Should the arts be eliminated from our schools?
In talking to people when I was running for Board of Education, I heard the phrase “3 R’s” quite a bit. I heard several people express the opinion that children need to be taught the “3 R’s”….Reading Writing and Arithmetic and that’s it. Occasionally, cursive writing and reading an analog clock would be thrown in there too.
Sidebar here. I would like to offer some clarification. Students are taught cursive writing. It is mandated in North Carolina that students learn cursive writing by 5th grade. Towards the end of the school year, I start noticing my second graders will start trying to write their name in cursive, however most students learn it in 3rd grade. Students are also taught how to tell time on an analog clock. It is a part of the first grade math curriculum. So all of you cursive writing and analog clock advocates can be rest assured students are learning those skills. Now… back to the “3 R’s”
I don’t have a problem with the “3 R’s” as they are the foundations in education. However, there’s more to an education than just the “3 R’s”. In addition, students need history/social studies, science, the arts, health/PE, technology, forgeign language and more. In order for students to be 21st century ready and be equipped to compete in the global market, schools need to educate the whole child. Mark Robinson, NC Lt Governor (R) just recently said he wants to eliminate history and science and “other subjects” from the elementary curriculum and only focus on reading, writing and math. Since no reference was made, I will assume the “other subjects” include an arts education.
North Carolina has a history of wanting to eliminate the arts. In 2017, the republican controlled state legislature drafted a bill that would have eliminated art, music, PE & foreign language out of the K-3 curriculum forcing the state to lay-off as many as 4,500 teachers. This cut was a trade off for smaller class sizes so more attention could be given to the almighty tested subjects. I took a day off from teaching, used my own PTO and along with myself and hundreds of other advocates, we spent a day at the state legislature advocating against this horrible piece of legislation. Thankfully, the overwhelming pushback from educators, parents, and advocates was successful. The bill stalled and a solution was reached that did not cut these positions. The arts were saved and an arts education caucus was formed within the NCGA. As a result of decades of advocating for the arts, three years later, in 2020, a law was passed requiring one arts education credit mandatory for high school graduation in North Carolina. Our state now joins 27 other states that require an arts credit for graduation. While this is great news for NC public schools, there is still room for much improvement when it comes to providing students with an arts education. For starters, funding. The arts are still underfunded in this state. However, NC public schools are terribly underfunded in general and that will not change until pro-education legislators are elected. One thing NC could do that would not cost anything is provide high school graduates with diploma seals. Some states provide diploma proficiency seals to students that fulfill the academic requirements. It’s a way to reward students by recognizing a student’s high level of proficiency in a certain area. For example, in Arizona, if a student fullfills the minumum arts pathway requirements then they will be awarded the Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency www.azed.gov/artseducation/arizona-state-seal-of-arts-proficiency Other diploma seals in science, math, technology, engineering could also be incorporated. These seals are federally funded at no extra cost to the schools.
So to answer the question does the arts matter? Of course they do and here’s why the arts matter.
The earliest form of human communication is through pictures or pictography aka “picture writing”. This type of communication is seen in prehistoric cave drawings. It is one of the oldest and most common ways to communicate. Imagine being in a foreign country where you do not speak their language. To communicate one will resort to drawing pictures and acting out the words in a form of charades putting on quite the creative production. Children do the same thing. Almost as soon as motor skills are developed, children communicate through artistic expression. One could say that the arts are innate to us humans.
Engaging with the arts is essential to the human experience. We make artistic decisions everyday from our choice of music, what books to read or what shows to watch. Even the style of clothing we choose, the colors we choose in our homes and what items we choose to surround ourselves with are all artistic choices.
As an art educator, I am consistently asked by students “why do I have to take art? I’m not going to be an artist.” That may be true, but you also have to take math classes and you may not become a mathematician. You have to learn to write even though you may not become a writer. Just like all classes, there’s more to an art class than just learning art. Yes, you will get an art education where you will learn artistic techniques, as well as art history, but you will also learn many other valuable skills that carry over into other areas of your life.
Just what is an arts education?
The arts encompass both performing and visual art. Visual art classes consist of classes like drawing, painting, clay, photography, sculpture to name a few. Performing art classes are dance, music, band, drama and theater. The purpose of an arts education is not to produce more artists, but instead to produce critical thinkers who develop a curious mind to seek more information by questioning, discovering and ultimately producing creative solutions. To be an engineer, not only will you need to excel at math and science, but you will need to be able to think “outside the box” and creatively problem solve. Case in point, Apollo 13, the movie about three American astronauts stuck in space & unable to return home due to mechanical failures. In the movie, a room full of NASA’s best and brightest are faced with the challenge of taking random objects and figuring out how to use them to bring these guys home. These scientists needed to do some deep creative problem solving and these are the types of skills that are facilitated in arts classes. Through taking arts classes, regardless of your talents, you will learn skills like creative problem solving, how to think outside of the proverbial box, how to look at things from a different perspective, how to question and seek alternative answers. The arts facilitate collaboration and create an environment that encourages an exchange of ideas. All of that is seen in this scene from Apollo 13.
Apollo 13 (1995) – Square Peg in a Round Hole Scene (7/11) | Movieclips
Where would those three astronauts be today if these scientists had not learned how to think creatively or take a different perspective?
The arts enhance:
Cognitive and Developmental Skills: The skills learned in these classes provide students with the tools for success that will serve them through adulthood. The arts enhance fine motor skills that will help students with their handwriting, tying a shoe, buttoning a coat and other tasks that require controlled movements. Art and dance help develop spatial skills. Spatial skills are used in many different areas of life, such as, reading and understanding a map, driving, packing a suitcase, interpreting graphs. The arts also help students stay on task longer by enhancing concentration skills that increase attentiveness and perseverance. Studies show that students who are actively engaged in the arts have higher concentration skills and are more focused. Other skills such as time management, organizational and self-regulating skills are enhanced by an arts education.
Social Development: Unlike most traditional academic courses, an arts education is an outlet for students to explore creativity and self expression. The arts help people become more active citizens. Active citizens lead more productive lives. They are more confident, more compassionate, make better decisions, which can all make a positive difference in their communities. The arts encourage conversations, exchange of ideas, and often provide a form of communication for non-verbal students.
Emotional Development: The arts help people make reason out of chaos. The arts heal. The arts facilitate empathy, promote tolerance, understanding and acceptance. The arts can play a crucial role for students and educators, especially those dealing with trauma. The arts provide an outlet for students to process their emotions and build resiliency. It builds ”grit”. Research has determined that participation in the arts supports social and emotional learning including, teaching students emotional intelligence and compassion for others.
Academics and the arts:
The arts connect or bridge all of the other academic subjects. For example, a typical Leonard da Vinci lesson will connect history and geography as students learn about where in Italy da Vinci lived and worked. Students will discuss what life was like during da Vinci’s time (history/social studies), what language was spoken (foreign language), what were some common cultural practices (social studies). Science and math become a part of the lesson as students learn da Vinci’s artistic techniques of chiaroscuro and perspective. The skills used to judge, analyze and interpret da Vinci’s artworks are the same skills used in reading. In art class, the skills to discuss artworks is called visual literacy. In art, students are analyzing the image and in language arts they are analyzing the text.
Research connects learning music to improved verbal memory & reading fluency. It also bridges science because the student must learn the scientific understanding of sound waves and other musical acoustics. Like art, music is directly linked to literacy. Students in music class will analyze the sound, art students will analyze the image and reading students will analyze the text; all the same literacy skill set.
A 2019 study by George Mason University found a link between arts classes (art, music, drama, dance) and improved grades in middle school. The study concluded that students that engaged in the arts had higher test scores and better grades than classmates that did not engage in an arts education. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190312123720.htm
According to The Arts Education Partnership that analyzed 62 studies that all revealed that students who study music have increased achievement & proficiency in math. The same study also showed that the visual art students had better organization of their writing, had more sophisticated reading skills and were able to better interpret complex texts such as those found in science courses. Students that take a combination of arts courses demonstrate improved verbal, reading and math skills and also show a greater capacity for critical thinking.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2002-05-20-arts.htm
We know that an arts education is overwhelmingly beneficial to students. National surveys show that the majority of the public agrees that the arts are a necessary part of a well-rounded education. The arts have deep roots here in the Tarheel state; Seagrove potteries, the craft centers in the North Carolina mountains, home to the International Bluegrass Festival, the many music festivals held across the state, Artsplosure to name just a few. North Carolina is home to many nationally known performing artists like Scotty McCreery. There is no doubt that North Carolina is rich in the arts! However, art educators across the state struggle every year to have just the basics in their classrooms. Some don’t even have the basics. My last few years teaching for Franklin County Schools I had to rely on grants to have enough supplies. Grants should be for the extras, not the basics. Lucky for me I got those grants, some were not so fortunate. While the arts have deep roots here in North Carolina’s culture, it is not reflected enough in the public school system. North Carolina has done a lot of good for the arts, but there is so much more that can be done starting with fully funding the arts in all 115 school districts statewide. Voting matters and before you cast your vote in November ask yourself will this vote help education? Will this vote benefit the arts?
Wow! Good read!