Arts in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arts in Education - Essay Example These experiences evolve from the partnership between teachers, artists, educationists and students. This results in a lively and intense educational process of learning through doing. Arts-integrated schools are highly productive and very suitable to low-income struggling students as well. Their results are better. Their students are more attentive, creative and self-critical. Hence, it would be better if the current budgetary allocation for arts-integrated schools is increased according to requirement. This is an abstract of a summary of an article "Arts in Education" written by Nick Rabkin and Robin Redmond in 2006 in the journal Educational Leadership. This article states that arts is proving to be a very effective instrument of education and shaping up of human mind in modern arts-integrated schools. Recent developments in science have shown this through standardized tests, observation and generalization based on objective data. The standardized test scores of low-income struggling students in 23 arts integrated schools in Chicago rose as much as two times faster than scores of youth in traditional schools (Rabkin and Redmond, 2006). It seems, paring of subjects and syllabi with arts such as writing with sketching and painting while reading with looking at arts is working its wonders. Interestingly, pairing between music and maths is also there. It involves listening to a melody, following the notes on a musical staff, counting the number of times each musical note occurs and then putting the results in a graph. Students in arts integrated schools are, therefore, generally focused, attentive and full of excitement for their studies. Their classrooms buzz with intensity. Scientists have found that this is happening because human mind and body form one single cognitive and fully integrated system. Human mind and body represent the abstract thought through metaphors that human beings associate with experience and emotions. Thoughts, as such, occur well below the level of conscious control and awareness. Even logical thinking emerges quietly from this thought process. This is the power of arts - moving from conscious experiments to inner depths of human mind. The scientifically proven power of arts is generally missing in traditional schools. There is little evidence of learning intensity when these schools are observed. Their hallways are replete with posters and notices anent rules of the school. Dominant education policy is evident in the corridors and classrooms. These schools assume that high standards and grades are possible through strict academic regimentation only. Students in traditional schools also appear persistently drooping in their seats with utter boredom towards their studies. They always feel like running away from the school premises. Arts integrated schools are also drawing their strength from involving wider participation of civil society and artists, especially, since the launching of such institutions in United States in 1990. Significant relationship is developed between teachers, artists in different areas of arts,