The arts should be a part of every child's education
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Category:
Quote |
Issue(s) Addressed:
Inherent value/intelligence Building society/citizenship Long-term success of students Developing the "whole child" |
Attribution
Ellen Winner, Lois Hetland, et al., (2000). "The Arts and Academic Achievement: What the Evidence Shows," Executive Summary, REAP (Reviewing Education and the ARts Project), Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Item Text
"The arts offer a way of thinking unavailable in other disciplines. The same might be said of athletics. Suppose coaches began to claim that playing baseball increased students' mathematical ability because of the complex score keeping involved. Then suppose researchers set out to test this and found that the claim did not hold up. Would school boards react by cutting the budget for baseball? Of course not. Because whatever positive academic side effects baseball might or might not have, schools believe sports are inherently good for kids. We should make the same argument for the arts: the arts are good for our children, irrespective of any non-arts benefits that the arts may in some cases have. Just as a well-rounded education requires education of the body through physical education, a balanced education requires study of the arts.
"Let's bet on history. Of course, we do not know for sure what is the best education for children to ensure that they will grow up to lead productive and happy lives. But the arts have been around longer than the sciences; cultures are judged on the basis of their arts; and most cultures and most historical eras have not doubted the importance of studying the arts. Let's assume, then, that the arts should be a part of every child's education and treat the arts as seriously as we treat mathematics or reading or history or biology. Let's remember why societies have always included the arts in every child's education. The reason is simple. The arts are a fundamentally important part of culture, and an education without them is an impoverished education leading to an impoverished society. Studying the arts should not have to be justified in terms of anything else. The arts are as important as the sciences: they are time-honored ways of learning, knowing, and expressing."
Links
http://pzweb.harvard.edu/Research/REAP.htm
Submitter Information
- Name: MENC Staff
- Email: advocacy@menc.org