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The impact of fine arts in public schools
The impact of fine arts in public schools
The impact of fine arts in public schools
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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. Performing or public speaking of any kind is difficult, but that difficulty can help to build confidence. Fine arts gives students the ability to perform and build confidence with their own support team of people who do and love the same thing. Not having to perform alone and knowing that everything possible has been done to ensure a good performance helps performers be confident in themselves and in their abilities. “Puneet Jacob, former choristers and current assistant conductor, says kids are often afraid to perform because of fear of failure.” (Lefebvre) The more a person faces their fear, especially when they do well and the fear is disproved, the less afraid he or she will become. When students work on music or a play for months on end, they become much more confident in themselves and what they can do than they were when they first began. One thing that many people do not appreciate is how beneficial fine arts can be to academic success. All fine arts ... ... middle of paper ... ...tes would be greatly affected in a negative way. Works Cited Baker, Ann. Grunwald. Chorus America, n.d. Web. 23 Nov 2013. Deasy, Richard, James S. Catterall, Lois Hetland, and Ellen Winner. Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development. Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership, 2002. ERIC. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. "Educating for the Workplace through the Arts.” 1996-Oct-28." Editorial. Business Week 28 Oct. 1996: 9-10. ERIC. Getty Education Inst. For the Arts, 28 Oct. 1996. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Lefebvre, Eliza. "Choir gives voice to kids’ confidence." Buffalo News 14 March 2013, n. pag. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. Major, Marci L. "How They Decide: A Case Study Examining the Decision-Making Process for Keeping or Cutting Music in a K–12 Public School District." Journal of Research in Music Education. 61.1 (2013): 5-25. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
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
The arts education program is important in developing skills that are essential within the workforce and that employers value. I have shown just a few of the areas that a fine arts education gives students the opportunity to hone and become well-rounded. There are still more. Taking away an important parts of a student's education away or not fighting for more arts education funding would be a mistake. So many children do not get the chance for this type of fulfillment.
The main point of this essay is, that fine arts does not have to be mandatory. As an art person, it doesn’t really matter whether it is mandatory or not. For other people it could be one class that they have to take with no interested, just to graduate. Not just find arts, but gym, languages can be part of it too. If school makes these classes non-mandatory, if will help students to focus more on classes that will help them in
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.
First off the art program takes up to much of the budget some schools that lose a lot of money could be because of the fine arts program. Most schools are trying not to spend all their money, they are also trying to find ways to save their money. Most superintendents recommend on cutting the art program from schools. By cutting the fine arts program they save money in the salaries of employees. In the elementary levels art is usually the first thing to get cut, but on the other hand it is harder to cut when you get into high schools it is harder to cut because some schools need you to take so you can graduate. Fewer elementary schools are offering visual arts, dance, and drama classes. More than 1.3 million
If the arts were not taught in schools then an even larger amount to not graduate high school and with less high school graduates there are less hardworking and successful citizens. “The arts can help instill self-discipline, sharpen problem-solving skills and show how to work together with others,” (Watts). If a person is not taught to have self-discipline, problem-solving skills or how to work with others then that person will have trouble while working in today 's workforce. No matter what job or career someone obtains the person will in some way have to develop at least one of these skills to get by. Therefore, for children to become successful in their future work or career they must also develop the skills needed to work in their future career as well. And this includes developing these skills at a young age through art classes. But without art classes a student will have a lesser chance of developing self-discipline skills, problem-solving skills and the patience to deal with other
dismissing classes that are essential to building any of those. Schools should not cut the fine arts
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
“Education and engagement in the fine arts are an essential part of the school curriculum and an important program of every student and sufficient data exists to overwhelming support of belief that study and participation in the fine arts is a key common throughout all academic areas. ”(Bryant 1) This provides federal corporations with information and data on how essential the art programs are in a school education. These federal corporations that fund the arts don’t comprehend or acknowledge the beneficial qualities that students gain while being enrolled in art education classes. These beneficial qualities outweigh the disadvantages of art education, which there seem to be none. “The arts enhance the process of learning. The systems they nourish, which include attentional, cognitive, emotional, and motor capacities, are, in fact, the driving forces behind all other learning”(Bryant 1), which in fact enhance students learning abilities, all around, not just in music or art, but, math, science, technology even, physical education. There are indeed specific benefits that art education classes can have on each and every student, they include “reaching students that are not normally reached, in ways and methods not normally used, changes the learning environment, students connect to each other better, provides challenges to students of all levels, and students learn to become
A large problem for today’s society is money and sometimes it’s very hard to come by, especially for the government. A way the government has an idea for to make more money is cutting funding for things. One of those funding cuts, is going towards Fine Art Departments all around the United States. People may say that Fine Arts is just music and nothing important comes out of it, but Fine Art programs teach very important life skills and shouldn't be cut from schools. Music teaches people about other cultures and languages, it improves students’ academics and involvement in school activities, and helps people within society.
Fine arts programs are programs in schools that are typically centered on both vocal and instrumental music, art, dance, and drama (Music and arts, 2002). These programs are responsible for the majority of entertainment in most public schools. Arts programs, which have always had a shaky existence in the public schools, are now making academic claims to encourage their school districts to keep them in the budget when money gets tight (Title I programs struggle for funding, 2003) . Although many of educational professionals link the overall achievement in school to these art programs, these programs are still in danger of becoming extinct if massive budget cuts continue.
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.
They need outlets to express themselves while getting constructive and positive criticism. The benefits of art classes far outweigh the negatives. Budget cuts can be equally dispersed throughout each school to each individual section of classes. This can decrease the blow to just one section of education. Should students have to suffer because of the elimination of valuable educators – the arts - because of money issues and warped views? Students should be a priority to society because they are the future and deserve the best educations to help them flourish and succeed. By offering arts in schools, students are given the opportunity to develop their skills to the unimaginable. Only they know their true potential. They deserve the means to enhance their imagination and live their lives equipped with the best skills they
You may be thinking to yourself, schools do have Arts departments, so this is not an issue. Jill Hambek, writer for The Washington Times recently published an article titled “Arts programs in schools often in danger of being cut.” In the article, Hambek states, “Chicago Public Schools dealt a blow to arts education when it laid off over 1,000 teachers as a result of its recent decision to close over 50 schools. Among the most affected areas was arts education, in which twenty percent of the teachers let go, taught art or music” (Hambek 1). Art is important, and we must not let it disappear within the tangled mess of mathematic and scientific based programs within school curriculums. An arts education is essential to learning and creativity and its struggle in our current generation is in urgent need of attention. “The arts aren 't just important because they improve math scores. They’re important because they speak to parts of children’s being which are otherwise untouched” (Sir Ken
When I was in high school, I was very involved in the arts. I took a band, choir and two years of visual art. During the years of high school, I knew that the fees for the art courses cost much more than other electives at my school. I also observed that the school focused more on their athletic and academics programs, than on their art programs. We had many fundraisers to raise more money for the art programs even after paying an already expensive fee to takes these electives. Schools are neglecting the visual arts programs and placing all of their money and focus on academics and athletics programs. I propose a balance between the arts, academics, and the athletics.