Nia

Chen

Art integration is defined by The Kenney Center as, “An approach to teaching
in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form.”
Students engage in a creative process, which connects an art form to a subject area
and meets evolving objectives in both. I have explored a variety of art forms and
blending those skill sets into my teaching craft. A big part of my learning experience
was for me to become more familiar and confident in different art forms. Without
that we would not be able to teach those art forms to our students. It is important
for us to understand the benefits and challenges that come with art integration
practices because they are not often assimilated or easily taught. They are however
a vital aspect to the education world. I will be highlighting professional voices from
our course research to discuss the benefits and challenges of art integration.
Sir Ken Robinson is a world- renowned speaker on TED. He is an
advocate for new education ideas and revising of teaching methods. He speaks on
the benefits of art integration into the classroom as opposed to “standardized
teaching.” Sir Robinson compared standardized learning to the fast food industry.
The fast food industry “depletes our physical bodies” and makes us “conform.” I
related this concept to my own experiences with my history throughout grade
school. I had classes where I felt my brain was being filled and fed with information
without reasoning. There were times where new concepts didn’t have an
explanation and resulted in conforming to the way the teacher wanted us to learn. In
one of my classes I had a teacher who would stand in the front of class and lecture
us math without any time to practice or comprehend it. After class we would have
homework assigned whether or not we understood it. This one piece of work
indicated whether we got a good or bad grade in the class. When it comes to art
integration and “personalized learning”, Robinson defines creativity as the “Process
of having original ideas that have value.” Many general education classes in schools
are taking the creativity out of schools by removing the arts out of education.
Without the arts in education, students lack development in their creativity and
ideas, and furthermore, the connection between teacher and student. Robinson
mentions that “personalized learning” is a substantial part of culture. Robinson
explains that school culture or even the environment around the community could
change the dynamic of a group. Robinson also states the need to put arts back into
education because these are the “Prime ways we understand ourselves and the
world around us.” I was fortunate enough to grow up in a city that was very diverse
and I remember always integrating a variety of cultures into our school. We hosted
multicultural nights where each class would do a project that focused on
culture/diversity/ethnicity etc. through art. My class learned how to sew dolls and
we replicated traditional clothing from our ancestral country. One of my fondest
memories was when we displayed the dolls during multicultural night for the whole
school to see. As a future educator I hope to recreate these memories of arts and
culture into my own classroom.
Lynne B. Silverstein is a Senior Program Consultant of the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts. Her article, Arts Integration and 21st Century Skills
immediately caught my interest in combining arts into education. Silverstein’s
article focuses on how this approach to teaching can increase the knowledge and
skills of children in the 21st century. Ultimately this will guide students to both social
and academic success. Silverstein states, “With the vast social, cultural,
technological, and economic changes our nation is experiencing, as well as those we
have yet to imagine, many are reconsidering what knowledge and skills students
need to be successful in the 21st century.” I understand that the concepts I learned in
my elementary years are no longer the same with the current generation. I was
challenged when I participated in a course involving technology integration. There
were new technologies that I had never heard of in my earlier years. Silverstein goes
on to discuss the importance of keeping art as a core subject and how it can
contribute to this ever-growing development of 21st century skills. Six art education
professional organizations dissect the four art areas and outcomes for developing
skills such as “Curiosity, imagination, creativity, and evaluation skills.” The
organization, Framework, fuses communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and
creativity. Communication was a component that peaked my interest and connected
with my own experiences. The Framework states, “Learning to communicate is
central to arts integration. Students communicate their emerging understanding
through an art form. The medium for communication is the art for itself.” I
experienced this component in my own education during a high school class that
integrated acting with literature. We were asked to come to class dressed and
presented as a character in a book. We later interacted with each other to
demonstrate our understanding of character traits through a creative avenue. This
form of communication was much more engaging and expressive way to assess our
knowledge.
Lynne B. Silverstein wrote another compelling article on how art integration
can support the “whole child” initiative by creating an environment for diverse
students. This is just as impactful as the core objectives because this idea develops
students internally. Silverstein states, “Arts integration offers a powerful way to
meet the Commission’s goal for returning to whole, healthy and connected ways to
learn.” Silverstein also adds that, “Arts integration provides an emotionally safe
place to learn.” These ideas are crucial to any classroom because students need to
feel safe in the class in order to build a relationship with the teacher. In elementary
school our teacher designed a project based on the Iditarod, which was an interest
to my teacher. Her passion of the arctic and learning about the Iditarod reflected
through her work and in return created a positive learning environment. I felt a
real-world connection and that motivated my creativity. Silverstein describes this
integration as “A safe, student-centered environment where students feel valued,
respected and cared for”. In this environment, students feel confident in responding,
creating, and sharing their work.
David Bayles and Ted Orland are authors of the article, Fears About Yourself
and Fears About Others. This article analyzes the fears that we have about being an
artist from any perspective. When it comes to being an educator you must be
confident in yourself as an artist in order to teach your students. This course played
a big part in challenging me and developing my own confidence. I didn’t realize at
the time, but I needed to overcome my fears and insecurities in art. Bayles and
Orland state, “Fears about art making fall into two families: fears about yourself, and
fears about your reception by others.” These fears are ones we don’t usually admit
to, but are just as important to become aware of. My development started with
admitting that I had these fears. Bayles and Orland discuss the categories that make
up fears about yourself, and one that related to me the most what the component of
pretending. I felt a connection to the description of not feeling like a "true" artist
based on my own perception. Subconsciously I had felt like my work was not
prestigious enough to call art because I did not identify myself as an artist or as the
reading referred to as “extra-ordinary”. Bayles and Orland continue saying, “It’s easy
to imagine that real artists know what they’re doing, and that they – unlike you – are
entitled to feel good about themselves and their art.” I resonated with this notion
that I couldn’t feel satisfied with my art because I did not have the status of an artist.
Fear also comes from your reception by others, which prevents you from sharing
your work. Bayles and Orland speak about how “We all learn at a young age the
perils of being perceived as different”. We learn at a young age that others have the
power to single out, ridicule, and mark the one who is different. I resonated with
this fear of being spotlighted, and furthered my insecurities. I was afraid of sharing
my work, or even raising my hand. I believe that this is a commonly shared fear that
we will automatically be criticized. As an educator I hope to eliminate that fear
within my students as we celebrate each other’s art. I will do this by showing my
vulnerability to them as I continue improving my own artistic perceptions.
Matt Levinson is an educator who wrote, “Simulations Can Change the Course
of History…Classes.” Levinson shares his experience attending a workshop by an
educator named Eric, and being “Introduced to the idea of using simulations to teach
the AP course, and also to the principle of fostering student ownership, with a
strong foundation in historical research.” Levinson decided to explore those ideas
with his classroom to see if they responded well to the integrated lessons. Levinson
continues with, “Once I cracked the code to designing curriculum with Eric’s
approach in mind, the sky was the limit.” Levinson then dives into “5 Tips for
Bringing History to Life.” All of these tips included the integration of different art
forms. One experience that caught my eye was called “Setting the Scene.” This
integrates theatre as the students “Will be speaking and debating with each other in
the roles of the historical characters around a framing problem or issue.” I was
reminded of my high school experience dressing up as a character in one of our class
books. Levinson also shares other tools educators can utilize such as, “Game-based
simulations can transform history classrooms and more importantly for middle and
high school students, the opportunity to play a historical character is liberating,
transformative, and lasting”.
Overall the theme of art integration is that it greatly benefits the learning of
students. Teachers must revise their teaching knowledge to guide the upcoming
generations into the 21st century world. There are challenges that come with
appropriate art integration for both the students and teachers. Acknowledging and
understanding these challenges are essential to the advancement of this craft. Art
integration was an area that I truly was not aware of prior to this course. Art
integration is sometimes perceived as adding a strand of art into a learning
experience, however that is not true. In order for a fully integrated experience,
students must learn individualized skills that are in both art and the subject-area. As
a future educator, this course has opened a door of both mindfulness and
understanding. I am eager to apply my learning experiences from this semester to
elevate my teaching skills and curriculum.

Cited Resources:

1. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

2. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/how-to/arts-integration/why-
arts-integration/why-connections/21st-century-skills

3. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/how-to/arts-integration/why-
arts-integration/why-connections/the-whole-child

4. (In D2l assignment page)
https://d2l.msu.edu/d2l/le/content/132865/viewContent/1197965/View

 5. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/simulations-can-change-history-classes-
matt-levinson

6. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/dancin/resources/lesson_plan-d1.html