As the span of two months comes to a close, I am amazed at the great insights I have seen from the guest bloggers and readers during this series on Arts Integration. I started the series with The Garden Philosophy, my philosophy of education written as a young ed student awaiting the opportunity to touch children’s lives. Today, I want to share with you a précis piece I wrote only a few months back as an assignment where I expressed my philosophy of education and the role the arts played within it. Your comments on it are always welcomed!
In an age of information, high stakes testing, standards based learning and meeting AYP, we risk forgetting to teach the whole child. The arts are the first to get cut when a budget needs trimming and yet are most essential to our rearing of whole children. They teach our students invaluable lessons in determination, team work and communication. They allow us to think critically about the world around us, pose difficult questions, and find our own place in the world.
Assessment of the arts is difficult and the outcome of their teaching is not immediate, but that is the point. Education in the arts stays with you, it is long term, it buries itself into the guts of who you are as an individual striving to succeed in an ever changing society.
Teachers need to find the times and places in their classrooms to make the arts a vital part of their day. This type of education, where arts are taught both for their own value as well as integrated into other disciplines, brings out the innovation, creativity, thoughtfulness and depth of learning that no other can.
Our systems need to stop isolating and discriminating and start seeing the value and integrative possibilities that will lead to meaningful experiences to share and build on, teaching students that memorizing facts and figures isn’t everything. The world needs our children to be alive and to be excited about learning. Students need to have their curiosity stimulated so that they are willing to always contribute their very best.
The arts are an integral part of this educational journey. When that happens, the whole child can be taught and the whole child can learn.
What are your thoughts? Please comment here!
~EMP
Philosophy of Education. I remember writing one of these while getting my Masters in Early Childhood Education. I don’t recall exactly what I put in it, but I bet it had a lot to do with content and multiple intelligence. I am wondering how much of my statement centered around the arts and teaching the whole child. I plan to revisit my philosophy of education and in fact will make one in the fall with my new group of learners. Using the arts in education is not only important but I now see how easy, crucial and necessary it has to be for the whole child to grow and become an invested learner.
Amen to that sistah!! This is the type of piece I have been waiting for! These are the words I am reaching for when I am trying to convince someone that arts education and integration is one of the most important parts in a child’s educational experience! I have a long way to go before I can easily master a philosophy such as this but I am determined to make it sound strong, convincing, smart, and passionate. This course has me well on my way to becoming confident enough to advocate for the arts to my superiors. I want to be a great support for what I do! Thank you for sharing this!
And this leads us to our day today….Dun Dun Dunnnnnn….The Elevator Speech and your CB…How important to have those two tools in your back pocket when you need it. You go girl!
Elizabeth, this piece of writing is so beautiful, but succinct at the same time. You have almost a poetic type of writing in this philosophy statement. As Jen, mentioned you gave voice to all of those ideas that have floated around throughout the week. And as you mentioned, Victoria, now we have to give those speeches today. I open hope to get close to being as eloquent in my own ideas.
Love it…especially this quote:
Assessment of the arts is difficult and the outcome of their teaching is not immediate, but that is the point. Education in the arts stays with you, it is long term, it buries itself into the guts of who you are as an individual striving to succeed in an ever changing society.
Whew…I can just let that seep into my consciousness…
child
whole
creeping and crawling
running to and from
crying out
laughing loudly
sleeping soundly
messily eating
adding addends
subtracting subtrahends
forming letters
hearing sounds
making connections but what about the arts
finger painting
eating glue
dancing freely
singing loudly
rhythmic tapping toes
connecting education
a
child
that is
whole……