What Matters? Why do the arts matter?

Why do the arts in education matter, especially?

It‘s more than…  “You should see their happy little faces!”

“The arts are fun!”  Of course we give affective reasons about how great arts learning is for kids, BUT...

In these times of high stakes testing  “Touchy feely” language just doesn’t cut it with skeptics.

Recently, we’ve begun to describe more convincingly what the arts engender  For example, the arts let us see and understand each other in more deep and meaningful ways. The arts provide windows and mirrors.

And we’ve received good news  Increasingly, research from a number of domains bears out what we’ve always intuitively known.

The arts are “Critical Links”  The Arts Education Partnership’s Critical Links compendium reviewed 62 studies of arts learning in dance, drama, music, multiple arts, and visual arts.

Certain populations show greater gains  young children  students from economically disadvantaged circumstances  students needing remedial instruction  and students learning English For these populations learning in the arts may be uniquely able to advance learning success in other areas.

The arts improve dispositions to learning Dispositions that lead to acceleration of achievement:  Engaged students  Focused students  Proud students

From brain research:  The arts engage the senses; they flesh out ideas in many dimensions.  The arts connect to emotion; emotion is needed to integrate new information into memory.

Third Space: When Learning Matters A new study from the Arts Education Partnership  A three-year comparative case study of ten schools with arts-centered curricula: Urban and rural schools. Schools where more than half the students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. More evidence…

Key Finding:  The arts change the learning environment—the contexts and conditions for teaching and learning.

“Third Space”  The study captures these changes in the learning environment with the metaphor “third space.”

“Third Space”  The third space is created between an artist (in a first space) and his or her medium (in a second) Ta-Coumba Aiken Omnipotent, 2001 Acrylic on paper The Walker Art Center Julie and Babe Davis Acquisition Fund Leah Nelson, dancer

“Third Space”  OR third space is created between an audience (in a first space) and a work of art (in a second).

In the Third Space Learning Matters:  Learning is meaningful and authentically connected to students’ lives.  Students are active agents of their own learning—a role demanding sophisticated cognitive engagement.

In the Third Space Learning Matters:  Students become visible to their teachers and communities in new ways.  Not only does learning matter to students, but they have opportunities to matter in their schools and communities.

In the Third Space Learning Matters:  Youth development outcomes—e.g. identity and resilience—are supported.  Students become both efficient with the demands of a discipline, and innovative—they learn how to solve not only routine, but novel problems they encounter.

In the Third Space Learning Matters:  Teachers are more satisfied and effective in their teaching.  A sense of community is built within and around the school.

The arts create new possibilities for teaching and learning.

Arts Integration  Third Space finds that through high quality arts integration, other academic disciplines can enter into and benefit from the qualities of the learning environment created by the arts.

 Helps students develop skills in an art form (efficiency)  Asks them to create original works or interpretations of art (innovation). A Model of Adaptive Expertise from Cognitive Scientists Schwartz, Bransford, & Sears (2005) Efficiency Innovation Novice Adaptive Expert Frustrated Novice Routine Expert Strong Arts Integration

Strong Arts Integration…  offers students an opportunity to work with the content and skills of an art form AND  asks students to create works of art and respond meaningfully to others’ works of art.

Transformative power  As the arts become central to a school’s curriculum, the whole school may take on the transformative qualities of third space.

Specific tools help students build meaning Such as:  Critical Response  Descriptive Review  Student Prompts for Reflection

The arts foster questions Such as:  Is this good work?  How do I know?  What did I do to get here?  What would I improve next time? Teachers and children begin to regularly think this way.

As for cognition  We know that arts learning builds strong cognitive habits: creative and critical thinking skills and habits of mind--knowing how to behave intelligently when you DON’T know the answer.

Getting to What Matters Designing learning experiences so they have the power to create a Third Space requires thinking intentionally about life long learning goals.

And the real reason(s) the arts in education matter ?