This is a great question. Today I think that there is not a great appreciation for the fine arts by all individuals in education. I am brought back to a recent board question session with student council. Some of the responses were shared with staff and indicated there was a feeling that the art program was not valued by the students and potentially was an area to target if cuts needed to be made. The text brings forward the fact that fine arts are one of the greatest ways to bring in a sense of globalism. This is because a great number of master pieces and musical arrangements come from different countries around the world. Students will be able to see connections to larger themes with the introduction of art. In addition, the arts also allow students to be creative and think with different parts of their brain which is a skill needed for the 21st Century.
I have been introducing students to the different movements in art and music as we study historical time periods in humanities. I think that this is important to continue to do this because a lot of the students are not exposed to art or music. I think that it would be great to offer music or art appreciation courses, but I fear that only a select few would enroll in the courses leaving the majority unexposed.
I think that arts can be examined from two different perspectives when I answering this question. When viewed as “the cultivation of an aesthetic sensibility and the capacity to give form to ideas and emotion” (p.55), art has a huge role in 21st century education. Jacobs makes a strong argument for a modern art curriculum which extends to multimedia forms and the “fusion between them” (p. 56). She says that technology can bridge a gap in what students have traditionally been exposed to. Available to the 21st century student are video archives on dance performances, orchestral pieces and many of masterpieces of great artists. However, I think that Jacob’s definition can also go beyond the traditional art room, as the definition also inherently fosters critical thinking and creativity, which should be found in any classroom.
Much of what Jacobs supports in the classroom in terms of how we have to change our instruction methods -- steering our students towards asking the right question (p. 208) instead of just supplying them with facts -- IS critical thinking. It is the asking of the deeper questions once you get the facts that stimulates even more thought. The art of critical thinking is crucial to the success of learning in the 21st century. Roger C. Schank points to instructional technology tools as a way to push student towards deeper levels of thinking (p. 209). These tools can help us to offer authentic connections for our students also. We can now collaborate with classrooms across the globe, create podcasts that go global, and build solar-powered cars that may someday save our environment. The students of the near future will no longer be writing reports on mammals, they will be critically addressing ways to save those mammals and giving reasons why we should.
And many of the end products that students produce ARE creativity in action. Jacobs suggests stage performances as a creative way to study literacy. Students study the script as a form of literature, examining it and making meaning of it; compare it to literature form a different era, looking for similarities; and practice public speaking when performing it. A real life example of using creativity in an art form is exemplified by Mabry Middle School in Georgia. Every year, students who attend, are encouraged to enter a film festival, which illustrates, creatively, what students have learned in their classrooms. For instance, students in science may address the question What is AIDS? or in Social Studies they may address How do we stop bullying? and create a film to explain it.
The arts, whether taken literally as art class or looked at from a different lens as critical thinking or creativity, is definitely important to 21st century learning. The whole thrust for the future is to push students to think critically -- giving form to ideas and emotions. And the new wave of grades being given for projects versus worksheets is moving us towards creative end products -- the cultivation of a aesthetic sensibility.
The arts are what make students well rounded. As Ellie said, people who are involved in the arts are much more creative and global minded. These are 2 core skills for the 21st century. All students should be required to be involved in at least one class that involves the arts.
I also agree with Jacob's view that World Language should not be considered an elective but rather a core academic subject.
The arts play a huge role in that students need to not only think critically, but they need to also think creatively. In fact, the higher paying jobs in the global market are for the creative people in the world.
My thought is that the current educational structure does not always welcome creative thinkers. It tends to focus on core classes and sports. For example, I was published in my high school's Vision and Voices book as a senior. The book was a collection of student pictures, poems, and stories. During the ceremony, the principal showed up for five minutes and then left to go to the baseball game that had no playoff bearing of any kind. His heart was with the sports, not the arts. I still see this notion today. I think in the 21st century, however, that idea needs to be turned upside down. In fact, creative thinkers, who tend to take the arts (music, drama, art, writing, etc) are the most well rounded individuals. I think as teachers' change their way of teaching, the arts should be kept in mind. Jacobs states, “We need to go out of our way to encourage learners to take risks both in artistic expression and in the realm of creating ideas” (17). We, as teachers, need students to take this risk. Because the educational system is still teaching with old habits, the arts are usually the first place to get cut. In a 21st century curriculum, the arts would be placed as untouchable so that we can produce students who are “intellects, a creative thinker and an idea shaper” (17). This means that we as teachers also need to be creative while forming new methods to teach.
In Curriculum 21, Jacobs argues, “central to becoming an educated person is the cultivation of an aesthetic sensibility and the capacity to give form to ideas and emotion” (55). Music, theater, dance, visual art, and multimedia projects by their very nature touch on many 21st century skills, make students more confident and well rounded, and give them tools to interpret the world. Arts education as it exists now is not broken, but Jacobs advocates teaching modern art forms and globalizing the curriculum.
To modernize the types of art created in art classes, technology should be used as one tool to help students communicate their ideas. Technology can also help students harness their creativity in ways not possible with traditional art. One example the Partnership for 21st Century Skills provides in its Arts skills map involves remixing music. Students would not need the skill of a composer but could use their creativity to put their own spin on a composition or to layer multiple compositions into a new mix.
Technology could also help globalize the classroom by connecting student artists from around the globe with each other or with professional artists. Jacobs lauds digital video archives, which could be used to compare different cultural interpretations of particular source material, and web sites such as the Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge (57). When students create traditional art, technology can be a vehicle to expose their projects to a larger audience.
Jacbos stresses the importance of fostering students’ global competence (102), and the arts are one tool to help students connect to other cultures. Teaching language arts, I regularly use visual art and music to help contextualize literature and expand students’ thought processes. I will continue to use art making it a point to include art from a variety of cultures and perspectives. The arts can also be tied to other curricular areas by providing an artistic project option or adding an art component to projects.
Seeing that my original post on this topic was deleted, I am going to provide a brief summary of what I had posted earlier.....
* The arts are just as important as the so called core areas of curriculum, however, they are usually targeted first when schools need to cut back on programs. This creates a disservice to students.
* The arts provide students with an avenue of expressing themselves and provides them with the skills to analyze and critique materials. This can go hand in hand with the three courses I teach, IB History, APUSH, and SS202 as all three courses place a great emphasis on analyzing information.
* The arts allow students to gain an appreciation of different cultures across the world. Music, as well as paintings and architecture, are a universal language.
* It is in my opinion that there needs to be a renewed investment and continued emphasis on the arts in curricula in schools.
Too strange. . . as I have not deleted any comments. The only other person who could delete comments would be the person who posted it. . . great comments!
This is a great question. Today I think that there is not a great appreciation for the fine arts by all individuals in education. I am brought back to a recent board question session with student council. Some of the responses were shared with staff and indicated there was a feeling that the art program was not valued by the students and potentially was an area to target if cuts needed to be made. The text brings forward the fact that fine arts are one of the greatest ways to bring in a sense of globalism. This is because a great number of master pieces and musical arrangements come from different countries around the world. Students will be able to see connections to larger themes with the introduction of art. In addition, the arts also allow students to be creative and think with different parts of their brain which is a skill needed for the 21st Century.
ReplyDeleteI have been introducing students to the different movements in art and music as we study historical time periods in humanities. I think that this is important to continue to do this because a lot of the students are not exposed to art or music. I think that it would be great to offer music or art appreciation
courses, but I fear that only a select few would enroll in the courses leaving the majority unexposed.
I think that arts can be examined from two different perspectives when I answering this question. When viewed as “the cultivation of an aesthetic sensibility and the capacity to give form to ideas and emotion” (p.55), art has a huge role in 21st century education. Jacobs makes a strong argument for a modern art curriculum which extends to multimedia forms and the “fusion between them” (p. 56). She says that technology can bridge a gap in what students have traditionally been exposed to. Available to the 21st century student are video archives on dance performances, orchestral pieces and many of masterpieces of great artists. However, I think that Jacob’s definition can also go beyond the traditional art room, as the definition also inherently fosters critical thinking and creativity, which should be found in any classroom.
ReplyDeleteMuch of what Jacobs supports in the classroom in terms of how we have to change our instruction methods -- steering our students towards asking the right question (p. 208) instead of just supplying them with facts -- IS critical thinking. It is the asking of the deeper questions once you get the facts that stimulates even more thought. The art of critical thinking is crucial to the success of learning in the 21st century. Roger C. Schank points to instructional technology tools as a way to push student towards deeper levels of thinking (p. 209). These tools can help us to offer authentic connections for our students also. We can now collaborate with classrooms across the globe, create podcasts that go global, and build solar-powered cars that may someday save our environment. The students of the near future will no longer be writing reports on mammals, they will be critically addressing ways to save those mammals and giving reasons why we should.
And many of the end products that students produce ARE creativity in action. Jacobs suggests stage performances as a creative way to study literacy. Students study the script as a form of literature, examining it and making meaning of it; compare it to literature form a different era, looking for similarities; and practice public speaking when performing it. A real life example of using creativity in an art form is exemplified by Mabry Middle School in Georgia. Every year, students who attend, are encouraged to enter a film festival, which illustrates, creatively, what students have learned in their classrooms. For instance, students in science may address the question What is AIDS? or in Social Studies they may address How do we stop bullying? and create a film to explain it.
The arts, whether taken literally as art class or looked at from a different lens as critical thinking or creativity, is definitely important to 21st century learning. The whole thrust for the future is to push students to think critically -- giving form to ideas and emotions. And the new wave of grades being given for projects versus worksheets is moving us towards creative end products -- the cultivation of a aesthetic sensibility.
The arts are what make students well rounded. As Ellie said, people who are involved in the arts are much more creative and global minded. These are 2 core skills for the 21st century. All students should be required to be involved in at least one class that involves the arts.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jacob's view that World Language should not be considered an elective but rather a core academic subject.
The arts play a huge role in that students need to not only think critically, but they need to also think creatively. In fact, the higher paying jobs in the global market are for the creative people in the world.
ReplyDeleteMy thought is that the current educational structure does not always welcome creative thinkers. It tends to focus on core classes and sports. For example, I was published in my high school's Vision and Voices book as a senior. The book was a collection of student pictures, poems, and stories. During the ceremony, the principal showed up for five minutes and then left to go to the baseball game that had no playoff bearing of any kind. His heart was with the sports, not the arts. I still see this notion today. I think in the 21st century, however, that idea needs to be turned upside down. In fact, creative thinkers, who tend to take the arts (music, drama, art, writing, etc) are the most well rounded individuals. I think as teachers' change their way of teaching, the arts should be kept in mind. Jacobs states, “We need to go out of our way to encourage learners to take risks both in artistic expression and in the realm of creating ideas” (17). We, as teachers, need students to take this risk. Because the educational system is still teaching with old habits, the arts are usually the first place to get cut. In a 21st century curriculum, the arts would be placed as untouchable so that we can produce students who are “intellects, a creative thinker and an idea shaper” (17). This means that we as teachers also need to be creative while forming new methods to teach.
In Curriculum 21, Jacobs argues, “central to becoming an educated person is the cultivation of an aesthetic sensibility and the capacity to give form to ideas and emotion” (55). Music, theater, dance, visual art, and multimedia projects by their very nature touch on many 21st century skills, make students more confident and well rounded, and give them tools to interpret the world. Arts education as it exists now is not broken, but Jacobs advocates teaching modern art forms and globalizing the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteTo modernize the types of art created in art classes, technology should be used as one tool to help students communicate their ideas. Technology can also help students harness their creativity in ways not possible with traditional art. One example the Partnership for 21st Century Skills provides in its Arts skills map involves remixing music. Students would not need the skill of a composer but could use their creativity to put their own spin on a composition or to layer multiple compositions into a new mix.
Technology could also help globalize the classroom by connecting student artists from around the globe with each other or with professional artists. Jacobs lauds digital video archives, which could be used to compare different cultural interpretations of particular source material, and web sites such as the Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge (57). When students create traditional art, technology can be a vehicle to expose their projects to a larger audience.
Jacbos stresses the importance of fostering students’ global competence (102), and the arts are one tool to help students connect to other cultures. Teaching language arts, I regularly use visual art and music to help contextualize literature and expand students’ thought processes. I will continue to use art making it a point to include art from a variety of cultures and perspectives. The arts can also be tied to other curricular areas by providing an artistic project option or adding an art component to projects.
http://www.p21.org/documents/P21_arts_map_final.pdf
Seeing that my original post on this topic was deleted, I am going to provide a brief summary of what I had posted earlier.....
ReplyDelete* The arts are just as important as the so called core areas of curriculum, however, they are usually targeted first when schools need to cut back on programs. This creates a disservice to students.
* The arts provide students with an avenue of expressing themselves and provides them with the skills to analyze and critique materials. This can go hand in hand with the three courses I teach, IB History, APUSH, and SS202 as all three courses place a great emphasis on analyzing information.
* The arts allow students to gain an appreciation of different cultures across the world. Music, as well as paintings and architecture, are a universal language.
* It is in my opinion that there needs to be a renewed investment and continued emphasis on the arts in curricula in schools.
Too strange. . . as I have not deleted any comments. The only other person who could delete comments would be the person who posted it. . . great comments!
ReplyDelete