Why Our Schools Need the Arts

During Winter Break I posted a link to an article that looked not-so-favorably upon the “Mozart Effect.”  Since that time, I’ve had conversations with a couple of parents about this idea.  In my conversations, I found myself referencing one of my favorite arts education books, "Why Our Schools Need the Arts" by Jessica Hoffman Davis.  I thought this would be a good time to give a plug for this book for anyone who is looking for an interesting read.

This book is not necessarily intended for arts education scholars—it’s written in simple English with practical reasons that support arts education for what it can uniquely offer.  It makes no claims of the arts to improve math or reading scores, because those benefits are not the best ones for showing what the arts in education can provide for children.  These benefits in other subject areas (if they exist) are great side effects, but do not hold up in arts teachers’ minds as the best reasons why arts education is essential for all students, or as the unique features of the arts that are driving forces behind arts curriculum choices.

What are these unique features that influence the way we teach the arts?  Davis categorizes them into the sections listed below.  Almost all of the decisions I make as a teacher are framed through these ten features, or variations upon them.  I think it’s a great list.  While I can’t summarize all of the great points in the book, I can assure you that it is worth its cost on Amazon and the very short amount of time it takes to read. 

Product

Imagination

The arts in education invite students to think beyond the given, to imagine, “What if?”

Agency

The arts in education enable students to experience their significance as agents of effectiveness and change, to realize, “I matter.”

Emotion

Expression

The arts in education give students the opportunity to acknowledge, recognize, and express feelings, “This is how I feel.”

Empathy

The arts in education help students to be aware of and attentive to the emotions of others, “This is how you feel.”

Ambiguity

Interpretation

The arts in education enable students to see that there are many equally viable ways in and out of the same subject, to know that even if their views differ from others’, “What I think matters.”

Respect

The arts in education help students to be aware of, interested in, and respectful of different ways of making sense of the world.  They come to know that even if they disagree with peers, “What others think matters.”

Process Orientation

Inquiry

The arts in education teach students about questions that make use of information but go beyond right and wrong answers to, “what do I want to know?”

Reflection

The arts in education help students develop skills of on-going self-reflection and assessment, beyond judgments of good or bad to informed considerations of “How am I doing?” and “What will I do next?”

Connection

Engagement

The arts in education excite and engage students, awakening attitudes to learning that include passion and joy and the discovery of “I care.”

Responsibility

The arts in education connect children to others within and beyond school walls, helping to awaken a sense of social responsibility and action because, “I care for others.”