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Alexandra Safran

Mrs. Cramer

English Comp I Pd. 7

20 November 2018

Arts Education: Defining Development

Of the American public that was polled, 92% believed that the arts are an essential part of

education, and the number is rising (Ruppert, 5). The arts, which for the sake of this essay

include music, drama, dance, visual arts— drawing, painting, etc.—, are available in some aspect

in nearly every school in America (United). These classes foster creativity and individual

thinking that is otherwise largely untaught in schools, with some exceptions. Critics to art rich

education argue that art classes take time away from more useful career and core classes.

Whether or not the benefits outweigh the negatives is a hot topic, especially with discussions on

the No Child Left Behind Act and how schools are given grants. While arts education is often

falsely connected to higher scores in other subjects, students who are exposed to the arts growing

up are more culturally and socially aware in addition to being able to grow creatively and enjoy a

different type of education.

What is typically used to defend the arts, that they improve scores in subjects such as

math and science, is backed by little evidence. Jay P. Greene and his associates believe that

while the arts are extremely beneficial for students, it is not because of the higher scores in math

and reading that art is often tied to. They suggest that the studies done to prove this were faulty

and done by groups as a quick way to prove the importance of arts programs. The major flaw

with the studies is there is little that can be done to get only one variable that can be studied

(Greene). Students that are more likely to elect to take arts classes may be more likely to

graduate, be elected into student council offices, or be more likely to be awarded for school
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achievement (Lynch)—all of which is true—but it is not easily detectable if exemplary students

are drawn to the arts, or if the arts make exemplary students (Greene).

It may not be completely true that the arts are helpful for bettering scores in math and

science in the way that is often thought, arts have been shown to increase a sense of cultural and

social awareness. To most easily see how social understanding and awareness is affected by

looking towards drama. One teacher described teaching the arts as teaching students about

society (Harland, 92). This is done by forcing students to put themselves in the shoes of the

characters they are to play, which often have very different background than them. By exposing

children to different scenarios, even when dramatized, tolerance and acceptance is being taught.

Cultural awareness is taught through exposing students to arts from all across the globe and from

all different eras (Harland, 89). This shows students a wide variety of cultures and teaches them

to appreciate the diversity in art and people, and even how society functions.

While the arts are helping students across the globe develop cultural and societal

understanding, it is also creating an environment in which creativity is nurtured and students are

motivated. Multiple students have explained how arts classes improve their mood (Harland, 32);

this would prove to be especially helpful during school days by acting as a time to recharge in a

way for the following classes. This could potentially help bring up grades, but again, studies

done on this are not conclusive. Other students described in a survey that students look forward

to when they do art related classes because they are different than all the other classes. In art

there is no correct way, only the way you think it should be done. It’s also enjoyable because

there is no two people who will see the same thing in the same way (Harland, 28). Individuality

is taught is virtually no other subject besides art. In math everyone is expected to get the same

answer. In history everyone is supposed to remember the same dates and names. In reading,

everyone is supposed to be able to pull the same information out of a story and interpret it in a
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way that while slightly individual still lines up with what the author has intended. In art, while

there are still aspects that are to be done in some way and only that way, or understood in some

way and only that way, it is still largely a subject in which one must make it their own. One

teacher that was surveyed expressed how they saw the arts as a way for students to use creativity

to develop a new way of thinking, or a new world inside their own head. (Harland, 27). This

could prove to be very important as children grow and become part of a very mechanized job

landscape. In this, it might very well be that to set yourself apart from the rest you must be able

to think creatively and, in a way, humanly as to secure jobs that machines, and computers are

simply not capable of doing well.

Fine arts education, though not directly connected to higher scores in other subjects,

allows students to develop into a more culturally and socially aware adults in addition to being

able to grow creatively and enjoy a different, though still important branch of education. The arts

are not a save all for education, at least not according to any studies done thus far. In fact, it is

likely that the arts attract model students rather than make them. However, the fine arts do foster

an acceptance and appreciation of culture and diversity that other subjects can simply not teach.

Not only that, but they also encourage students to stay motivated in school and offer a relaxing

and enjoyable time for students young and old alike, and numerous Americans believe that art

education is an important part of preparing students for future success. As Sydney Gurewitz

Clemens has said, “Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves

instead of like everyone else.”