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Importance of art and music in education
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Did you know when schools need to make budget cuts, art and music programs are the first to go? Many schools in America have begun to cut art and music programs out of their curriculum. Although some believe art and music programs should be cut, many other disagree because art and music programs help students socially, encourage teenagers to stay in school, and lead to higher test scores.
Art and music programs should not be cut because they help students socially. A study done in 2012 funded by The National Endowment for the arts found that students who have been exposed to art and music programs do better socially. The study found that overall, involved kids stay out of trouble, have higher self-esteem and feel more connected to their
Throughout history music has played an important role in society, whether it was Mozart moving people with his newest opera or the latest album from the Beatles. Where would society be today without music? With schools cutting their music programs, the next Mozart may not get his chance to discover his amazing talent. Music programs are essential to education. To fully understand this one must understand how music helps the human body, why schools have cut music programs, and why people should learn music.
Fine arts gives students a chance to pour their hearts into something beautiful; a chance to be a part of something that is bigger than just themselves. Some schools are facing financial troubles with the current economy, and one of the first programs they consider cutting is fine arts. The removal of fine arts programs would be absolutely devastating to countless members of the community. Many students would lose their favorite class, in some cases the one class that helps them get through the day, and many teachers that truly care fir the students would lose their dream jobs. Fine arts should not be cut from schools; they build confidence, help with the application of other academic concepts, and even help to prepare students for their future work in the business world.
A recent development in public education has been the decline in arts programs nationwide. Budget cuts to arts programs are responsive to decreases in state funding, especially in states with conservative economic policies. Many states have also enacted legislation disabling local school districts’ abilities to justify employing art and music teachers. Consequently, several problems have manifested themselves, including the loss of arts programs proving detrimental to the overall quality of education for today’s children. First and foremost, arts programs improve overall performance in core school subjects; this is demonstrated clearly through higher test scores amongst students with exposure to arts and positive correlations between arts and core class engagement. Other reasons supporting retaining arts programs include to help foster community development, produce creative minds, develop problem-solving skills, aid in child development and visual-spatial skills, and encourage underprivileged students to remain in school (Metla, 2015). By removing arts programs from some public schools, an alarming issue of public concern arises. Public education, given that it is considered to be a non-rivalrous and non-excludable, is deemed a public good (Clark, 2016). Cutting arts programs in public schools, especially when cuts transpire in schools saturated with heavy minority populations, creates inequitable education and creates a serious issue of public concern.
Many schools consider art, music, and physical education programs ‘fluff’ classes, which is why when schools are looking for a place to save money those are some of the programs that are first to go. Claire Suggs, Senior Education Policy Analysts for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, found that “about 42 percent of districts are reducing or eliminating art or music programs and 62 percent are eliminating elective courses” (“Cutting Class” #1). Art and music programs should not be cut because they allow students to explore their creativity and improve problem solving skills. On the
Back in 8th grade, I was choosing my classes for high school. I was thrilled to see many fine arts classes, along with many different classes, because middle school only offers limited kinds of class. Since I already know I’m taking band in high school, I didn’t have to worry about fine arts credit but I chose to take art too, because I wanted learn more deeper about art. I saw many students like me taking both band and art, or enjoying art classes like I did. However, there were many students who did not enjoy it, or just taking it because they needed fine art credit in order to graduate. It remind me of myself taking language class just to get credit instead of interested in learning.
Many schools around the country are cutting their music program because of budget cuts in their counties. The arts for some reason are always the first to be cut; apparently the school doesn’t think they are essential to their students learning. Schools try to focus on the more important academic classes because of the high testing standards they must now meet. (Nesoff 2003) This is not just happening in poor school districts it is happening in large districts across the country including magnet schools for the arts: “When Albert Margolis and his wife attended the final music program for their son's kindergarten class in May, they were shocked when a teacher stood up after the performance and announced that the music program was cut indefinitely…Bathgate Elementary School in Mission Viejo in California's affluent Orange County, is a magnet school for the arts…” (Nesoff 2003) When magnet schools for the arts start cutting music you know there is a problem. The problem is the schools do not know the importance of music and the arts and how necessary they are for children to grow and become cultured in our society.
According to Valeriya Metla from Law Street Media, since 2008, more than 80 percent of schools nationwide experienced cuts to their budgets. Due to this, many school districts had to take out or decrease the budget for their art programs.
Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is no doubt that a cut in funding for art programs will take a huge toll on students overall grades and test scores. Research has found that the studying of music and art facilitates learning in other subjects and enhances children’s skills in other areas (Brown). Furthermore, providing students with a creative outlet can do great justice in reducing the stress from many other classes and even offer insight for students in possible career paths involving the art field. The art industry today currently supports 4.1 million full-time jobs (Dorfman). By increasing the funding of music and art programs for students preschool through twelfth grade we can see a dramatic increase in the education of children across the United States, assist with skill development in young students, and greatly benefit the economy at the same time.
middle of paper ... ... Including arts in the classroom is as simple as playing music. It is proven that just listening to music or even a simple rhythm will engage both sides of the brain and help it to learn more efficiently (Weber 1). Even though this country is in an economic recession, fine arts are a necessity for the schools. The arts may cost a little extra money, but in the end, the benefits of keeping fine arts in the school system will bring about rewards never imagined.
The arts has been a big part of our history; it help shape our society. Many students who loves art, music, and theater are well aware that the art education in public schools might not be part of the school’s curriculum, due to the cutting down of the budget. As a result, debates arise on what curriculum should disappear and stay. One of the choices is the art education because many believes that art education isn’t important, and the schools should focus more on classes that are important to students like mathematics, science, and reading, so that the United States could compete with the other nations when it comes to academics. However, there has been a lot of research, which proves that art education is a necessity to a student’s success
The Importance of Arts Education Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of time and funding. In many cases, budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks.
In today’s society anything can be considered “Art”. From the great sounds of a symphony, to the architecture of a modern structure, or even an elephant painting with its trunk, art is what the viewer perceives it to be. Individuals will always agree or disagree with the message behind a certain piece of art, as pieces can be offensive to some, but beautiful to others. Some argue that funding the arts in school is a waste of money, time, or a combination of both, but the benefits outweigh the negatives by far, due to a variety of reasons.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Music is almost as old as the human race and is as much a part of it as anything. So why would anyone choose to get rid of it? An Increasing number of schools across the nation are deciding to cut music education programs. This includes band, orchestra, choir, and general music classes. In 1991, 55.4 percent of public school eighth-graders took part in music classes at school. In 2004, this figure was just 49.1 percent. Money plays a huge role in this statistic: “...when funds are scarce, arts courses are usually the first to be dropped from a school’s curriculum” (“Arts Education”). While many argue that music education is an unnecessary cost for schools, it improves student’s overall well being.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” -Pablo Picasso. This quote is pretty straightforward. It says how all children are artists and how they grow older are not an artist anymore. A child’s drawing can tell so much about what they are thinking and feeling about their surroundings. They see things differently from adults and teens because when they are drawing or doing some sort of art they are not told that it is a “bad picture” or what ever they are doing is “not right.” They don’t have a limit upon their thoughts and ideas, but when they grow up, they do. Starting from the first day of school they are taught about the wrong things and the right thing. As we grow older there are more classes that have right and wrong answers to a question like for example math. We learn to follow the steps, use the formula, and get the right answer but because of these classes we forget about the arts. If the arts are forgotten then student’s way of expressing what they feel is taken away. Which brings more pressure to students in classes like math, physics, geography, and etc. That is why schools should make arts classes mandatory because arts classes help students build their artistic and creative skills, makes them better learners, and encourages them to find other ways of expressing their thoughts.
It is important that all students get the best possible chance of success for the future. Because not all students have the ability to attend magnet or charter schools, they are forced to attend public school; and when public schools cut the fine arts, these chances are dramatically reduced for these students, especially those interested in pursuing an art career. Not only does cutting the arts complicate and, in some cases, eliminate a student’s plans for the future, but students can also lose certain advantages in brain development that the arts specifically provide. This includes improvement in motor and cognitive ability, communication, and memory; all of which are skills that students can and will use for the rest of their lives. It is also worth noting how the fine arts shape a student to be ready and appear well rounded in many mays, which is important when applying to college. The students currently in school will shape the future of the world; they will take places in the government, become bosses of big companies. Some will even become president one day. Then for what righteous reasons should they be deprived of fine arts courses that allow for a mental break while also creating positive mental stimuli? To put it simply, there are no justifiable reasons for cutting fine