaf to this critical part of educating our children.
- Experts estimate that out of a class of 30 students, up to ten will someday be employed in an arts-related occupation.
- American consumers spent $12.1 billion ($42 per person) on admissions to performing arts events in 2002.
- Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year.
- The not-for-profit arts and culture industry generates 5.7 million jobs every year.
- About 86% of artists vote in comparison with about 60% of all Americans.
Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are:
- 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
- 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
- 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
- 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
- 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem
Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
- Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly three times as frequently
- Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently
- Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
- Perform community service more than four times as often
("Living the Arts through Language + Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations," Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the ArtsMonograph, November 1998)
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