It was Albert Einstein who said in 1932: “I believe the most important mission of the state is to protect the individual and make it possible for him to develop into a creative personality. . .”
More recent visitors to Asia often return feeling as though we, as Americans are falling behind as a society. They are impressed by advances in arcitecture and technology in what used to be, poorly developed countries by American standards.
Advances have been especially contrasting over the past few years and I have had friends return from tours of Asia who were exasperated over the shock of how far behind we seem to be. I propose that our losses as a culture correspond with the devaluation of arts classes and the decreasing cultivation of creative problem solving skills in education.
Taking a look at the excerpt from goals of education as reported to a UNESCO Regional Conference on Arts Education in Asia from May 2003. In this description we can take a look at how the arts are emphasized in curriculum.
Asian countries, like India, Thailand, Laos, South Korea and the Philippines, tend to request arts education expecting it to play a role in fostering children’s well-balanced personality, including teaching of ethical and moral values.”
In most Asian cultures, as children progress, time in arts classes increases. “Since integration of established subjects is a characteristic ..., “Arts and Humanity,” one learning domain among eight, is integrating holistically visual arts, music, and drama/dance performance.
This “Arts and Humanity” aims to foster children’s artistic intelligence, to encourage them to actively participate in artistic events, to enhance ability to appreciate arts, to cultivate a hobby in daily life, to enlighten artistic potential, and build healthy personality.
In general, “Arts and Humanity” classes are provided for first and second grade students for 3 – 4 hours per week, 3.75 – 5 hours for third and forth graders, 4.05 – 5.4 hours for fifth and sixth, 4.2 – 5.6 hours for seventh and eighth, and 4.5 – 6 hours for ninth graders.” (Arts Education in Asia Prepared for the UNESCO Regional Conference on Arts Education in Asia May 2003). When was the last time you checked how much arts time your child gets in school? I don't mean the 10 minutes that might be alloted during social studies. Please check in with your arts teachers, especially those who have been teaching for several years.
During a time when Asia has increased arts education time in schools, US schools have drastically cut back arts time. Perhaps the current trend to continue chopping away at arts education is the wrong direction for our children.
Rosemary is a tutor and licenced NYS educator. She teaches English as a Second Language classes in Northern Westchester, Putnam and some regions of Connecticutt. She holds an MS in Art Therapy.
Stop looking to the schools to correct every swing in our culture. They are over burdened as it is ... even dabbling in issues they have no business in dabbling. We ask schools to beg our kids to skip the joint, stay out of the back seat, bust the bullies, and skip the Budweisers. We ask them to push hygiene ... another task that is a parents job. Art is a cultural element. But is anyone screaming about the recent TV offerings? Or the lyrics that our kids commit to memory? Or the gutter language that is now widely accepted? Or the fact that some kids can barely cover themselves in public? Nope. But that stuff is unimportant, right. Just let's get them all rolled up in Mozart and Miro and we'll all be very fine. Sorry. Culture doesn't work that way. Culture is nurtured ... and it starts at home. With parents. Who accept THEIR responsibilities and do what is best for their children, not what's best for themselves.
It is time we rethink that.
If I might also disagree with Aidan the local children of all ages in Tarrytown are always polite, to me at least, well dressed and well behaved. I have generally found this to be the case has I have travelled throughout the north east states, even in the less salubrious neighbourhoods of our local cities.
We arm our kids with the latest gadgets and utilize the newest, most innovative methodologies ... and then ruin them all by cramming them into a structure that is so passé. And choking. School buildings and educational resources lay fallow for months every year ... all lost opportunities to expose young minds to new intellectual adventures. KIds are, by their very nature, a very open-minded crowd. They adore new experiences of all sorts ... but our refusal to get our school structure up-to-speed just muddies the efforts. Oddly, educators are often their own worst enemy. They've allowed the original mission of schools to be bludgeoned by those who think the schools can do everything but tuck in your children. A shame.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/the-global-search-for-edu_17_b_1066527.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOfZL_J5fo&feature=plcp
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
Interestingly, from speaking with parents they believed that boys benefitted most, which is a problem for most developed nations.