Philosophy/Rationale
“I would teach the children music, physics and philosophy ut the most important is music, for in
the patterns of the arts is the key to all learning .” Plato
The fine arts embrace dance,
drama, music and visual arts without obscuring their uniqueness. Each
has a body of content, partly derived from tradition and partly
developed from the insights and interest of those involved. Each has
its own mode of expression and makes its own contribution to society,
necessitating the need to have the arts as separate subject
areas.
There are fundamental principles
that apply to all four major disciplines. The child in involved as a
creator, a performer, an historian, a critic and a consumer. An
articulated fine arts program should enhance the depth and breadth of
expression and intuitive response. The maturing child learns to
appreciate, to understand, to create and to critique with
discrimination products of the mind, the voice, the hand, and the
body.
There have been many reasons given
in the past why the arts should form a part of children’s education.
Why they are important to the “total” education process. These
reasons have resulted in providing programs in the education systems
which emphasizes the purely creative, the purelyhistoric or the
purely academic.
An arts education should focus on
the “aesthetic benefits” it provides.
The arts provide a “unique way of
knowing” about the world and human experience.
The arts are serious and rigorous
academic subjects. They are an essential aspect of human knowing. The
arts convey knowledge and meaning not learned through the study of
other subjects. They represent a form of thinking and a way of
knowing that is based in human imagination and judgment.
The arts delight students, but
they are also intellectual disciplines of substance. Like language of
mathematics, the arts involve the use of complex symbols to
communicate. To attain competence in the arts, it is necessary to
gain literacy with these symbol systems. Some, like music and
painting, use non-verbal symbols; others, like poetry and song, use
language in particular ways.
Arts education is first of all an
activity of the mind.
Every child has the innate urge
and capacity to be artistically expressive. Arts education requires
children to draw upon their creative abilities and to deepen them as
well. The benefit is that creative thinking, once learned early,
lasts for a lifetime and can be applied in other endeavors. The arts
also teach discipline, the value of sustained effort to achieve
excellence, and the concrete rewards of hard work.
The arts draw upon a range of
intelligences and learning styles.
The ground breaking theory of
multiple intelligences, developed by Howard Gardner of Harvard
University, broadens our view of how humans learn and realize their
potentials. It shows that the arts can play a crucial role in
improving cChildren’s ability to learn because they draw on a range
of intelligences and learning styles, not just the linguistic and
logical-mathematical intelligences upon which most education
principles are based. Gardner describes seven different kinds of
intelligence:
1) logical-mathematical
2) linguistic, plus
3) musical
4) spatial
5) bodily-kinaesthetic
6) interpersonal
7) intrapersonal
Each are important to acquiring
knowledge. Children with strengths in the spatial, musical, or
personal spheres may find school far more demanding than children who
happen to posses the “textfriendly” blend of linguistic and logical
intelligences.
Education systems incorrectly
believe that learning translates to language, logic, detachment, and
scientific method. This flawed concentration not only discriminates
against the arts, but also severely limits everyone’s potential for
knowledge. Would education lean more heavily on the arts it would
become more relevant to all learners. The result would be a system
better equipped to serve children with diverse needs and varied
backgrounds. Educational systems that incorporate music, art, drama,
dance, and creative writing into the basic curriculum have found that
teaching the arts has a significant effect on overall success in the
system. Because the arts are closely associated with important ideas
and events in history, children who have a good background in the
arts are likely to have a richer source of information and insight to
draw upon, compared to those who do not study the arts.
The arts help children master
academic skills
Drawing
helps writing
Song and
poetry make facts memorable.
Drama
makes history move vivid and real.
Creative
movement makes processes understandable.
Drama
techniques were an effective method for promoting facility in English
as a second language among young children
Positive self-perceptions have
been shown repeatedly to aid the development of skills
learning.
Related to self-concept is an
understanding of others. Cultural studies challenge children to
respond to the world, to look beyond themselves and to see the
connectedness of human society. The arts foster understanding of
other cultures, their histories, symbols, myths, values and beliefs,
thereby promoting cross-cultural understanding and the elimination of
prejudice.
In conclusion:
The arts are
particularly potent in promoting youth development.
The arts provide children with
different ways to process cognitive information and express their own
knowledge. Using processes different from traditional approaches, the
arts provide children with unique methods for developing skills and
organizing knowledge.
The arts have the
potential to enhance academic performance.
By honing nonverbal skills such as
perception, imagination and creativity, the arts also develop
vocabulary, metaphorical language, observation and critical thinking
skills. The elements of sound, movement, space, line, shape and
colour are all concepts related to other subject areas such as math
and science. The concepts taught in the arts permeate other
scholastic disciplines, and a The child’s comprehension of an
artistic concept can extend across the academic
curriculum.
The arts spur and
deepen the development of creativity.
The arts provide critical tools
for children and youth as they move through various developmental
stages.
Preschool children, before they
are fluent in language, are powerfully affected by music, visual arts
and dance. Preschoolers can paint, colour, mold clay, sing songs and
dance in order to convey feelings and ideas. These activities
encourage young children to express themselves and learn through the
use of nonverbal symbols. Teenagers struggle with issues of identity,
independence, competency and social role. The arts help to mediate
this confusion.
Changes in body image may be
expressed through movement and dance.
Drama offers the opportunity to
explore identity by integrating childhood roles and experimenting
with future possibilities.
Music expresses emotional
dissonance and volatility.
The visual arts provide a vehicle
for translating inner experiences to outward visual images.
Writing and oral history projects
bring a greater understanding of one’s family and
neighbourhood.
The arts teach the
value of discipline and teamwork and the tangible rewards each can
bring.
The arts provide youth with a
different perspective on their own lives, a chance to imagine a
different outcome and to develop a critical distance from everyday
life.
Developing cultural literacy in
children and youth gives them a sense of perspective as they
participate in traditions of expression from which they learn and to
which they can contribute. The arts provide a unique laboratory where
truth and possibility can be explored safely.
Because dance, music, photography
and other visual arts transcend language, they can bridge barriers
among cultural, racial and ethnic groups. The arts also can promote a
deeper understanding of similarities and differences among religions,
races and cultural traditions.
The arts are a critical
part of a complete education.
Exposure to the arts and the
humanities and the experience of their power are of inestimable value
unto themselves.
The Arts Prepare Students
for Jobs:
Skill requirements for all workers
are going up, including those in production and support jobs. In the
modern business environment, the ability to communicate, adapt,
diagnose problems and find creative solutions is more important than
ever before. These attributes can be nurtured and honed through
studying the arts.
Communication skills are ranked as
the second most important factor in hiring. Education levels and
certificates are looked at, but what is more important to employers
is how the applicant presents himlherself, in terms of attitude and
communication skills.
The arts are cited as important
for certain “foundation’ skills which include thinking creatively,
problem solving, exercising individual responsibility, sociability
and self-esteem.
Job preparation is only part of
the mission of education. It must also prepare young people to live
full lives - to participate in their communities, to raise families,
and to enjoy the leisure that is the fruit of their labour. The study
of the visual arts, theatre arts, music, and other artistic
disciplines provide situations where skills can be learned and
practiced.
Return to Main
Menu