Abigail Stokes

Educating Exceptional Individuals

Position Paper

Arts Education: Important for Our Kids
Arts education, which includes (but is not limited to) fine arts, music, PE, and
dancing, has been a fundamental part of school since school began. In recent years,
however, there have been many cuts in our school systems, namely in the arts
departments. The majority of these cutbacks are due to less funding in schools, which
results in the board or administration cutting back on programs they deem less
necessary than others. The question, though, is whether art is actually not necessary in
schools. One seemingly neglected fact is that not all children learn exactly the same.
There could be several children in a classroom who learn better by creating something
with their hands. There could also be students who learn by taking notes, and students
who learn by doing. Why would we take away an integral part of learning? We should
not. Arts education should stay put in schools because of its effect on students
learning styles, promotion of innovation and creativity, and guarantee of general well-
roundedness in school.
There are those who do not appreciate the benefits of integrating art with
education. In a study done by Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland, there was little to no
causal evidence found in support of claims that an arts education promotes higher
standardized testing scores. Specifically, they say Just as we do not (and could not)
justify the teaching of history for its power to transfer to mathematics, we must not
allow policy makers to justify (or reject) the arts based on their alleged power to
transfer to academic subject matters (Winner and Hetland, 2001). Their argument,
while they may have found some basis for it in research, completely discounts any
interdisciplinary work done by teachers. Essentially, they are claiming that students
will not benefit academically from learning in different ways in different classes. I can
personally discount their claim. The classes I learned best in were the ones in which we
went over material in a variety of ways. Learning something one way is like only
learning to drive on one street and calling it good. This study was also looking
primarily at standardized testing scores, and whether they were improved with an arts
education. Standardized testing has already been a point of contention in modern
schools, and there is a question as to whether we should even have standards based
education. Universal standards do not account for the slower-learning students or those
who need extra help. Perhaps if the study had looked at formative assessments, they
would have gotten a different, more accurate result.
The second, and probably most common, argument for cutting art programs in
schools is budgeting. Each year, it seems that funding for schools get cut smaller and
smaller, which does not leave much room for flexibility within their budgets. It seems
like a no-brainer for a school to cut the arts program if their science department is also
on the chopping block. A specific example comes from Oklahoma, where, in a state
that has over $36 billion in debt, they have no choice but to cut something (Kirschner,
Anti-Art). While this does seem to be a valid argument and issue, the problem here is
not the value of arts education, but rather, the cost. It is also where politics rears its
ugly head. The budgets for public schools are primarily determined by the amount of
funding they receive from the government, which means the fate of school
programming lies in the hands of people who are all trying to thwart each other, rather
than help their constituents. If arts programs are being cut because schools can no
longer afford them, the conversation needs to then go to legislators who have the
power to change that, and voters who choose which legislators to put in power.
Budgeting problems should not mean that we have to sacrifice our children's creativity.
An arts education has been proven to be a benefit to students in a variety of
ways; first being it helps kids learn in a different capacity. A study released in 2006 by
the Guggenheim suggested that arts education in schools actually increased literacy.
Specifically, the study looked at students who were sent to a program in which artists
came to their school. The study found that students in the program performed better in
six categories of literacy and critical thinking skills including thorough description,
hypothesizing and reasoning than did students who were not in the program
(Kennedy, 2006). This is not surprising. Learning art, essentially, is learning how to
learn. One must pay attention to the subject, adjust for light, angle, or other details, and
know that you are not drawing a cat, but you are drawing the shadows, lines, and
empty space that makes up the cat. When you know how to break anything down like
that, it makes learning a much different experience. Students who participated in other
programs experienced similar results. In 1999, a study was conducted called Learning
Through the Arts, and children participating in it benefited in many ways. Perhaps
most importantly, they were able to more eloquently express how art had influenced
their lives. One student said, Music brightens up the mind. When you learn something
new, you feel good and that makes you feel good in other subjects like math (Upitis,
1999). Music and art open up your mind in ways that it has not been before, which
spills into all other aspects of your life. This student will probably be able to express
himself better than before, concerning any subject. What a gift.
While I could go on about the emotional, mental, and personal effects of the arts on
students, perhaps it would be more prudent to speak on the economic benefits a nation can
experience when it promotes arts education. In december of 2013, the National Endowment for
the Arts and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis published preliminary data which concludes
that integrating the arts into education greatly benefits the economy. Specifically, in 2011, arts
education added $7.6 billion to the nations GDP, employed 17,900 workers, and claims the
second largest share of output for all U.S. arts and cultural commodities (Iyengar, 2014). This is
not surprising. Having an arts education program means employing people to teach them, and
several studies have shown that students who engage in the arts become more creative thinkers,
which would promote innovation in their future. In schools where arts education has been cut,
there is a continued importance for access to extracurriculars in arts field. A study done in the
United Kingdom looked at the correlation between art extracurriculars and creativity. They found
that during and after the program, the students were able to work more independently, think in
different ways, progress at their own pace, and felt they had a voice in the group (Cunliffe, 2008).
The skills students learn through an arts education are ones that stay with them for a lifetime, and
will impact their work into their adult lives.
Arts education in schools is incredibly important. It helps students learn differently, think about
problems more creatively, and it benefits the economy in enough ways for it to be significant. For these
reasons, it should not fall by the wayside in school budgets. Ultimately, the federal budget for education
should be raised to accommodate for these programs. Until that can be done, however, there are a couple
options. First, we must make sure there are after-school programs available for kids who have an interest
in the arts. Second, we should make efforts to integrate art into regular classrooms. Hopefully, through
these channels, art will not die in our schools, and our students will continue to gain valuable skills
through a creative education.






































Works Cited
Cunliffe, Leslie. "A Case Study Of An Extra-Curricular School Activity Designed To Promote
Creativity." International Journal Of Education Through Art 4.1 (2008): 91. Publisher Provided
Full Text Searching File. Web. 8 July 2014.

Hetland, Lois, and Ellen Winner. "The Arts And Academic Achievement: What The Evidence
Shows." Arts Education Policy Review102.5 (2001): 3. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching
File. Web. 6 July 2014.

Iyengar, Sunil, and Ayanna Hudson. "Who Knew? Arts Education Fuels The Economy."
Chronicle Of Higher Education 60.26 (2014): 20. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File.
Web. 8 July 2014.

Kennedy, Randy. "Guggenheim Study Suggests Arts Education Benefits Literacy Skills." The
New York Times 27 July 2006. Web. 7 July 2014.

Kirschner, Nicole. "The Anti-Art Education Stance." Rhetoric and Civic Life. N.p., 6 Mar. 2014.
Web. 6 July 2014. <http://sites.psu.edu/nicolekirchnerrcl/2014/03/06/anti-art/>.