Art education is the act of gaining knowledge based on visual, tangible, and performing arts. Dance, theatre, and music are examples of performing arts while jewelry, pottery, fabrics, and waving being examples of tangible or design arts (Day & Hurwitz, 2011). Besides, visual arts include drawing, painting, and ceramic works, and this group of art education which has been categorized as basic has led to the growth of the others. As world technology grows day by day, art education is inclusive of the latest trends such as photography, design, film, and videos. As part of the core curriculum, a qualified instructor gives out instructions through a standard-based sequential approach (Day & Hurwitz, 2011). It is believed that art education has several advantages to an individual’s life. Past studies have proven the benefits of art education to students. Art education introduced decades ago is important in the developing lives of children, and its importance is supported by the State and research reports done by scholars.
Research Studies
Studies conducted on art education support the benefits of art education in the academic, behavioral, and social aspects of an individual. A conclusion can be made stating that not only does a key creative outlet is missed out, but those who do not attend art classes also have difficulty in mastering other subjects and have disciplinary issues. Several scholars researched the connection between the arts and the brain. This research reported that the brain could be refurbished in many positive ways through art education. Another research report states that those students who have access to arts education have high attendance rates and fewer disciplinary issues. Moreover, these reports state that besides a creative outlet, arts education help students connect to a larger world (Wan, Ludwig & Boyle, 2018). However, other studies show that arts education is changing as most schools, especially the public, are eliminating art programs. The popular given reason for this is that these institutions are on low budget thus eliminating such programs with the most affected being the teachers who work in the arts.
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California State Standards of Art Education.
Teachers or instructors of arts education are expected to follow a set standards of education. These standards guide the teachers on how to offer visual and performing arts to students for effective outcomes (California Department of Education, 2017). The State Board of Education adopts the California Arts Standards in January 2019 and guides to achieving a specific goal. The goal of these standards is to ensure that students participate fully in a vibrant and well-rounded arts education. Artistic competencies of students are fostered in ways that cultivate their appreciation, understanding arts in an enjoyable, fulfilling way. They can be transferred to personal, academic, and professional facets of life (California Department of Education, 2017). The California Arts Standards are conclusive of the visual and performing arts: dance, media arts, music, visual arts, and theater.
Incorporating arts in K-12 classroom
Arts education can be taken as a core subject or incorporated between other subjects such as English, Science, and Math, among others. It has been noted that arts educations in Public schools have been given a low priority in the last decade (Day & Hurwitz, 2011). Therefore teachers have to find ways to incorporate arts into classrooms for the benefits of students. Such ways include asking students to make a script, composing music to explain a concept, creating memory dances, work arts, and drama relating to the concept. Moreover, asking children to make and design brochures and posters for advertisement is a great way to bring arts into K-12 classrooms.
Rationales for Art Education Theory
Art education is important for thriving in the daily lives of art students. This is true as education in arts helps students to be creative, the ability to communicate and understand other people’s ideas, and making critical decisions (Wan, Ludwig & Boyle, 2018). Individuals who can access arts classes are equipped with skills and competencies for success in the workplace. Such skills include teamwork, resource management, problem-solving, critical analysis, creativity, and understanding complex relationships. In general, art education can engage students in intellectual, emotional, and physical levels, thus laying out different learning styles and intelligence. Therefore, education in arts is vital for all students irrespective of their level of functional capacity.
Influences, Issues, Child learner and Instruction
As discussed earlier, arts are essential as it has some influence in the student’s life. Arts educations have a significant impact on an individual’s academic, behavioral, cognitive, and social aspects of life. In fact, after the “No Child Left Behind” Act, art education was to be introduced as a core subject in the education curriculum. Arts presents skills for both teachers and students that include creative and critical thinking, collaboration, communication, growth mindset, and perseverance, which are all vital to closing the opportunity gap in the world today (Day & Hurwitz, 2011). Even though art education has great advantages in a student’s life, it has never been taken seriously in the education curriculum. This area of education faces various challenges and issues in its gradual progress. Challenges that affect arts education include lack of funding, qualified staff, and instructors, time, and resources. Moreover, due to its perception, it is not taken as a priority subject, thus not concentrated on by other teachers, parents, and community. Due to this, professionals in arts education are always ignored facing difficulties in making progress in this area.
Instructional Strategies
Like other curriculum subjects, instructors of art education have to incorporate teaching strategies for active learning. Art instructors have to carefully plan their lessons and select an appropriate instructional method for teaching to increase the student’s interest and performance (Day & Hurwitz 2011). The most commonly used instructional and teaching methods include demonstration, presentation, and simulation, discussion, learning groups, discovery methods, problem-solving and role-playing.
Conclusion
Arts education is essential in a child’s life as well as an adult. Incorporating arts in the life activities of an individual equips him with the skills needed in this 21st Century world. Therefore, schools with the help of the government should make it their responsibility to incorporate art studies into their regular school activities. The perception of art education should also change as it is also essential as the other core subjects in the curriculum. Parents, teachers, and society should have a more in-depth view of what arts education have to offer in their children’s life. With the change of the negative perception of arts, there will be increased progress in this area.
References
California Department of Education. (2017). California Arts Standards. California State Board of Education . https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/vapacontentstds.asp
Day, M. & Hurwitz, A. (2011). Children and their Arts. Method for the Elementary School. Thomson Higher Education (9 th ed). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Wan, Y., Ludwig, M. J. & Boyle, A. (2018). Review of evidence: Arts education through the lens of ESSA . Washington, DC: American Institute of Research. https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Documents/Arts-Education-Evidence-Report.pdf
