The Value of Art Education
Art education teaches the value of the human spirit and condition. Through art history lessons, students learn how early man persevered or how the black plague stymied growth. Art is a reflection of cultural ideals and historical attitudes. It is a record of human interaction and the importance of creative thinking. Learning about the past through art visually represents what others have faced.
The ability to think critically means seeing other perspectives. Growth cannot happen inside of a box; it must break free. Art education helps give students varying perspectives. They learn that there is often no one-size-fits-all answer to everything. Art helps students see the different parts of something to create a whole. Solutions to problems can be found when you see the whole picture.
Elliot Eisner acknowledges that “learning through art promotes the idea that there is more than one solution to a problem or more than one answer to a question” (Eisner 78). Art challenges our thinking; it encourages us to consider diverse perspectives and develop creative solutions for any challenges. Art opens our minds and helps us to grow creatively, intellectually, and spiritually. It teaches us how to persevere, imagine, learn from our experiences, and more. These valuable skills learned through art can be applied to all aspects of our lives, supporting us as life-long learners.
Students who participate in art learn to be more creative; their ability to visualize and connect with others increases through that creativity. Art is a type of communication. It communicates ideas, thoughts, and feelings through a visual medium. Through creative expression, communication and connection can happen. Students can feel like they are heard.
An education in art provides the opportunity for inquiry-based learning, engaging us through hands-on activities that provide us with a deeper understanding and ability to make sense of complex ideas. John Dewey believed that students learn best by doing. He felt that students learn instinctively as they communicate, explore, and express themselves through art (Dewey 193). I have witnessed this firsthand in my recent experiences working with children as they learn through art. Children are naturally inquisitive; they want to understand the world around them and to see how things work. Art helps facilitate their curiosities through various media and sensory experiences. It allows them to experience hands-on activities that support their creative exploration and imagination while supporting and enriching their overall personal development.
Art education should be in every classroom. Art is not only for the artist. Art is for everyone who can learn. It is an essential part of the learning process that can span every school subject. Art is the connection between the physical and imagined worlds.
Work Cited
Eisner, Elliot W. The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press, 2002.
Dewey, John. Art as Experience. Perigee Books, 1934.