Importance of Arts Education

As an educator, I am always interested in learning new things when it comes to the latest research on how children learn. It is important that educators have a good grasp of this theoretical knowledge. I recently attended a presentation that was hosted by a neurologist. She had some very interesting points to share with us and one of these points was the idea that arts education is extremely valuable to the brain development of children. She went on to discuss that most school boards will cut funding to the arts prior to cutting any other program. When school boards are looking at ways to fund so-called important programs such as literacy and numeracy, they seem to cut the non-essential programs. This speaker had an excellent argument to prove that arts education, music, and drama, are indeed essential programs.

Arts education, which includes music, drama, and art, are extremely important to the development of a child's brain. Each element of the arts has its own benefit to the development of a well-rounded, well-educated student.

Research shows that there is a correlation between music and math. Children who are exposed to music at a young age are better able to understand mathematics. The rhythm that is involved in music uses the same part of the brain that is used to understand complex mathematical computations. Early childhood educators have caught on to this trend and there are numerous programs offered for young infants and toddlers. These programs link rhythm, music, and sound in a fun entertaining environment. Infants as young as four months are welcome to attend these programs. The purpose of these programs is to introduce music while the brain is still developing. Continuing this brain development throughout the formative years is increasingly important.

In the elementary school years, students are exposed to music in all different subjects. They will sing songs in French class, they will do dancing in physical education, and they will have a specific music class. Once these students reach high school, they will normally be given the choice of what arts credit to take. If a student is not interested in music, they might only have to take one credit, or might not take any music credits, instead choosing to take art or drama. This is a problem because the benefits of music are important at all ages of development.

Dramatic Arts is another subject area that seems to be forgotten. The skills that are taught in drama are useful in so many fields of study. Almost every job requires oral communication skills and what better place to practice this form of communication than in a class where you are taught and evaluated on this? Dramatic arts also teach you body language, which is almost 90% of oral communication. With the increase in technology, students are lacking in social skills. Different gadgets are reducing the amount of face-to-face communication required. The problem, of course, is that students do not practice this skill, but are still required to use it in the workplace. If the public education system is in place to make sure that students are successful in post secondary education and the workplace, then we need to prepare them early on. Dramatic arts also teaches memorization skills. Depending on the program, students might also work on set design, writing scripts, and stage direction. Each of these elements of drama shape a well-rounded student.

I was one of those students that walked into my grade seven art class and announced that I was horrible at art. I never said I hated it. If I had, I'm sure my art teacher would have yelled at me. He was a great art teacher and I learned a lot. I didn't have to like art to appreciate the importance of it. Everyone is creative in his or her own way. Hands on learning is one of the types of learning styles and restricting students to reading and writing activities only, reduces their success. Art courses help students appreciate the arts, but also assist them in realizing their creativity. This is not to assume that every student will become the next famous artist. Art is embedded in so many different skill sets and having students become exposed to this at a young age is important. If you look at any preschool or kindergarten class, there is always an arts and crafts corner. Children love coloring, painting, and drawing. By the time a student is in grade seven, they have either continued this love, or like me, decided that art is a subtle form of torture. For those students who have difficulty expressing themselves in written form, artwork is a perfect medium of communication. The number of careers that require an artistic ability is increasing, especially with the world of technology. Even though hands on drawing is becoming obsolete, computer design is increasing. Art is an important subject that should not be cut when funding is an issue.

Art, Drama, and Music are all-important subjects in the school system and should be funded as such. There are so many benefits of these subjects that reach far from the actual subject areas. Schools should have the goal of preparing students for the 'real world' and that real world involves the arts. Whichever of the three a student is interested in, or all three if possible, should be open and available to them throughout their elementary and secondary schooling.