Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 1. Importance of Art in Education. Student Name. POLYTECH High School of Kent County, Woodside, Delaware

Transcription

1 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 1 Importance of Art in Education Student Name POLYTECH High School of Kent County, Woodside, Delaware

2 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 2 Abstract Not many people recognize the importance of art in daily life. As more and more schools abandon art programs, people ignore the various benefits of art. Implementing these art programs back into curriculum, or strengthening the current programs, will produce a positive effect on both schools and individual students. Art reduces stress so well that many hospitals use art therapy to reduce blood pressure levels, diminish troubled emotions, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem in patients with mental illnesses. Self-expression is also a very important skill that art teaches, helping children articulate their emotions or even illustrate information. Various studies have shown that that arts training actually increases cognitive and reasoning skills, increasing overall intelligence of individuals. All of these reasons bring out the clear, self-evident conclusion that art is important, and needs implementation throughout education.

3 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 3 Importance of Art in Education Every day, students awaken from a beeping alarm clock, go to school, and follow a routine deeply embedded with structure. They regurgitate information derived from the authority figures ahead of them for the utter purpose of scoring well on tests. Teachers assign projects with distinct guidelines to regulate everything down to the font size used for a paper. Today s culture turns education into a system so structured that any creativity left in students is squeezed out of them like a dried-out lemon after its juice has been taken for lemonade: Society has begun to value the processed, standardized lemonade more than the intrinsic eccentricity of the natural lemon itself. How, and why, does this atrocity take place? It is due to the exponentially decreasing value of art in society. Despite this common misconception, art reduces stress, provides means of expression, and even increases intelligence all vital skills for young students to obtain, leading to the conclusion: Art is important, and needs implementation throughout education. Benefits on Mental Health Most students today get little or no free time during the week. Students are encouraged to study every night, do their homework, play sports, volunteer, have family time, and get nine hours of sleep every night However, even for the most diligent worker, it is just not possible. This overwork of students is conducive to mental disorders such as anxiety. Due to this fear, it is encouraged for students to have an outlet in which he or she can release from their frenzy of stress. Art releases emotional tension, encourages self-expression and enhances coping skills. Art therapy, in fact, is an effective method in restoring patients with mental illnesses sense of personal well-being. The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as a mental health profession in which an art therapist uses art media, the creative process, and the resulting

4 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 4 artwork as a way to reconcile emotional conflicts, manage behavior and addictions, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem (Agarwal, Maheshwari, Ordner, & Retamero, 2014). This therapeutic practice has proven to be useful for patients who have PTSD, anxiety, and depression. According to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (2015), 1 in 5 of teenagers (ages 13-18) lives with a mental illness, and 75% of mental illnesses develop before age 24 (p. 1). Although not every student has a mental illness, it is unfitting to write off art as a waste of time. At the very least, art could be the viable solution we have been looking for to prevent mental illnesses. In a world of deadlines and exams, however, it is a safe bet that all students could benefit from the meditative benefits of art that reduce stress and anxiety. Art as a Means of Expression While these studies prove the benefits of art to the mind, the resulting works of art can also be useful. Art may convey scientific information when tables and data are inadequate. The Materials Research Society (2013) advertises that, Occasionally, what we see under a microscope transcends the role as a medium for transmitting information and transforms them into objects of beauty and art (p. 1). This group hosts a competition inviting attendees to submit photographs of scientific images that display aesthetic qualities, exhibiting magnificent works of art. If students can learn how to connect art with science, it is easier to contemplate new ways of seeing research and appreciate both subjects for their fundamental value. This overlap between art and science can also help students learn to articulate information in more ways than one. Another purpose of artwork is the information expressed that children otherwise would not reveal verbally. Researchers can use artwork to see from the artist s point of view. In a study conducted after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, children drew pictures and symbols to try to make sense of the event. Researchers analyzed the drawings of airplanes destroying

5 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 5 buildings to determine the sensitive states of fear expressed in the art. In another study consisting of twenty-five kindergarteners, researchers instructed children to draw anything that came to their minds and attempted to understand the children s point of view through a series of openended questions. The researchers developed a rapport with the respondent, examining the drawings and asking questions deemed necessary. One child drew herself and her mother taking a trip to space, with a simple explanation of I like it. Another child drew herself, mother, and grandmother encompassed by a multitude of hearts and rainbows, expressing their loving and caring relationship. Another child drew a family lacking a father, yet displaying an emotional mother crying (Al-Alwidi, Shaban, 2013, p. 3). These drawings exhibited emotions and poignancy that can help others understand their point of view, passions, and conflicts. Children s drawings may help researches determine a child s feelings on whether or not his or her self fits into society, a crucial aspect of social development. Therefore, while many people are under the erroneous assumption that the works of art serve no distinct purpose, artworks express feelings or demonstrate visualization methods to help present scientific work. In other words, students will learn how to illustrate their ideas in multiple ways literally. Increase of Intelligence Finally, not many are aware of the direct correlations between the arts and increases in intelligence. The arts offer rich, engaging ways to teach and learn. Comprehending art requires cognitive strategies that can teach students to make meaning. Michael Posner, psychology professor at the University of Oregon, contends that, Years of neuroimaging have now given us a plausible or putative mechanism by which arts training could now influence consignation,, including attention and IQ (2009, p. 2). He also believes that interactive attention training such as the practice of arts improves attention, fluid intelligence, and IQ scores. A program

6 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 6 known as the Whole Schools Initiative is putting this theory directly into practice. The goal of this reform is to integrate the arts into daily classroom instruction, and sequential, comprehensive instruction in dance, drama, visual arts, and music by certified arts specialists. Evaluation results of the program include increased standardized test scores, parental involvement, and teacher morale, as well as decreased absenteeism and discipline referrals (Coleman, 2015, p. 1). A recent study of this reform found that students engaged in the Whole Schools Initiative scored an average of 11% of points higher on test scores than the students did in the same grade, at the same school, who did not take part in the arts education program (Wyman, 2012, p. 1). A plethora of studies have associated arts training with increased intelligence and cognition in general, leading to the conclusion that art benefits students overall performance in various ways. Conclusion Child prodigy and internationally recognized physicist Albert Einstein once said, It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. He refers to the mysterious the perpetual curiosity and intrinsic desire of humans to learn. Art provides the means for students to learn, teaches that questions can have more than one answer, and encourages a new way of thinking. Many people do not see the importance of art among other core subjects in school. However, if an acclaimed genius can speak of the connection between art and science, recognizing the importance of wonder and art, maybe those who disagree should rethink their averseness. The practice of art has many benefits, both individual and for an entire school. Releasing pent-up stress, expressing concepts that are difficult to articulate, and increasing overall intelligence are all positive effects of art practice in schools. When considering these advantages, is it not self-evident that the desire to discover

7 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 7 the urge to create should not be deterred or impeded upon, but rather encouraged, especially in education. Schools need art.

8 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 8 References Coleman, A. (2015). Our History. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from Maheshwari, S., Ordner, A., Agarwal, V., & Retamero, C. (2014, November). Art therapy in a patient with bipolor disorder: pictures speak more than a thousand words. Psychiatric Times, 31(11), 46. Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database. Mental Health by the Numbers. (2015). Retrieved from More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers Science as art winners: spring (2013). Advanced Materials & Processes, 171(6), 48. Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database. Shaban, M. S., & Al-Awidi, H. M. (2013). Understanding Emirati children's drawing in relation to self and identity through the interaction of social context. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 27(3), Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database. Mehta, A. (2009, May 11). Attention May Link Art and Intelligence. Retrieved from Wyman, P. (2012, March 3). Arts Education Leads To Improved Standardized Test Scores. Retrieved from

9 Running head: IMPORTANCE OF ART 9 Bibliography Boyd, B. (2008, Summer-Fall). Art as adaptation: A challenge. Style, 42(2-3), Retrieved from Expanded Academic ASAP database. Glass, D. (2013). Universal design for learning and the arts. Harvard Educational Review, 98+. Retrieved from SIRS database.