Glad to be joining this group of arts and education professionals to write about parents and arts education. As a field we have needed to talk and think more about parents and engaging them as advocates for their kids’ arts education.
Before I jump in, a quick introduction. I have been part of the arts education field for nearly 20 years. My art form is theatre and it seems I have been a practitioner since my legs held me up and I was able to walk onstage. Today, I teach in the theatre and nonprofit leadership programs at the University of San Diego and in the graduate stage management program at the University of California San Diego. I also have a consulting practice – Moxie Research – through which I work as a program evaluator in arts education. Prior to wearing these many hats, I worked as the education director at the Old Globe Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse.
So thinking about parents and arts education reminded me of an experience I had years ago when I was first starting out in the field. I was in a first-grade classroom observing a teaching artist and the class was great. The teacher and the artist were going like gangbusters and I was moving around the room looking at what kids were working on. I occasionally stopped and asked kids about their artwork. I will never forget one girl nonchalantly telling me about her drawing but also about how the image continued off the edge of the page.
She had this giant image in her head, only a piece of which she captured on this page. I was entirely fascinated and spoke with her for awhile about her work. I didn’t know a lot at that point but I was pretty sure that most first graders didn’t think like that. The artist and I were leaving as school ended and I saw this little girl greet her mom. I could not miss this opportunity, I thought. I have to be sure this mom knows what this kid can see in her head.
She was lovely – a navy mom with 4 busy kids. She listened and nodded and told me her daughter enjoyed art. I pressed on. Her daughter’s art ability was clearly not at the same level as the other first graders and she could see past the boundaries of the page. Mom nodded pleasantly again and distractedly looked for a wayward toddler. I realized that I did not know how to speak to her about the importance of her daughter’s education in art. I couldn’t find the right words – or any words, honestly – to help this mom see what I saw.
Since then, I have spent a lot of time with parents who wouldn’t necessarily be identified as “arts smart” and I have tried to figure out how to help them understand a piece of what I know and experience about kids and the arts. Weirdly, this should be easy but it is a challenge. Here are some of things I have come up with to share with other parents.
• Not every kid is right for every art form but there is an art form that is just right for your kid.
• I have no idea what to prepare my kids for in their adult lives. What will be the world be like and what will it demand of them? That said the arts root them in humanity’s past as it gives them skills to reach for the future.
• No refrigerator left uncovered by children’s art. Need some kid art? I’ll send you some. I’ve got plenty.
Your turn. So how do you talk about the benefits of arts education with parents? Jump in and share your ideas.
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Arts Education Collaborative in Pittsburgh has a great parent manual about engaging parents in evaluating & supporting arts ed for their kids’ schools. http://www.artsedcollaborative.org
I have found that a parent’s attention perks up quickly when I tell them that their child has a special talent in art above others their age. That does not mean that the parent will follow up and pursue arts education for the child. I have had the parents thank me for the information I shared. But even though I run an art “camp” at very reasonable prices, those children do not return regularly. It’s possible that a parent may think I am talking to them about their child in the hopes of earning money through their re-registration in the art camp. But even in the public school, when I have gone into classrooms and presented art sessions, then mentioned a talent to a parent, they did not question how they could get more art exposure for their child. They merely seemed pleased. I believe that we need to learn how to educate parents about the value of art in their child’s education. I have learned about some exemplary teachers who send home explanations to parents about what their child is learning in art. Some teachers put up explanations to parents when they put up art displays at their school.
I am from California where the arts are, sadly, lacking representation in classroom instruction. I recently spoke with a retired art educator who moved here from Ohio. Those in the art field will know that Ohio has quite a reputation for arts education. There is a tradition of it there and it seems that parents understand it’s value and demand it in the classroom. In California, we have to search for the parents who understand the value of the arts in education, and recruit them to lobby for arts education. A wonderful example of that happening is currently occurring locally. Sylan, a small to medium-sized school district with only elementary and middle schools, is reaching out to the community to help the arts programs survive through the current budget cuts. They are asking people to give their spare change to spare the cuts to these programs. You can see a comment about the program on one school’s website: http://www.sylvan.k12.ca.us/crossroads. Our local paper even has an online story today (9/21) at ModBee.com.
But, back to the parent problem, we need to figure out ways to teach parents the value of arts education for their children. When my children were in kindergarten, their school had “homework” folders that the children got to take home for a week at a time. There were not funds for many of these folders, so the children rotated their opportunities to take it home and considered it a reward. I volunteered my time to create some visual art lessons that included explanations to the parents about what the children would be learning through the lesson and why it was valuable. The lesson used a children’s book, such as, “It Looked Like Spilt Milk,” as motivation for the art lesson. There were simple directions and the materials to do the lesson. Then parents were instructed to help the children journal about what they had learned. Unfortunately, we would need to follow up with surveys to find out if the parents changed their attitude about art as a play-time filler at school and came to value art instruction. It would be interesting to survey some parents about their beliefs on art education, then run an art program that included materials or some other ways to help parents understand and appreciate what their children were learning about art. Another survey of parental attitudes toward art at the conclusion of the art lessons would be a great learning tool for us as art educators.
I agree that is is vital to communicate with parents. I am currently working on my research action plan focusing on how the arts impact education at my high school. We live in a small community in Michigan and many parents are struggling to make ends meet. It is vital that arts educators reach out to parents and engage and educate them on how important and valuable the arts are. I am conducting several surveys involving parents and business leaders in my research to see where parents stand. I hope to share the information obtained through this research in a DVD which features how arts uniquely benefit the quality of education, prepare students for the workforce, and effects student motivation. Last year, due to cuts and othe factors we lost our middle school art program. I think this happened quietly and most parents didn’t even know. We need to reach out as educator and help people see how the arts reach and teach our kids. What are more ideas people use to inform parents?
For those parents who may be left-brain oriented, here is a book that can take the point of why art matters to a different level:
http://www.danpink.com/wnm.html
A Whole New Mind explains how arts are important to many facets of our society – and not just for art’s sake. This resonates with many people as they might not see a place for their child in an art profession but can relate to how arts can stimulate cognitive skills that are useful in other areas.
I believe that many of us agree and struggle with the sentiments expressed above. I know I and my colleagues strive to engage caregivers (often parents, but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) because we recognize them as the first teachers and role models for the students we seek and hope to serve. Thus, caregivers are a critical ingredient to student success.
I have found that there is no one recipe, nor should there be, for engaging parents and caregivers. Investing time seems to be the only constant — getting to know them, their histories, their frustrations, and their competing priorities. I have to invest time in them before I can ask them to invest time with me addressing my concerns for their students’ creative lives. So, I think a good question for all of us to consider is, how do we invest our time to achieve what we want?
At Big Thought, in research and in direct programming, we strive to start with what caregivers can and want to share with us so that we will know what we need to do and what information we have to share that will resonate — find the early win. To do this, we schedule time to meet with caregivers (when it is convenient for them), and honor their investment of time by providing child care (creative programming), refreshments or some other form of remuneration. Then, we use this time to collect families’ creative histories, adults’ aspirations for their young people, and so on. Whether this dialogue is started by trained researchers or community volunteers it serves as an entry point to a relationship that can lead to more creative learning opportunities for young people and more recognition of their talent and skills. And this is what we want.
My colleague, Erin Offord, and I often work together to think about these issues. She shared, “I am always drawn to the relevance issue. Parents want their children to succeed in school and they listen when we talk about creativity helping their child and family engage in learning. But, I have to appreciate the different ways that happens. While high resourced families are taking advantage of the art classes, private lessons, etc. , many low resourced families are creative at home, in neighborhood centers and at churches. To connect parents with one another, to additional resources and tools that could enhance their families’ ability to be more creative, I must first honor what they are already doing.”
In his recent book, Sparks, How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers, Dr. Peter Benson encourages parents to reflect on their “sparks” and how and when they first realized them, before they try to discuss the idea with their children. Wisely he shares that that young people will dismiss their parents if they open a conversation without having done the prep work necessary to make it successful. I don’t think teenagers are different from adults except that they don’t sugar-coat their dismissal.