David O'Fallon was the moderator for the NEA Summer Institute for School Leaders held in 2004 in Ohio
Do you remember marveling as your baby responded to music while still in the womb or your toddler moved to the rhythm of music? Have you noticed how children love stories and imaginary games? Have you seen them entranced by colors or engrossed in paints, clay, and blocks? Clearly, every person born is naturally drawn to the arts.
Arts experiences are "natural" because we are biologically constructed to receive them. The arts are a primary means for making sense of the world.
Now think for a moment about your day. When are you not in an environment that reflects people's artistic choices—designs, colors, lighting, sound, shapes, textures, even smells? Think about how each of us shapes our surroundings. From the decor of our homes to our effects on air, water, and landscape, our imaginations are projected outward onto the world. In fact, most of us in the so called "developed" countries rarely experience a setting not altered by human works. Most agree that the arts are fundamental to being human.
Now research demonstrates the power of the arts to motivate and engage learners, to promote high achievement, to improve attendance and graduation rates, and to reach the students left behind by the older lecture- and teacher-centered styles.
Considering all that, why aren't we further along? Why are we using such a powerful resource only in some places, at some times, with some people?
The curriculum guide my mother used as a public school teacher in the 1920s called the arts essential, assuming that all students would be involved in at least music and visual arts. Why then are the arts still on the edge? We have more than 30 years of successful pilot projects and at least 10 of solid research, including SPECTRA+ in Ohio. Why don't we take better advantage of the arts?
With today's challenges, such questions are vital. We must find new ways to teach and communicate. As we face the increasingly complex responsibility of educating young people, let's stop underusing this powerful resource. Let's take advantage of a discipline that touches so many aspects of our lives and—because humans are made for it—comes so naturally to all learners.
This article was published in November 2004.
Also indexed under Perspectives: Reflections by Advocates and Experts
