Why Is Art Important in Public Schools?

Art class is important for young students.

The main reason for having an arts program in the K though 12 schools is that learning skills achieved through exposure to visual art or music can help the student in other areas of study. This idea has been a long-held tenet of liberal arts education, regardless of whether the student is just beginning with kindergarten or moving through a four-year college program.

Self-Discipline

Art projects give a student self-discipline. Whether a particular art assignments takes five minutes of 30 minutes to complete, the student is learning how to concentrate on a project and how to work uninterrupted for a short period of time. In today's world of media blitzes, sound bites and the 30-second commercial, anything that promotes sustained activity on a single project can be considered beneficial.

Confidence

Projects that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time give students a boost in confidence and self-esteem. By introducing hands-on activities to the classroom, elementary-aged students are able to see the results of their efforts, as well as display their projects to other class members, parents and adults. This process is an important step in creating a desire to learn.

Variety of Educational Experience

The overall educational process works best when the students are presented with a variety of activity tasks and learning modes. Not all learning should be reading, writing and arithmetic, but not all classroom activity should involve direct hands on experience. Adding arts education to a basic school program creates a balance between these different types of classroom activities.

Visually Stimulating World

Students today live in a visually stimulating world with video games, TV, the Internet, movies and street advertising. Rather than avoiding projects than deal with visual images, it is important to understand how to live and work with pictures. That part of the brain that deals with non-written and non-verbal communication needs to be recognized and inspired also.

Drawing Helps with Letter Recognition

According to Dee Dickinson, an educator and educational consultant, students who learn to recognize and draw simple shapes had dramatic increases in letter recognition and reading readiness. Dickinson goes on to give several examples where exposure to drawing and design helped the student with learning non-visual skills.

References

• Dee Dickinson: Learning Through the Arts
• Elementary School Art: Why Is Art Education Important?

Resources

• New Horizons: Every Child Needs the Arts