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Importance of art
Why is arts education important
Arts importance essay
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Are Arts Important in Education?
(An argument concerning why arts should be required in all schools) Many states throughout North America don’t require art classes such as art, dance, drama, and music. Many states require credits of art classes in order for their students to graduate from high school. Schools in New York City note that not requiring arts classes in high school is a problem. Administrators from New York schools admit that “low income areas in NYC look to cut out art education because of tight budgets” (Raleigh). Many schools are making art classes either optional or eliminating them completely because they don’t have the funds to keep them. The many schools throughout North America that require art credits to graduate from
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At Greater Latrobe Junior High School in Unity, Pennsylvania principal Chad Krehlik boasts in his brand new $1.1 million hallway which was renovated to display art selections created by the students. Krehlik states how fantastic and beautiful it is. If one were walking down the hallway they would experience many diverse art projects “featuring orange bulkheads and black steel girders” (Federoff). All of the art presented in Greater Latrobe’s newly renovated hallway is due to their immense involvement in the arts. They take pride in their art program and show that it develops better students in the long run. Looking at this example of Greater Latrobe Junior High School one could see how important arts are in high school. Requiring art classes in high school proves to be effective in developing students and helping them discover a hidden skill they may not know they had. Art and drawing classes prove to be helpful to some high school …show more content…
People of Minneapolis, Minnesota feel the same way. Reporters of Minneapolis say that “importance of arts education has been fading in Minnesota public schools. However, art and music departments serve as vital emotional and academic stepping stones for children throughout their educations” (Moeller). As Moeller stated arts serve many different purposes for students throughout their educational journey. Although many schools disregard the arts, many realize how important they are. Illinois schools have been spending billions of dollars just on their arts programs. Looking back to 2013 “Northwestern University has $7.9 billion; the University of Chicago has $6.7 billion; appropriations for the Illinois Arts Council were about $8 million” all of this money these universities solely spent on their arts (Jones). I think that arts are too overlooked these days and that schools should spend more time and money on
Turbide, Anne F. "Why Art Programs Are Beneficial to Students." The Synapse. N.p., 15 May 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.
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.
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
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.
In “Project Classroom Makeover”, Davidson urges for the reduction of standardization and introduction of key changes including education paths catered to students interest. In one example of how standard practices affect students, she talked about a classroom visit in which she observed a talented young artist with green hair. The girl, while artistically gifted, was not succeeding in other topics, which resulted in her retreatment of herself into the background until the subject she favored was taught. “Her parents sent her to this magnet arts school after she had failed elsewhere” (Davidson 62). Her “failure” was due to lack of interest in the other subjects.
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.
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.
Art and its education are crucial in the development of young children. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance to ensure that our young children are being taught about art and its education in order for them to be successful contributing members of society. June Vail, a professor of dance at Bowdoin College explains, “The arts bring energy and creativity, a kind of learning that can only enhance every other kind of learning. (Vail).” She continues by saying that, “The enterprise of a liberal arts education is integrative, to educate students to be creative and flexible, to harness their energy in a different way (Vail).” Art begins to lay the foundation of success early for young children by developing their motor skills through paining with a paintbrush and drawing with crayons. Furthermore, it also helps promote language development by learning new shapes, colors, and allows them to describe their artistic creation. Lastly, it also helps children improve academically. A report that was done by the Americans for the Arts demonstrates that young people who participated regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, participate in a math or science fair, or win an award for writing an essay as opposed to students who do not participate in the arts (PBS). As a result of this, it is imperative to ensure that adolescent children of today begin
Art can be used to raise scores in every subject, “Students who took four years of art classes scored 91 points higher on their SAT exams than those who took half a year or less. Multiple studies also confirmed that there is a correlation between art engagement and students’ other achievements.” (Valeriya Metla) Even with the research linking art and better grades some educators think that it is more worth while to only focus on the core classes because it is more important to fund what is being tested than to help raise children who are creative.
“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.
Balanced programs for art education have been constantly changing and adapting over the years. One program that was developed back in the late 1960’s by Elliot Eisner incorporated three areas of art into the curriculum. These included art object, art criticism and the historical context of art. His program developed into a theoretical base for art curriculum in the elementary schools that is very similar to programs used today (Madeja 2001).
Sitting in my two o’clock math class I know I need to pay attention. In today’s economy competing for jobs has become a big struggle. With the number of unemployment rising, people are furthering their education to meet the needs of jobs available. Schools are now requiring some form of the arts to be taken in order to graduate. Although the arts may have many benefits, I believe that funding in the school systems is not needed.
Unfornaturely, Some educational decision makers will not accept arguments based on just the importance of art education (Hetland, Sheridan, Veenema, & Winner 2007). This article will argue research in art education has the same advantages as other subjects, by providing rich meaningful data and insight into the complexity of the human experience (Sullivan, 2006; Eisner, 2006; O’Donoghue, 2009). Research in art education has several interests in art research: arts-based research, arts-informed research and practice-based research (Sullivan 2006; Marshall & D’Adamo, 2011; Rolling, 2010). Marshall (p.13) investigates art practice in the classroom as a valid research method and high school student using their artwork as documentation for collecting data (Sullivan, 2006). The questioning of art-practice research in the classroom is not new, Jane Remer (1996) addressed this issue nineteen years ago of finding an alternative to scientific research methods. Art teachers were held accountable to prove what students were learning in art class was
Throughout history, the arts have formed an integral part of social life. People have practised the arts to communicate their ideas, feelings, thoughts and imagination from generation to generation. The primitive people used paintings and dances to express their thoughts. Ancient Greek civilization has not faded into oblivion but left lasting legacies in the arts. Numerous types of modern and classical world music, masterpieces of paint or spectacular theatrical shows have the power to capture the attention. In the twenty-first century, the arts have developed at a phenomenal rate and we are overwhelmed by the amazing work of art by talented artists. Therefore it is my conviction that every child has the right to receive quality art education which will meet differentiated individual needs in terms of learning styles and methods which forms my teaching philosophy. In this creative exercise I hope to facilitate a smooth and rich learning experience in their journey of self-exploration.