In Defense Of Art EducationIn the Schools Ignoring Orthodox Arguments and Embracing the Facts

Art Educators in the Public schools have always had to justify their subject area in terms that academic gatekeepers could understand.Art Educators in the Public schools have always had to justify their subject area in terms that academic gatekeepers could understand.

Orthodox Argument #1:Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgments and justify such judgments.

Pogrebin, R., http://www.nytimes.com /2007/08/04

Orthodox Argument #2:Arts education enables students to grasp alternative ways of seeing.Pogrebin, R., http://www.nytimes.com /2007/08/04

Orthodox Argument #3:Art students experience improved critical thinking.Pogrebin, R., http://www.nytimes.com /2007/08/04

Orthodox Argument #4:students who had more involvement in the arts in school and after school scored better on standardized tests.Pogrebin, R., http://www.nytimes.com /2007/08/04

Orthodox Argument #5:students who take art generally do well in school.Pogrebin, R., http://www.nytimes.com /2007/08/04

All Good Arguments, But...why should we not begin to think about promoting art for arts sake?A case can be made for art as a distinct academic discipline with

A distinct omnibus of rules The Elements of Design

The Principles of Design

Rules of composition and Balance

Theories Color theory

Perspective

Visual Communication

Therapy

The history of the world is written in the record of its art. The only thing left to tell the story of some lost civilizations is their art. It is art that defines and validates civilizations. And historical context

The ARTS form a major component of our culture.Art is such an omnipresent part of our culture that most people arent even aware of it.Its the forest for the trees paradox

Arts Impact Onthe Economy the creative sector now makes up approximately one third of the United States economy.Freedman, K. (2010), Rethinking Creativity: A definition to support contemporary practice, Art Education, p. 8, 63(2).

The creative sector depends on the many professions that are connected to creating, viewing, and criticizing visual culture.Freedman, K. (2010), Rethinking Creativity: A definition to support contemporary practice, Art Education, p. 8, 63(2). Painting Computer game design Sculpture Cartooning Advertising Landscape design

Television Filmmaking Architecture Toy design Fashion

Consider Advertising AloneThe bulk of its content and delivery rely heavily upon graphic communication (the creative uses of lines, shapes, spaces, colors, etc.) to define the effective delivery of those messages. Sorry about the graphic

Old ideas used to promote Art Education in the schools(creative problem solving, deeper thinking, better test scores)do not effectively defend the whole idea of visual awareness/literacy, nor do they recognize the concept of creativity.

Taking Art In School Results In Better Math Scores On Standardized Tests.Do math teachers defend their subject by arguing that taking math makes better readers?And how about this one?

IT IS TIME FOR ART EDUCATORS TO BEGIN THINKING OF ART IN TERMS OF ITS SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY

Art Education is as meaningful to a comprehensive academic curriculum as is math, science, language arts, social science, or any of the other core subjects.

If exposure to art education seems to generate better students (as the orthodox arguments for it have been presented) it is because exposure to the arts opens up mental channels and gives access to understanding that other subject areas do not.

Exposure to the arts makes better Thinkers

Presenters

Problem solvers

Graphic analystsjust to name a few

But it especially makes

BETTER ARTISTSBETTERARTISTS

Everything elseis a bonus