Mark Slavkin

Imperatives for Arts Education

Posted by Mark Slavkin, Sep 13, 2010 1 comment


Mark Slavkin

Mark Slavkin

If you care about arts education, you must be in the advocacy business.

Until such time as the arts are fully embedded in every American school system, we have to be energetic in making the case.  We cannot leave this work to a handful of "advocacy organizations."

In recent years I have been pleased to see our field become more sophisticated in this regard.  More arts education supporters understand we need both "top-down" and "bottom-up" support. Through federal, state, and school district policy and funding commitments we can influence change at a large-scale or systemic basis.

At the same time, we realize the need to provide hands-on support and resources and the classroom and school site level. As we toggle back and forth between broad policy support and technical assistance in schools, we need to be careful that we frame the right arguments for the right settings.

In thinking about our advocacy strategies, it struck me that our underlying goal is to create an imperative for policymakers and educators to expand their commitment to arts education. How can we create forces that are so compelling that change will happen on a consistent basis, and not be left to individual personal preferences? I see three primary imperatives: the "values" imperative, the "political" imperative, and the "instructional" imperative.  I am concerned we have put too many eggs in the first two baskets, and too few in the third.

The values imperative speaks to concerns of equity, social justice, and our ideals for a "well-rounded" education. The lens assumes the arts have strong intrinsic benefits and worth, kids grow in positive ways when they engage in the arts, and it is only fair that all kids have access.  If we can spark that core value among policymakers and educators, we assume they will be compelled to act.

The political imperative seeks to create a mix of policy mandates and community demands that will compel educators to act, regardless of their own personal values or beliefs. A school board meeting packed with parents and students fighting to save the music program, is a good example of this.  We want to provide the political incentive to "do the right thing" whether or not we have reached the hearts and minds of the board members.

I believe our field has made important progress in expanding our tool kit of strategies to advocate along the lines of the values and political imperatives.  It is the "instructional" imperative where I think we now need to focus.

By instructional imperative, I mean to cultivate an understanding among policymakers and educators that our nation simply cannot achieve our larger goals for successful schools without quality arts education. The skills and habits of mind cultivated in and through the arts are so essential and fundamental, that they must be a central part of the conversation when we think of raising student achievement. Imagine if all educators appreciated the ways quality arts learning helps kids learn to focus, increases engagement with school, and supports language development, to name just a few.

Because we have not yet established the instructional imperative, we are generally left out of the conversation in which educators grapple with the most pressing concerns of teaching and learning.  It as if a crowded ballroom is full of educators and policymakers debating strategies to raise achievement (scripted literacy programs, pacing guides, data-driven reform, turnaround strategies, literacy programs for English language learners), while the arts advocates are alone in an adjacent room arguing among ourselves.  In too many places, educators see the arts as a nice, but not essential, luxury to be embraced only after all students have reached some elusive goal for higher test scores.

To create this instructional imperative, we need a whole new concept for "arts integration." Most current models revolve around a very specific program or curriculum. We like to show how the arts can "bring alive"
other parts of the curriculum. Kids can rap about algebra, or dance about geometry, or create a sculpture in science class to represent a volcano.  All of these are fine things to do. But they do not come close to creating a compelling imperative to rethink the place of arts in schools.

Some of the building blocks for this instructional imperative can be seen in the work of Lincoln Center Institute at the High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry. Project Zero at Harvard has a Studio Thinking Project is working to define the habits of mind cultivated in the arts that can enhance learning in all subjects. In California, the Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership initiative uses the tag line "Art is Education." Their premise is that arts education is essential for "outstanding and equitable classrooms." These are just a sample of efforts that seek to combine three things - quality engagement in the arts, meaningful connection to other subjects, and most importantly, explicit discussion about the very process of learning.

While we need to continue to advocate on multiple levels and would various arguments, I see the greatest urgency in strengthening the "instructional imperative." Some valuable seeds have been planted. It is time we cultivate them and share them as powerful tools to enhance the status of art learning for all kids.

1 responses for Imperatives for Arts Education

Comments

Peggy Flynn says
September 24, 2010 at 11:56 pm

Amen, Mark!

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