Art Education 244

Before taking ARTE244, I never considered how Art would be integrated into the curriculum to help students achieve maximum success.  Over  the semester, I have begun to realize all the ways that I will be able to do so and what an impact this would have on my students.  This article, “Ten Lessons the Arts Teach,” by Elliot Eisner, perfectly sums up the value of having art in the classroom. 

One of my favorite “lessons” that Eisner pointed out that art taught was that problems are “seldom fixed, but change with circumstance” (Lesson 4).  Thinking back to my days in middle school, I remember when I made an elephant out of clay, and before the clay hardened, the trunk drooped down.  I was so disappointed when I first saw what had happened, but after having a talk with my art teacher, we came to the conclusion that my pottery would still be an interesting piece, droopy trunk or not. 

Another good point that Eisner discussed was how art helps children express themselves in ways other than speaking (Lesson 8).  Just like writing or speaking, art is a medium through which people can communicate feelings, ideas, or thoughts.  Eisner states that through art, one can ‘say what cannot be said.’ 

Finally, Lesson 10 discussed how having art in the curriculum shows children that art is important.  If children are limited in their art experiences, they will begin to understand that the schools don’t view art as essential.  If their experiences with art are rich, however, students will be able to see the value in it as well.  I feel like this lesson summarized one of the main points of our course, that integrating art into the curriculum is important and valuable for children in order to have the most successful learning experience possible.

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