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Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development
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Arts Programs in the Schools Advance Learning in Other Areas,
Arta Education Partnership Study Finds
Artswire Current
June 4, 2002
CRITICAL LINKS: LEARNING IN THE ARTS AND STUDENT ACADEMIC
AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, a report recently released by the
Arts Education Partnership, (AEP) reviews 62 studies which demonstrate
that integrating the arts into the curriculum fosters the development
of learning, critical thinking, and motivation in other disciplines.
The compendium, a collection of discipline specific chapters and
overview essays, details the relationship between learning in
the arts and the development of fundamental academic and social
skills.
"While many of us have known arts education enhances academic
instruction, Critical Links is the first report of the hard evidence
that supports this conclusion," said United States Senator
Thad Cochran. (R-MS) "This will assist school boards, teachers,
and administrators as they make choices about the curriculum and
other opportunities our students should have."
The findings in Critical Links, Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National
Assembly of State Arts Agencies, emphasized, "should encourage
education decision makers at the state and local levels to ensure
that adequate classroom hours of arts teaching are available in
all schools to all students, that learning in the arts is assessed,
and that both arts specialist teachers as well as generalist teachers
have adequate training and budgets to provide excellent instruction
in the arts."
"...DRAMA NOT ONLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE IMMEDIATE SUBJECT
OF A DRAMATIC ENACTMENT BUT ALSO ASSOCIATES WITH COMPREHENSION
OF WRITTEN STORIES UNRELATED TO THE DRAMA ACTIVITY" -- James
Catterall
In the research-based climate for justifying education programs
which the new NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND education bill exacts, Critical
Links enhances the need for arts education by documenting concrete
examples of research on the impact of programs in dance, drama,
music, multiple arts, and visual arts -- which at the same time
as they provide an arts curriculum also have an interdisciplinary
focus, promoting learning in tandem with reading, mathematics
or languages.
In the music section, for instance, one of the documented studies
looks at a music program whose methodology is based on similarities
between the structures of music and language. It reports on how
these similarities reinforce both the learning of music and the
learning of a second language in an elementary school second-language
classroom. (French for second-graders). Other approaches reviewed
in Critical Links include a report of a Museum of Modern Art Visual
Thinking Curriculum program which studied how children aged 9
to 10, who learn to look closely at works of art and reason about
what they see, might transfer these same skills to a science activity;
and a study of the use of dance to increase positive self perception
and social development in at-risk and incarcerated adolescents.
In this program, College students (all with dance experience but
only one dance major) observed, danced, and interviewed the teens
and produced a "collective meta-portrait."
Janice Ross, whose paper "Art and Community, Creating Knowledge
through Service in Dance" describes this program, "has
defined the best approach this writer has come across to understanding
and unpacking what happens in a dance class," Karen Kohn
Bradley, the author of the Dance section of Critical Links, writes.
"By using self-reflective observations, journaling, rich
discussion, interviews, and a consensus-building approach to drawing
conclusions, the author fosters understanding of both the value
of and the constraints on dance-informed learning. The study is
a model for dance education researchers...." Karen Bradley,
who is Director of Graduate Studies in Dance at the University
of Maryland, College Park, also suggests that "For the future,
dance education researchers need to look at other forms of dance
(in this case, jazz and hip-hop were the delivery system for dance
technique) and to other dance experiences such as choreography,
improvisation, and performing."
A major theme of the research documented in Critical Links is
that in particular the arts enhance learning and achievement for
young children, for students from economically disadvantaged circumstances,
and for students needing remedial instruction.
For instance, a program for 5th-grade remedial reading students
which utilized creative drama -- where children read stories and
then created and enacted relevant scenes -- found that children
in the program were not only able to better comprehend what they've
read and acted out, but were also better able to comprehend other
written material such as the written scenarios encountered on
standardized tests.
"This is an important finding that warrants scrutiny and
additional research - that drama not only contributes to the immediate
subject of a dramatic enactment but also associates with comprehension
of written stories unrelated to the drama activity," observes
researcher James Catterall who authored the "Research on
Drama and Theater Education" section of Critical Links.
In addition to the mutual relationships between arts education
and the development of reading and language skills; and the mutual
relationships between music instruction and the development of
spatial reasoning and spatial-temporal reasoning skills which
are fundamental to understanding and using mathematical ideas
and concepts, the studies in the report show correlations between
arts learning and fundamental cognitive capacities -- such as
problem-solving, and creative thinking.
The arts also nurture motivation, self-confidence, self-identity,
conflict resolution, collaboration, empathy, and social tolerance,
many studies documented in Critical Links found.
And studies have shown that the arts help to create a learning
environment conducive to teacher and student success - fostering
innovative teaching, community engagement, increased student attendance
and retention, and a positive school identity.
For instance, one report, "Learning In and Through the Arts:
The Question of Transfer" by Judith M. Burton, Robert Horowitz,
and Hal Abeles, studied 4th-, 5th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders in 18
public schools and found that children in arts-rich schools show
more creativity and higher academic self-concept than those in
arts-poor schools.
"This study is a rich qualitative and quantitative study
of the relationship between arts education and creative thinking,
academic self-concept, and school climate. It found that students
in arts-rich schools scored higher in creativity and several measures
of academic self-concept than students in schools without that
level of arts. Arts-rich schools also had more innovative teachers,
(as measured by teacher self-reports)" Critical Links commentary
noted.
Critical Links also looks at problems with research methods and
conclusions, observing that results could be impacted by factors
such as the greater attention given to students in arts programs.
The compendium notes, for instance, (in a review of a study documented
in the Multi-arts section) that "In order for this study,
and others like it, to have a high degree of significance for
schools, it would have to explore in more detail the differences
among the arts programs the different groups of students in the
study experienced. Such probing might explain better why the researchers
saw the results they did and would offer readers a clearer understanding
of the researchers' definition of arts integration."
MOST PARENTS AND SCHOOLS DON'T ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO PLAN
A CAREER AS AN ARTIST. THE ROLE IS SEEN AS RISKY AS WELL AS OUT
OF REACH FOR MOST STUDENTS, REQUIRING TALENTS OR GIFTS YOU ARE
BORN WITH. OUR SOCIETY....DOESN'T REALIZE THAT THE ARTS ARE PROFOUND
WAYS OF THINKING AND COMMUNICATING." - Richard J. Deasy,
Arts Education Partnership
At it's core, arts education introduces youth to the arts as
an essential community and communication component. And - for
beginning artists -- arts education provides background, training,
and school support -- the nurturing needed to foster all professions
which are an essential component in our society.
However, the importance of a many-faceted approach to educating
leaders about the importance of arts education was underscored
by many of the researchers who participated in the study. In response
to a question from Arts Wire CURRENT about how Critical Links
researchers saw the role of arts education in nurturing potential
artists as well as in fostering other forms of learning, Richard
J. Deasy, Director of the Arts Education Partnership, commented
that:
"All of us involved with Critical Links believe that unless
the arts are seen as part of the basic education of all students,
we will not develop either artists or fully educated students.
Most parents and schools don't encourage young people to plan
a career as an artist. The role is seen as risky as well as out
of reach for most students, requiring talents or gifts you are
born with. Our society also doesn't realize that the arts are
profound ways of thinking and communicating."
Deasy emphasized that unless we change these views and attitudes,
the arts will stay marginal in schools and young people will not
have access to the school programs that are the foundation for
artistic development.
"Critical Links shows the importance of learning in the
arts for all students for those who will one day be artists and
for those for whom the arts will make essential contributions
to their success in school, life and work," he stated.
Critical Links principal researcher and essayist James Catterall
noted that "the arts learning experiences investigated in
the compendium studies would be expected, in varying degrees,
to increase the likelihood that some children will develop strong
interests in the visual and performing arts and go on to be artists
as adults -- certainly more so than from schools which have neither
quality arts education programs nor programs akin those described
in."
Catterall is Professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education
& Information Studies and Director of the Imagination Group,
a collaboration group of academics, students, teachers, and art
professionals interested in learning. He added that "And
that if expansion of arts programs is a consequence of Critical
Links and of the set of ambient beliefs it reinforces, more artists
will emerge from the schools in the future."
Musician, researcher, educator, and administrator in music, Larry
Scripp, who authored the Music section Critical Links, pointed
out that "Our major art schools -- Juilliard and the New
England Conservatory of Music, for example, -- find that over
80% of our graduates become involved with arts education."
Scripp is Chair of the Music Education Department at New England
Conservatory where, as Founding Director of the new Research Center
for Learning Through Music at New England Conservatory, he is
designing and implementing "Learning through Music"
School Programs in public schools. Most recently, he became the
Founding Director of the National Music-in-Education National
Consortium, a coalition of schools of music and education, arts
organizations, and school reform organization through the arts.
(led by the New England Conservatory of Music and funded by the
National Endowment for the Arts).
"The new National Consortium for Music in Education has
adopted the Artist-Teacher-Scholar Framework as a way to describe
the evolution of the artist in society as a person who synthesizes
arts training with education and research interests and skills,"
he told Arts Wire CURRENT.
"In sum," Scripp said, "the post 20th century
artist-teacher-scholar is a role model for the educated artist
who is as concerned with the highest standards of artistic skill
and literature as he or she is concerned with benefiting public
school communities through residencies, teaching, or research
on the impact of learning through the arts. With these current
trends in mind, I believe Critical Links should be read as an
important indication on the value of authentic forms of artistry
and arts learning for our nations public schools, and, therefore,
to our society as a whole."
"AND FINALLY, EDUCATORS CAN DESIGN RICH, EFFECTIVE DANCE
EXPERIENCES WITH THE NEEDS OF REAL CHILDREN IN MIND" - Karen
Bradley
"A purpose of this Compendium is to recommend to researchers
and funders of research promising lines of inquiry and study suggested
by recent, strong studies of the academic and social effects of
learning in the arts. A parallel purpose is to provide designers
of arts education curriculum and instruction with insights found
in the research that suggest strategies for deepening the arts
learning experiences that are required to achieve those effects,"
AEP Director Richard J. Deasy wrote in the introduction.
In the Dance section, Karen Bradley observed that "Clearly
defined, discipline-embedded studies in dance need to be encouraged,
supported, and disseminated. With good statistics and in-depth
studies of the specifics of particular processes, educators will
be able to replicate, amend, and develop the best practices dance
education can offer. Educators, parents, and administrators will
learn just how potent and effective dance can be with children,
intrinsically and instrumentally. And finally, educators can design
rich, effective dance experiences with the needs of real children
in mind."
The importance of further research was also emphasized by Richard
Deasy.
"It is imperative that further research be conducted to
confirm and deepen the findings in this compendium," he wrote.
"These studies suggest that it is a matter of equity that
we make high quality arts programs part of the education and development
of every young person. Research needs to show the forms of arts
instruction that will close the achievement gap for students who
are falling behind. Critical Links points to specific directions
for this future research."
Sources/resources:
CRITICAL LINKS: LEARNING IN THE ARTS AND STUDENT ACADEMIC AND
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is available in PDF form on the The Arts Education
Partnership (AEP) Web site http://www.aep-arts.org To order printed
copies, contact CCSSO Publications at 202-336-7016.
AEP is a national coalition of arts, education, business, philanthropic,
and government organizations that demonstrates and promotes the
essential role of the arts in the learning and development of
every child and in the improvement of America's schools. The partnership
includes more than 100 organizations that are national in scope
and impact. It also includes state and local partnerships focused
on influencing education policies and practices to promote quality
arts education. The Arts Education Partnership is administered
by The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies through a cooperative
agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S.
Department of Education.
Studies cited in Arts Wire Current's coverage of the Critical
Links report include: Anne S. Lowe, "The Effect of the Incorporation
of Music Learning into the Second-Language Classroom on the Mutual
Reinforcement of Music and Language. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
1995, Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois
Shari Tishman, Dorothy MacGillivray, and Patricia Palmer, "Investigating
the Educational Impact and Potential of the Museum of Modern Art
's Visual Thinking Curriculum," Unpublished Report, Museum
of Modern Art, New York , NY, 1999
Janice Ross, "Art and Community: Creating Knowledge Through
Service in Dance", Paper presented at the meeting of the
American Educational Research Association, April 2000, New Orleans,
LA
Sherry DuPont, "The Effectiveness of Creative Drama as an
Instructional Strategy to Enhance the Reading Comprehension Skills
of Fifth-Grade Remedial Readers," READING RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION,
1992, 31(3): 41-52
Judith M. Burton, Robert Horowitz, and Hal Abeles, "Learning
In and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer", STUDIES
IN ART EDUCATION, 2000, 41(3): 228-257
Arts Wire CURRENT's coverage of the new education bill: "Arts
Included as 'Core Academic Subject' in New Education Bill"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur011502.html
January 15, 2002
"NO SUBJECT LEFT BEHIND - Collaboratively Produced Guide
Sets Forth Arts Education Opportunities in the 2001 Education
Act" Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur050702.html
May 7, 2002
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