Melissa WildeArts for ChildrenSeptember 3rd, 2014

“This I Believe” Paper

I feel as though my beliefs are shaped by how the arts-- theatre, singing,

dance, music, and even visual art-- supported and influenced my academic

career. To say my beliefs as a teacher are rooted in the significance of arts in

education would be a massive understatement. I believe that my background and

my most memorable teachers have definitely shaped my thoughts concerning

arts in education.

It’s important to note before I go into my beliefs that my definition of

what falls under the umbrella of “the arts” changed significantly during my high

school years. I now define art as any expressive, original medium that can foster

growth and change perspectives. As I gained more experience working with

children (particularly in theatre), I noticed that broadening my definition of art

allowed for kids to create meaning for themselves in ways neither of us thought

they could.

My background was quite an international one, attending schools in

Virginia, Swaziland, Japan, South Africa and South Korea. I was very fortunate to

attend schools where the arts flourished and was never in danger of being cut.

The school I graduated from (A K-12 school) had 6 performance spaces,

soundproofed practice rooms and recording rooms, as well as several arts

studios, each dedicated to a different age group. I acknowledge that not every

school would have the seemingly endless resources, but I have come to believe

that the smallest budget can still have infinite capacity for creativity, and that a

good educator can make the most of having the least. One really good example of

this I participated in was at summer camp this summer, where we put on three

productions over six weeks. It was amazing to see how much passion,

Melissa WildeArts for ChildrenSeptember 3rd, 2014exploration and growth occurred in such a low budget setting. I think people

often see the arts as costly excess, but I believe the quality of the experience for

the students can still be high with less spending.

I believe the arts are massively important; my educational experience

would not have been as remotely engaging without artistic influences. To put it

most simply, the arts have been my lifeblood for as long as I can remember. They

have consistently been the highlights of every year I’ve been at school. There was

never a question of a “place” for the arts in education; it was always intertwined

with whatever I was doing in the classroom. I believe that every child needs to be

exposed to a variety of creative, artistic activities, and be given opportunities to

use these mediums in application to traditional coursework. I always understood

classes like math and history when some artistic expression was involved, and

there were several teachers throughout elementary and high school who were

exemplary models of artistic teaching, even when they weren’t necessarily arts

education teachers.

For example, in the 5th grade, the two teachers assigned the whole grade

individual people to portray in a live reenactment of a town hall meeting right

before the break of the Civil War. They assigned some readings, but many of us

wanted to dig further and do our own research so we could be the most realistic

and well prepared debater. In the same way, an opportunity to write a short song

or sketch out my notes in doodles helps me retain information better in a

classroom setting. I believe that teachers have a responsibility to appeal to all

learning styles, and I believe that the arts are a great way to approach many of

those styles.

Melissa WildeArts for ChildrenSeptember 3rd, 2014

In conclusion, I believe very strongly in the capability of the arts to

transform a child’s learning experience. I believe that by applying artistic

frameworks to traditional learning, subject content can take on a third

dimension. While I can concede that some learning may not mesh with artistic

endeavors as naturally, teachers should be making a consistent effort to allow for

creative expression in the classroom related to any topic.