Have you ever visited a nationally recognized elementary or middle school? Most likely, its halls were covered with outstanding student artwork. The visual arts are part of what creates a positive, inviting learning environment. In fact, a good visual arts program is often at the hub of a top-notch school (Rushlow, 2007).
- They teach skills that students will need to thrive in the 21st century.
- They promote active, engaged learning.
- They strengthen literacy.
To fully provide these benefits, however, school-based arts programs must be have adequate resources; must be taught by highly qualified teachers who understand the importance of the arts in education; and must center on activities that encourage creativity and skill building, rather than on prepackaged or teacher-made activities or just free art time. That means these programs need strong and visible support from school administrators.
What the Arts Offer
21st Century Competence
A substantial visual arts education program develops skills that anyone aspiring to be an engaged, contributing 21st century adult needs—and that are essential in the citizens of countries that wish to compete globally. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2004) identifies skills students must be taught to prepare for an increasingly complex world. These include creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, and communication and collaboration.
We continue to hear cries from U.S. business leaders that they need more high school or college graduates prepared to be creative, innovative employees. Unfortunately, high-stakes standardized testing forces many schools to teach to the test and to teach a narrower range of subjects rather than develop such skills as innovation, flexibility, persistence, and critical thinking.
Enter the visual arts. Substantial training in the visual arts can correct this narrowing of subject matter and skills. Lois Hetland and her colleagues at Harvard University's Project Zero describe eight "studio habits of mind" that can be found in the art classroom: the tendency to observe, envision, reflect, express oneself, explore, engage, and persist—with the eighth habit being to understand the art world (Hetland, Winner, Veenema, & Sheridan, 2007). Eliot Eisner (2004) identifies skills that the visual arts teach, including flexibility, expression, imagination, and the ability to shift direction. Eisner also notes that making art teaches people to make good judgments—rather than to find the "right answer"—and to realize that problems can have more than one solution.
Flexibility and problem solving are inherent in the visual arts. Every time an arts educator teaches a particular unit or project, even one taught many times before, the contours of that unit change because art teachers not only give information to learners, but also constantly pull from those learners' imaginations. As an art teacher, I've seen students get upset because something doesn't go right with a project—paint drips where they didn't intend, for example—and lament, "Now I have to start all over." If I say, "Well, why not see what you can do with that?" even very young students will start thinking about how they might be more flexible, use their imagination, and make the "mistake" work. Making mistakes is part of the creative process, and students who are allowed to take risks learn problem-solving skills that they can apply in other academic areas of the curriculum.
Active—and Eager—Learners
The visual arts promote active, complex learning, and they are highly motivating. Technology has changed the way young people perceive and learn. Teachers are responsible for delivering instruction that competes with their students' digital world; visual arts can do that. Arts education equips students to form their own mental images and use those images to solve problems or to think up new ideas (an ability that engineers and architects frequently use). It requires students to actively use their hands and eyes to bring ideas into concrete form. And research indicates that high school arts programs often help students who are at risk of dropping out remain in school (Barry, Taylor, & Walls, 2002).
Jerome Kagan (2009) recently expressed his belief that students struggling with traditional academics might get a chance to shine in the arts—a chance that could change their future school trajectories. If early-elementary-age students had more opportunities to experience success and parity with peers (particularly in areas other than math and reading, where large performance gaps between students at this age are common), they would be less likely to give up on school learning. Kagan notes,An eight-year-old having difficulty learning to read at grade level whose artwork or musical instrument performance is far better than many of the children in the top 30 percent on reading or arithmetic will experience a sudden boost of confidence that, in some cases, is generalized to the formal academic domains.
When you visit an exemplary art classroom, you'll see students who are excited and actively involved in their own learning. Good arts educators model original and imaginative teaching practices in their classrooms.
Studying the visual arts can also foster students' knowledge in other subject areas, from math (measuring and determining perspective) to emotional intelligence (celebrating multiple perspectives and interpretations). To connect art and science learning, I've guided 2nd grade students in making a group mural based on Henri Matisse's Beasts of the Sea, which uses abstract, cutout shapes derived from aquatic life. To enhance students' learning, my coteacher for this unit brought specimens of actual sea creatures—shark fins and teeth, a chambered nautilus, shells—into class for students, many of whom had never seen or touched such objects.
A Boost to Literacy
The arts strengthen literacy and are vital to language development (Danko-McGhee & Slutsky, 2007; Wilhelm, 2002). They are often the first language through which young children communicate with the world around them. A normal part of early development, drawing pictures is often a child's first attempt to express his or her ideas. Young children are naturally curious and love to ask "why"; drawing helps children who haven't yet learned to make up stories about the world in which they live.
Because art is a universal language, the art room is a place in which children from all cultural and economic backgrounds, speaking all languages, often feel at home.
Supporting Visual Arts Programs
Administrators who understand the value of the visual arts in schools may wonder what they can do to support their art teachers and set the standard for high-quality arts instruction. Here are some concrete things school administrators can and should do.
Teachers converted the hallway outside the art room at Blackman Middle School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, into a gallery of famous artworks reproduced by students.
<ATTRIB>Teachers converted the hallway outside the artroom at Blackman Middle School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, into a gallery with famous artworks reproduced by Jim Chapman's 7th and 8th grade students.</ATTRIB>
- Talk to your art teacher about the skills and knowledge students are learning in the visual arts classroom as delineated in the National Standards for Visual Arts Education (Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, 1994). Ensure that students are receiving the kind of teaching discussed in this article. Acknowledge that the arts are a core subject in the curriculum, as mandated by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and treat them as such.
- Insist that all teachers display creative, original student work. Each piece of artwork should be unique; no "ditto" sheets should ever hang in the hallways as samples of what students are learning. Teachers should be strongly discouraged from using predesigned materials that can stifle creativity as substitutes for comprehensive art projects; students of all ages are capable of creating original projects.
- Provide adequate supplies and materials. The art teacher may see 500–800 students each week. That's a lot of paper, crayons, markers, and glue—not to mention paper cutters, sinks, and kilns. Ask your art teacher to submit a budget that will provide the materials needed for a comprehensive art education program. Find sources of funding and encourage your art teacher to write grants for innovative projects.
- Encourage classroom teachers and art teachers to work together to integrate art into the curriculum and cooperate on projects that support standards-based learning across the curriculum. Use classroom teachers' major curricular themes for art themes when possible.
- Provide time for your art teacher to display student artwork in the hallways. It takes a lot of time to create meaningful exhibits that showcase student work—exhibits that also teach viewers about the artists and themes that inspired these creations.
- Start a "Principal's Gallery" in a prominent place in your school, purchasing outstanding works of student art to display there. Have the artworks framed, and attach small plates engraved with the student's name and year.
- Encourage your art teacher to go beyond school walls to showcase student artwork. Many businesses in the community welcome opportunities to exhibit student art.
- Remind classroom teachers that students cannot be excluded from art or music for punishment or to finish other class work. Teachers and administrators sometimes cancel art and music classes for students who score below grade level on standardized tests, substituting computer lab activities to improve their math and language arts skills. Yet these students may be the ones who benefit most from a quality arts education program.
- Celebrate the arts with a fine arts day or week for which you bring in guest artists to work with students. March, which is Youth Art Month and Music in Our Schools Month, is a great time to recognize the importance of the arts in the school curriculum. Encourage teachers to go beyond exhibitions and performances and organize events that teach parents the valuable skills and knowledge their children are learning in art classrooms.
- Find ways to feature artwork outside your school building. Sculptures on the school grounds, mosaics, or stained glass in the front entrance will add to your school's learning environment.
- Encourage your art teacher to be involved in meaningful professional development opportunities and support his or her attendance at state and national art education conferences.
Invisible Skills
A strong arts program requires students to master skills that are often invisible to the naked eye. Thomas Friedman (2010) recently claimed, "We live in an age when the most valuable asset any economy can have is the ability to be creative—to spark and imagine new ideas." Exemplary visual arts programs that embrace creative thinking are an essential component of every child's education.
