Enrich Learning with Discipline-Based Art Education
The aim of art education in the public schools
is not to make more professional artists but to teach people to
live happier, fuller lives; to extract more out of their experience,
whatever that experience may be.
-- Grant Wood, "Art in the Daily Life of the Child"
"Be Smart, Include Art," encourages the National Parent Teacher
Association with its program by that name.
"Learning about the visual arts gives students a window onto the
rich and interesting world around them, teaching them about their
own history and culture, as well as those of other people." Plus,
the PTA reminds us, it's a visual world out there. "In a world in
which ideas and information are often delivered visually, children
need to learn how to analyze and judge the meaning of images and
how to use them to communicate their own ideas."
Still, most schools have seen their art programs slashed to ribbons
over the past decade. What's a teacher to do? Make a tapestry! Using
discipline-based art education, weave art throughout the curriculum
for a richly textured educational experience.
Discipline-based art education, advocated by the Getty Education
Institute for the Arts, is an approach to instruction rather than
a specific curriculum.
"As more and more business leaders are coming to realize, rote
memorization and multiple choice answers do not adequately prepare
students for the global marketplace," says Leilani Lattin Duke,
director of the institute. "Art is a subject that encourages children
to think critically, solve problems creatively, make evaluations,
work within groups, and appreciate different points of view. These
skills are particularly suited to the complex challenges of the
contemporary workplace."
Integrating art education into the curriculum also provides opportunities
for students whose visual skills are stronger than their verbal
abilities, says award-winning art educator Mary Parks, a teacher
in Naperville Community School District 203 in Naperville, Ill.
"When I was in elementary school, my illustration for a book report
was a much more personal response to reading than anything I could
write," Parks says. "Since all of our students learn and express
themselves in various ways, we need to provide opportunities in
our classrooms for all learners."
Parks advocates art centers in the classroom as a "neat way" to
integrate the arts throughout the curriculum while meeting the needs
of tactile and visual learners.
Incorporating arts education into the curriculum is also in line
with Goals 2000, a national education initiative that provides grant
money to states for local school improvements. More than 100 national
organizations are participating in the Goals 2000 Arts Education
Partnership to promote the arts as a pathway to improving education.
For information and assistance, write: The Goals 2000 Arts Education
Partnership, National Endowment for the Arts, 1100 Pennsylvania
Ave. NW, Room 515, Washington, D.C., 20506.
Lesson Plans & Curriculum Ideas
Article by Colleen Newquist
Education World®
Copyright © 1997 Education World
06/06/1997
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