10 Lessons the Arts Teach
1. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.
2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
4. The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
7. The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.
8. The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.
9. The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.
10. The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
SOURCE: Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications. NAEA grants reprint permission for this excerpt from Ten Lessons with proper acknowledgment of its source and NAEA.
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY IN AND THROUGH THE ARTS
A child's education is not complete unless it includes the arts. In fact, the current iteration of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) lists the arts among the core academic subjects, requiring schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts and to reap the full benefits of a comprehensive arts education. In spite of this federal direction, access to arts education in our schools is eroding. A 2007 study by the Center on Education Policy found that 16% of elementary school districts surveyed reported they have decreased time in art and music since 2001 (the year NCLB was enacted). Districts that decreased time for art and music did so by an average of 57 minutes per week. In districts where at least one school was identified for improvement, corrective action or restructuring, 30% reported that they have decreased instructional time for art and music. Anecdotal accounts demonstrate instructional time for the arts has further eroded in these disciplines and in theatre and dance programs as well, as a result of state and district cutbacks due to the economic downturn. This is happening at a time when parents, employers, and civic leaders are demanding improvements to
learning environments that will make our schools places where all students will have access to a complete education that will prepare them to be college and career-ready. Our nation needs schools to prepare students to meet the demands of the 21st Century both for the students’ sake and for the sake of our economy and our society. These demands cannot be met without comprehensive arts education in our nation’s schools.
The Arts Prepare Students for School, Work, and Life
As this country works to strengthen our foothold in the 21st Century global economy, the arts equip students with a creative, competitive edge. To succeed in today's economy of ideas, students must masterfully use words, images, sounds, and movement to communicate. The arts provide the skills and knowledge students need to develop the creativity and determination necessary for success in today's global information age.
The Arts Strengthen the Learning Environment
Where schools and communities are delivering high-quality learning opportunities in, through, and about the arts for children, extraordinary results occur. A study by the Arts Education Partnership, Third Space: When Learning Matters, finds that schools with large populations of
students in economic poverty - too often places of frustration and failure for both students and teachers - can be transformed into vibrant hubs of learning when the arts are infused into their culture and curriculum. Additionally, studies have found that 8th graders from under-resourced environments who are highly involved in the arts have better grades, less likelihood of dropping out by grade 10, have more positive attitudes about school, and are more likely to go on to college.
ACHIEVEMENT IN AND THROUGH THE ARTS
The Arts Help Close the Achievement Gap.
The arts make a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child, leveling the "learning field" across socio-economic boundaries. The arts reach students not otherwise engaged, uniquely bridging the broad spectrum of learning styles. Low achieving students often become high achievers in arts learning settings. Their success in the arts classroom often transfers to achievement in other subject areas. Students who participate in the arts outperform those who do not on virtually every measure. Researchers found that sustained learning in music and theater correlate to greater success in math and reading, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds reaping the greatest benefits.
It is now accepted that the arts are uniquely able to boost learning and achievement for young children, students with disabilities, students from under-resourced environments, and students needing remedial instruction. Students in high-poverty schools benefit dramatically from arts education. The arts teach children the skills necessary to succeed in life, including learning to solve problems and make decisions; learning to think creatively; building self-esteem and self-discipline; articulating a vision; developing the ability to imagine what
might be; and accepting responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish. The College Board's National Task Force on the Arts in Education recommends that, "greater access to arts education can serve as an effective tool in closing the achievement gap, increasing the number of underserved students that achieve at the highest level in education."
Academic achievement for students from under-resourced environments should be strengthened by integrating successful arts education models into the schools. Urge high-poverty schools to use federal funds to ensure that a comprehensive arts education is available for all students and to integrate the arts into school curricula to improve student achievement. Provide support for local, state, and national partnerships that promote standards and strategies in support of arts education.
ARTS EDUCATION
Creating Student Success
In School, Work, and Life
National Signatories
American Alliance for Theatre
and Education
American Association of Museums
American Federation of Musicians
American Music Therapy
Association
Americans for the Arts
Association of Art Museum Directors
Association of Performing Arts Presenters
The College Board
Dance/USA
Educational Theatre Association
League of American Orchestras
Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in
Education
Literary Network
MENC: The National Association for Music
Education
NAMM International Music Products
Association
National Art Education Association
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
The National Association of Counties Arts
and Culture Commission
National Dance Association
National Dance Education Organization
OPERA America
Performing Arts Alliance
Quadrant Arts Education Research
State Education Agency Directors of Arts
Education (SEADAE)
Theatre Communications Group
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
