Arts Education

PHILOSOPHY

The arts have been part of life from the very beginning.  They have described, defined, and deepened human experience. All people have an abiding need for meaning--to connect time and space, experience and event, body and spirit, intellect and emotion. We create art to make these connections, to express the otherwise inexpressible. A society without the arts is unimaginable.

PURPOSE

Arts education benefits both student and society.  Involving the "whole child" in the arts gradually teaches many types of literacy while developing intuition, sensitivity, reasoning, imagination, and dexterity. This process requires not merely an active mind but a trained one. Arts education helps students perceive and think in new ways. The arts also help provide and extend meaning. Because so much of a child's education in the early years is devoted to acquiring the skills of language and mathematics, children gradually learn, unconsciously, that the "normal" way to think is linear and sequential, that the pathway to understanding moves from beginning to end, from cause to effect. In this early mode, students trust those symbol systems (words, numbers, and abstract concepts) that separate the person from their experiences.

An education in the arts benefits society because students of the arts disciplines gain powerful tools for:

• understanding human experiences, both past and present;

• teamwork and collaboration;

• making decisions creatively when no prescribed answers exist;

• learning to adapt to and respect others' (diverse) ways of thinking, working, and expressing themselves;

• learning problem recognition and problem solving, i nvolving expressive, analytical, and developmental tools to every human situation (this is why we speak, for example, of the "art" of teaching or the "art" of politics);

• understanding the influence of the arts and their power to create and reflect cultures, the impact of design on our daily life, and in the interdependence of work in the arts with the broader worlds of ideas and action;

• developing the essential senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and kinesthetics as intellectual, emotional, physical, creative, and expressive acts;

• analyzing nonverbal communication and making informed judgments about cultural products and issues; and

• communicating effectively.

In a world inundated with contradictory messages and meanings, arts education in one or more of the arts disciplines helps young people explore, understand, accept, and use ambiguity and subjectivity. In art as in life, there is often no clear or "right" answer to questions that are nonetheless worth pursuing ("Should the trees in this painting be a little darker shade of green?"). At the same time, study in any of the four art disciplines in the classroom bring excitement and exhilaration to the learning process. Study and competence reinforce each other; students become increasingly interested in learning, add new dimensions to what they already know, and want to learn even more. The joy of learning becomes real, tangible, powerful!

What Students Should Know and Be Able to Do in the Arts

At the Completion of Secondary School

There are many routes to competence in the arts disciplines. Students may work in different arts at different times. Their study may take a variety of approaches. Their abilities may develop at different rates. Competence means the ability to use an array of knowledge and skills. Terms often used to describe these include creation, performance, production, history, culture, perception, analysis, criticism, aesthetics, technology, and appreciation. Competence demands capabilities with these elements and understanding of their interdependence; implied also is the ability to combine the content, perspectives, and techniques associated with the various elements to achieve specific artistic and analytical goals. Students work toward comprehensive competence from the very beginning, preparing in the lower grades for deeper and more rigorous work each succeeding year. As a result, the experience of the arts matures through learning and the pride of accomplishment

Students should know and be able to do the following by the time they have completed secondary school:

• They should be able to communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines -- dance, music, theatre arts, and visual arts. This includes knowledge and skills in the use of the basic vocabularies, materials, tools, techniques, and intellectual methods of each arts discipline.

• They should be able to communicate proficiently in at least one art form including the ability to define and solve artistic problems with insight, reason, and technical proficiency.

• They should be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives, and from combinations of those perspectives. This includes the ability to understand and evaluate work in the various arts disciplines.

• They should have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods, and a basic understanding of historical development in the arts disciplines, across the arts as a whole, and within cultures.

• They should be able to relate various types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines. This includes mixing and matching competencies and understandings in art-making, history and culture, and analysis in any arts-related project.

From developing these capabilities, students arrive at their own knowledge, beliefs, and values for making personal and artistic decisions. In other terms, they can arrive at a broad-based, well-grounded understanding of the nature, value, and meaning of the arts as a part of their own humanity. The following diagram suggests a course of study for arts education.

DANCE

Purpose

Dance has existed since the beginning of humankind. Before verbal or written communication existed, humans used movement to communicate and to help them comprehend, shape, and make meaning of their world. Moving rhythmically is innate. Because movement as a form of self-expression is intrinsic to our existence as human beings, dance is included as part of a comprehensive education. Young children revel in their own ability to move. Dance is a natural vehicle that children use to help them understand themselves and the world in which they live.

Dance education helps students use movement to creatively express meaning. It provides students with a way of kinesthetically learning and communicating. The dance program is designed to teach students fundamentals in dance and choreography, and to help students develop self-discipline and focus.

Through dance, students come to appreciate rich and diverse cultures, beliefs, and societies. As students examine the role of dance throughout history and in different cultures, they learn to respect diversity. Dance helps people connect with one another and exists in all cultures and places.

Strands

The strands define the major elements of dance that are relevant across grade levels and provide unifying threads of understanding supported by the goals and objectives of the SCS.

Creating, Performing, Responding, and Understanding are the strands in which all aspects of dance can be defined:

• Creating: Refers to expressing ideas and feelings through improvising, composing, or choreographing dance.

• Performing: Refers to presenting or demonstrating, informally or formally; a process that calls upon the technical, expressive, and interpretive skills of the learner.

• Responding: Refers to observing, describing, analyzing, critiquing, and evaluating dance.

• Understanding: Refers to synthesizing knowledge of dance in relation to history, culture, heritage, other content areas, ideas, and life-long learning.

MUSIC

Purpose

Music has always been part of our lives. It is deeply imbedded in our existence, adding depth and dimension to our environment, exalting the human spirit, and contributing in important ways to our quality of life. Music is one of the primary ways we learn about ourselves, others, actions and consequences, and traditions and beliefs. Music is one of the fundamental ways human beings create and communicate meanings. All students, regardless of age, cultural heritage, ability, or financial circumstances, should participate fully in the highest quality musical experiences possible.

 

The music program is designed as a comprehensive, standards-based course of study that will allow students to become musically literate. Music education helps students express and interpret meaning. Through music, students increase their awareness of rich and diverse cultures, beliefs, and societies of humankind. As students examine the role of music throughout history and in different cultures, they develop respect for diversity.

 

The processes of learning, creating, and understanding music are the primary goals of the music program. While performance is an important aspect of music study, it does not substitute for students' development of creative processes and of broader integrated experiences and understandings. Through creating, students are able to be imaginative, think critically, and approach tasks in new or different ways. Students develop aesthetic awareness and learn to evaluate and validate their work and the choices they make. Students also look outside themselves, discovering and demonstrating respect for the efforts and work of others.

 

Strands

The strands define the major elements of music that are relevant across grade levels and provide unifying threads of understanding supported by the goals and objectives of the SCS. Creating, Performing, Responding, and Understanding are the strands in which all aspects of music can be defined:

• Creating: Refers to expressing ideas and feelings through improvising, composing, or arranging music.

• Performing: Refers to presenting or demonstrating an existing work, informally or formally; a process that calls upon the technical, expressive, and interpretive skills of the learner.

• Responding: Refers to listening, analyzing, critiquing, describing, evaluating, and moving to musical works.

• Understanding: Refers to synthesizing knowledge of music in relation to history, culture, heritage, other content areas, ideas, and life-long learning.

THEATRE ARTS

Purpose

Theatre, the imagined and enacted world of human beings, is one of the primary ways children at an early age learn about life - about actions and consequences, about customs and beliefs, about others and themselves. They learn through their social pretend play and from hours of viewing television and film. Children use pretend play as a means of making sense of the world; they create situations to play and assume roles; they interact with peers and arrange environments to bring their stories to life; they direct one another to bring order to their drama, and they respond to one another’s dramas. In other words, children arrive at school with rudimentary skills as playwrights, actors, designers, directors, and audience members; theatre arts education should build on this foundation. The theatre arts program in the early years starts with and has a strong emphasis on improvisation, which is the basis of social pretend play.

Theatre arts in the public schools teaches the basic life skills, thinking skills and personal qualities which:

• develop an understanding of the ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings of diverse people in different times throughout history as communicated through literature and theatre.

• employ techniques for teaching and learning through developmental processes and activity-oriented methods.

• promote higher level critical and creative thinking skills, problem recognition and problem solving, intuition, examination and implementation of conflict resolution, and the learning of reading, writing, math and other areas of the curriculum.

• assist in focusing the emotions for controlled use, strengthening the imagination for creative self-expression, disciplining the voice and body for purposeful use, expanding intellectual horizons to include aesthetic awareness, developing self-discipline, and providing a basic understanding and critical appreciation of all the theatre arts.

• involve making connections between theatre arts and other art forms, other curriculum areas, dramatic media, and the related use of technology including numbers and data.

• provide an intense study of what playwrights seek to convey and how this is intensified through theatrical production, thus giving students insights into countless aspects of the diverse and changing world.

• include the reading, viewing, listening, researching, writing, speaking, preparing to perform, performing, and directing of traditional and experimental theatrical forms, as well as, the accompanying aspects of technical production.

• engage students in the creative process and the practical application of theatre techniques (such as observing, considering possibility, and communicating) which students can use in studying other areas of the curriculum and for life-long learning.

• and enable students to function and communicate more proficiently, work independently as a member of a team, to value the individual contributions of others, and to learn virtually any subject matter in a more dynamic way.

Strands

The following strands run throughout the theatre arts program and are guiding concepts for theatre arts study at every grade level and in each high school course. For the purposes of this study, they are listed and defined as follows:

• Perceiving - To become aware directly through any of the senses.

• Thinking - The act or practice of formulating in the brain; a way of reasoning, reflecting or judging.

• Comprehending - To mentally take in the meaning, nature or importance.

• Applying - To put into action or to adapt for a special use.

• Integrating - The process of combining or coordinating separate and diverse understandings, perceptions or information into a more complete understanding of something.

• Communicating - The art and technique of using effectively words, physical gestures or various types of technology to impart ideas, information or messages.

• Creating - To produce through artistic or imaginative effort.

• Analyzing - To separate into parts or basic principles so as to determine the nature of the whole.

• Critiquing - To review or discuss critically.

• Imitating (Kindergarten - grade 2) - To use or follow as a model the actions, appearance, mannerisms or speech of others.

• Presenting (grades 3 - 5) - To offer or share, usually in a classroom or informal theatre setting, a portrayal or other theatre work for consideration or display.

• Performing (grades 6 - 12) - To portray a role or skill before an audience in a formal or informal setting

VISUAL ARTS

Purpose

From the beginning of time, the compulsion to create a visual vocabulary has been as innate in every society as the desire to acquire a system of spoken symbols. Visual art from past civilizations is frequently one of the few remaining clues with the power to illuminate which values were held most dear. As we rediscover these fragments of mankind’s puzzle and attempt to piece together our common humanity, the undeniable power of visual expression is an immutable and triumphant message. Today, every aspect of our designed environment will serve to explain who we are to those of the future.

The K-12 visual arts program in the public schools:

• uses the elements of art and the principles of design as a foundation for exploring visual arts concepts and processes
• employs developmentally appropriate processes for teaching and learning that are based on activity-oriented methods.
• encourages disciplined creativity by using higher level critical thinking skills to identify problems, explore original solutions, and complete the problem solving process. This has practical application not only in visual arts, but in all areas of the curriculum and for life-long learning.
• utilizes reading, writing and math to explore art concepts and facilitate learning in these three areas.
• develops and promotes self-expression.
• makes enriching connections between and integrates visual arts and other curriculum areas.
• expands aesthetic and intellectual awareness through reading, writing, listening, researching, discussing, critiquing and reflective thinking.
• teaches how to use both traditional media and incorporates new technology to create art that is individual and expressive.
• builds knowledge and understanding of ideas, values, and beliefs of people in different times throughout history as communicated through visual art with the goal of developing visually literate students.
• challenges students to recognize their own ideas, values and beliefs and communicate them through visual arts.

Strands

The following strands run throughout the visual arts program and are guiding concepts for visual arts study at every grade level and in each high school course. For the purposes of this study, they are listed and defined as follows:

• Perceiving - To develop a conscious awareness of sensory stimuli.
• Producing - To use art media, tools and processes to communicate content, ideas and themes.
• Knowing - To identify, appreciate and/or understand the historical/cultural context, content and processes of art as it relates to the self and others.
• Communicating - To initiate an interchange of ideas through means of artistic expression that may include any or all of the multiple intelligences ( verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, body/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal )
• Evaluating - An intuitive, informal or formal, critical response that results in an understanding or conclusion. A formal critical assessment includes describing, analyzing, interpreting, judging and reflecting. An intuitive informal assessment is based on personal likes and dislikes.
• Connecting - To discover and understand integral, intrinsic relationships among other disciplines, life, individuals, ideas, skills and all learning.