Arts and Positive "Habits of Mind"
 
"You are talking to someone who had very little to do with the arts
before I came here. This has changed me enormously. I have an
appreciation for the arts that I never had before. I have seen
youngsters come through here who perhaps weren't as motivated,
and I have seen them take off and fly because we pulled them into
an art and opened up new avenues. I couldn't work anymore in a
school that wasn't totally immersed in the arts." - Middle School
Principal
 
OVERVIEW
 
In a July 1999 study, researchers from Columbia University
revealed the positive effects of arts classes on upper elementary
and middle school students. Instead of seeking a direct connection
between arts classes and test scores in particular subjects, the
researchers attempted to "determine what cognitive, social, and
personal skills are developed through arts learning, [and] if these
competencies have a more general effect on learning."
 
The authors produced statistical data about the impact of the arts
upon students' higher-order thinking skills, students' self-
perceptions, and the overall environment of a school. The authors
named the skills fostered through arts experiences "habits of
mind."
 
STUDY METHOD
 
The authors studied the arts experiences of 2046 students in grades
four, five, seven, and eight in 18 public schools throughout New
York, Connecticut, Virginia, and South Carolina. Students listed
their years of experience in each of the arts (visual art, music,
dance, and drama) on a questionnaire, and the students were
divided into quartiles based on their arts experience.
 
All students completed tests designed to measure
thinking skills, academic habits, and self-image. All teachers in
the study completed surveys to evaluate school environment,
perception of student behavior, classroom arts practices, and
attitudes toward the arts.
 
The authors also interviewed administrators, subject specialists,
and teachers of all subjects, and they observed classes in session.
 
RESULTS
 
"High Arts" refers to students in the highest quartile of arts
experience. "Low Arts" refers to students in the lowest quartile of
arts experience.
 
The following statistics indicate the percentage of students
achieving a high score on tests of thinking skills:
 
CREATIVITY
High Arts 37%
Low Arts 12%
 
FLUENCY
High Arts 31%
Low Arts 17%
 
ORIGINALITY
High Arts 31%
Low Arts 15%
 
ELABORATION
High Arts 41%
Low Arts 11%
 
RESISTANCE TO CLOSURE
High Arts 35%
Low Arts 16%
 
EXPRESSION
High Arts 37%
Low Arts 9%
 
RISK TAKING
High Arts 37%
Low Arts 11%
 
IMAGINATION
High Arts 41%
Low Arts 14%
 
-----
 
The following statistics indicate the percentage of students
achieving high scores on a survey of self-confidence:
 
PHYSICAL ABILITY SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 30%
Low Arts 20%
 
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 27%
Low Arts 24%
 
PEER RELATIONS SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 29%
Low Arts 23%
 
PARENT RELATIONS SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 35%
Low Arts 24%
 
GENERAL SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 37%
Low Arts 27%
 
READING SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 40%
Low Arts 20%
 
MATHEMATICS SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 30%
Low Arts 15%
 
GENERAL SCHOOL SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 36%
Low Arts 19%
 
TOTAL NON-ACADEMIC SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 33%
Low Arts 24%
 
TOTAL ACADEMIC SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 41%
Low Arts 18%
 
TOTAL SELF-CONFIDENCE
High Arts 34%
Low Arts 18%
 
The researchers note that the arts exposure level of the students
tested is not directly related to the socioeconomic status of the
students.
 
-----
 
Teachers of All Disciplines Discuss
the Effects of Arts Learning
 
Previously we discussed the results of a 1999 Columbia
University study describing the impact of arts education
on 2,046 children in grades four through eight. The study found
that students with the most experience in the arts scored highest on
tests of creativity, expression, and problem-solving.
 
The following information examines the results of surveys and
interviews that the authors of the study conducted with elementary
and middle school teachers of all subjects. The teachers are from
eighteen public schools in New York, Connecticut, Virginia, and
South Carolina.
 
TRANSFER OF ARTS ABILITIES
 
Through these interviews and surveys, the authors found five
specific types of abilities that teachers described as coming from
arts experience. These five "dimensions of ability" are the ability
to:
 
1) Express ideas and feelings openly and thoughtfully.
 
2) Form relationships among different items of experience and
layer them in thinking through an idea or problem.
 
3) Conceive or imagine different vantage points of an idea or
problem and to work toward a resolution.
 
4) Construct and organize thoughts and ideas into meaningful units
or wholes.
 
5) Focus perception on an item or experience and sustain this focus
over a period of time.
 
The abilities listed above can transfer to all studies and
disciplines. The following situations occur in classrooms and in
real-life events, and they are identified through this study as
contexts in which arts-related skills are especially useful. These
situations include:
 
1) A need for pupils to figure out or elaborate on ideas on their
own.
 
2) A need to structure and organize thinking in light of different
kinds of experiences.
 
3) Knowledge needs to be tested or demonstrated in new and
original ways.
 
4) The learning task involves persistence, ownership, empathy, and
collaboration.
 
ARTS AND SCHOOL CLIMATE
 
The surveys and interviews of teachers also provided some data
about the impact of the arts on the climate of the school. "High
Arts" refers to schools in which the students receive the most arts
exposure; "Low Arts" refers to schools in which the students
receive the least arts exposure.
 
TEACHERS HAVE GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER:
High Arts: 47%
Low Arts: 34%
 
TEACHERS HAVE GOOD RAPPORT WITH STUDENTS:
High Arts: 83%
Low Arts: 38%
 
TEACHERS PARTICIPATE IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:
High Arts: 81%
Low Arts: 38%
 
TEACHERS CONSIDER THEIR TEACHING INNOVATIVE:
High Arts: 81%
Low Arts: 38%
 
ARE THE ARTS EXTRA-CURRICULAR OR CORE?
 
The authors found that the answer to this question varied from
school to school.
 
In many schools with strong arts programs the arts teachers
frequently collaborated with classroom teachers of other subjects.
In one school, students learned about Vietnamese art, music and
literature, read letters from soldiers who served in the Vietnam
War, and visited the Vietnam War Memorial. The students then
wrote a play based upon these experiences.
 
In schools with limited arts exposure, or in schools in which the
arts were not connected with the content of other disciplines,
teachers and administrators considered the arts separate from the
"core" curriculum.
 
CONCLUSION
 
The arts help to develop students' skills in problem solving,
empathy, and creativity. These skills are useful in all disciplines
and situations. The arts also have a positive impact on teachers'
attitudes and school climate.
 
The arts deal with human expression, and students learn to work
with each other, express ideas and thoughts, and take ownership of
their work. Students in the arts must present their work publicly,
either through performance or exhibition, and this makes the arts a
unique discipline.
 
The arts are most effective when they are connected with the rest
of the school curriculum and when students are allowed to explore
topics from both an artistic and an academic perspective. Through
connection with other subjects the arts become a central part of the
learning experience, drawing upon the content of other disciplines
and adding depth and quality to the learning process.
 
 
Source: "Learning In and Through the Arts: Curriculum
Implications" by Judith Burton, Robert Horowitz, and Hal Abeles,
from the Center for Arts Education Research Teachers College,
Columbia University, July 1999.
 
This study is published in the compilation "Champions of
Change," with a link at http://www.pcah.gov

 

 
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