Arts in School; What Difference Do They Really Make?
A really stellar article in the NY Times on the value of arts in school. Two researchers who had written in a study published in 2000 that arts do not help with overall academic performance. There was a tremendous backlash against them and they went on to do another study, arguing that while they stand behind their initial thesis they believe people are viewing arts' value in school incorrectly. From the article:
"The researchers found that the visual arts classes did have broad indirect benefits, even if they were not directly related to quantifiable performance in other subjects. “Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgments and justify such judgments,” the authors conclude."
Important to our discussions about what people want in high schools is this excerpt:
"When students who take art also generally do well in school, Ms. Winner and her co- researchers say, this may be because academically strong schools tend to have strong arts programs, or because families who value academic achievement also value achievement in the arts."
So what does it all mean? Here's another thought from the article:
"The researchers found that the visual arts classes did have broad indirect benefits, even if they were not directly related to quantifiable performance in other subjects. “Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgments and justify such judgments,” the authors conclude."
Important to our discussions about what people want in high schools is this excerpt:
"When students who take art also generally do well in school, Ms. Winner and her co- researchers say, this may be because academically strong schools tend to have strong arts programs, or because families who value academic achievement also value achievement in the arts."
So what does it all mean? Here's another thought from the article:
"In campaigning for keeping arts education, some educators say, advocates need to form more realistic arguments.
“Not everything has a practical utility, but maybe it’s experientially valuable,” said Elliot Eisner, a professor emeritus of education at Stanford University. “Learning through the arts promotes the idea that there is more than one solution to a problem, or more than one answer to a question.” "
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