Rationale For Art In Our Classrooms Essay

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Rationale for Art in our Classrooms/ Art Education Class/ UW-Milwaukee / Dr. Rex
Written by Cynthia Ann Blaser-Jasinski during the Fall of 2014 My opinion of the obvious importance of arts in schools has been developed by an appreciation of beauty and aesthetics in architecture, nature and urban society, affected by seasonings of a lifetime of experiences. This paper will support and advocate for the necessity to include art in the classrooms of U.S. schools in America as it enhances the learning process and creates a positive climate (Burton, et.al., 1999). Therefore, students will want to stay in school resulting in elevated graduation rates (Holly, et.al., 2012). And it can help students learn about other cultures to understand the world’s differences and promote peace. Art is intellectually engaging, contributing to educational skills like critical and creative thinking improving students’ problem solving abilities (Burton, et.al., 1999). Finally, allowing children to be expressive through art can be therapeutic, which will in turn, help them survive life on this dynamic planet. Art helped me survive going back to school at the age of 50. Art can help the learning process in science, math, reading and writing. For example, art can be used in physics to depict scenarios on the board. For example, having been a Science Club Coordinator in a High School for eight years, I took my students to Science Olympiad competitions. One year, a group of girls scored high enough to win a medal for a Pictionary Activity depicting science terms. They said their physics teacher used pictures and drawings on the board and encouraged his students to do so as well to help them visualize what they had learned. Having taught science, I also incorporated drawings and art projects into my lessons of biology and chemistry. Poster board markers, colored chalk and white-board markers of different colors help differentiate and illustrate science with drawings and graphs. In math, too, teachers can use drawings to explain word problems. In reading and story time, students will remember characters and plot sequences if they draw what they read about. For writing, children in my clinical experience are using art to express their thoughts. This is leading to spark an interest in their writing development. Using art in note-taking, as I experienced with my art journal, helps with memory imprinting by using multiple-intelligences (Gardner, 1983) and including visual cues to key ideas. Art in the classroom can help students stay in school and thus promote graduation rates. Students’ self-concepts improve if they are allowed to create a piece of their own giving internal pride and ownership in their work (Burton, et.al, 1999). Students will understand that school is a way to develop and improve personal skills with the advice and guidance of teachers, and they will value time spent in school. Art in class projects can be engaging if given the correct amount of direction and by using a balance between open-ended creative opportunities and clear teacher rules and instructions (Mulcahey). Evidence with numbers on the effect of art on school is shown by a study done in Texas. The Texas Music Education Association and Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education has found a positive correlation between graduation rates and fine arts enrollment. Schools with higher graduation rates have a higher percentage of students enrolled in the fine arts. The Texas Public Schools’ data shows how art can impact achievement. By studying art from different periods of time and different cultures, students can gain an understanding and appreciation of history and other societies. Themina Kader’s 2006 article on Contemporary Art of Kenya shows a different perspective on how, in the early 19th century, Africa was colonized by “civilized”
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