1 2 3

Slogan Lacks Originality Adequate Catchy & Memorable

Does not promote Do not feel strongly Effective slogan;

slogan; ineffective either way excellent use of words
Promotion /
and phrases
Effectiveness

Purpose is Purpose is not entirely Purpose is clear and

confusing/unclear or clear understandable
Purpose
lacking

Content in slogan is Content is somewhat Content is excellent

incorrect or relating to Arts and and appropriate for
inappropriate for the Creative Literacy this category.
Content category of Arts &
Creative Literacy
Little or no creativity in Somewhat creative Creative & Original
using words

Creativity

2. Many art rooms have “free drawing,” art games, and/or building activities to keep students busy and
creative when they finish a task. An art book library encourages students to take, look, and read as they
please. It can pique their interest and is a great connection between art and literacy. It is also a great
way for students to exercise choice. As a bonus, it is a teaching library for lesson inspiration and
planning. Finally, students LOVE to revisit books used in lessons for previous projects.

3. Even in the simplest of art projects, there are steps. As art educators, we are teaching students
concepts, techniques, and processes step-by-step. Students are much more likely to remember the
steps when they write them down.

As they write, they practice the literacy skill of sequencing. “First, Next, Then, and Finally” written
statements are very insightful and informational. Sequence writing can also act as both formative and
summative assessment tools for you and your students. For example, if you ask your students to
sequence the act of joining two pieces of clay together and they get the order wrong, you know you
need to revisit the concept.
4. It may seem obvious, but asking students to write about their artmaking is a way of engaging in
literacy. Artist statements accomplish three tasks essential to art and literacy. First, students are using
language to define the visual work they have created, thus adding depth to their creativity. Second, by
using proper sentence structure and word choice, students are figuring out the best way to
communicate about their creative work to others. Finally, artist statements show you what students
have learned, making them an effective assessment tool.

5. “A picture is worth a thousand words…” Right? Any project that has a central focal point of a person,
animal, or character can be a catalyst for an original story told by the artists themselves. Young artists,
especially those at the elementary level, love to use their imagination to make up their own narratives
and descriptions.

Using graphic organizers to help scaffold young artists’ ideas is very helpful to get the story off the
ground. Works with people, animals, or imaginary creatures are great places to start. Ask students to
give the subject of their artwork a name.

Benefits of creative literacy

The benefits are numerous and wide-ranging. It encourages greater pupil engagement, brings a subject
to life – therefore capturing pupils interest, and improves knowledge retention. It can also improve oral
and listening skills, encourage team building, and can be made practical, suiting those who may struggle
with some traditional methods of teaching, eg, children who are dyslexic. Creative literacy can also
encourage reluctant readers, build confidence, and help teach practical skills.

Education Scotland Foghlam Alba has shown through its research that creativity in learning encourages
pupils to think creatively. They were more open to new ideas and challenges. It gave them a greater
ownership over their learning, they became more interested in discovering things for themselves and
were more able to solve problems, so they became more effective learners.

In addition, research carried out by Kimberley Stafford and Myra Barrs for the Centre for Literacy in
Primary Education (CLPE) in 2005 also found that linking creativity through arts and literacy was a
powerful tool. They found it aided sustained learning as the children made strong connections between
reading, writing and their work in creative arts. It enhanced their oral language skills, and a workshop
atmosphere promoted concentration and confidence and deepened their understanding so they could
reflect on their learning. It also encouraged the children to work as a team.
This approach to learning has famous supporters; Sir Ken is a strong advocate for allowing creativity in
education. In an interview, he said students were different and you needed something to engage the
whole class. He went on to say: “If they are engaged they will learn.”

Sir Ken believes education is about people and not process, he thinks our education system is currently
about conformity which is the opposite of where it should be. Clearly, Michael Gove is not a fan of Sir
Ken as he seems to want to go in the opposite direction, which is worrying for our future generations
and doesn’t help them to prepare for the future.

Pie Corbett, educationalist and author, is known for his books on teaching creative writing. He also
advocates that if you use things such as puppets, role-play and acting out stories, it brings stories to life
and makes them more memorable. He believes drama also helps children generate their own story
ideas.

Benwfits of arts

The arts are as important as academics, and they should be treated that way in school curriculum. This is
what we believe and practice at New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA). While the positive impact of
the arts on academic achievement is worthwhile in itself, it's also the tip of the iceberg when looking at
the whole child. Learning art goes beyond creating more successful students. We believe that it creates
more successful human beings.

NMSA is built upon a dual arts and academic curriculum. Our teachers, students, and families all hold
the belief that both arts and academics are equally important. Our goal is to prepare students for
professional careers in the arts, while also equipping them with the skills and content knowledge
necessary to succeed in college. From our personal experience (and research), here are five benefits of
an arts education:

1. Growth Mindset

Through the arts, students develop skills like resilience, grit, and a growth mindset to help them master
their craft, do well academically, and succeed in life after high school. (See Embracing Failure: Building a
Growth Mindset Through the Arts and Mastering Self-Assessment: Deepening Independent Learning
Through the Arts.) Ideally, this progression will happen naturally, but often it can be aided by the
teacher. By setting clear expectations and goals for students and then drawing the correlation between
the work done and the results, students can begin to shift their motivation, resulting in a much healthier
and more sustainable learning environment.
For students to truly grow and progress, there has to be a point when intrinsic motivation comes into
balance with extrinsic motivation. In the early stages of learning an art form, students engage with the
activity because it's fun (intrinsic motivation). However, this motivation will allow them to progress only
so far, and then their development begins to slow -- or even stop. At this point, lean on extrinsic
motivation to continue your students' growth. This can take the form of auditions, tests, or other
assessments. Like the impact of early intrinsic motivation, this kind of engagement will help your
students grow and progress. While both types of motivation are helpful and productive, a hybrid of the
two is most successful. Your students will study or practice not only for the external rewards, but also
because of the self-enjoyment or satisfaction this gives them.

2. Self-Confidence

A number of years ago, I had a student enter my band program who would not speak. When asked a
question, she would simply look at me. She loved being in band, but she would not play. I wondered why
she would choose to join an activity while refusing to actually do the activity. Slowly, through
encouragement from her peers and myself, a wonderful young person came out from under her
insecurities and began to play. And as she learned her instrument, I watched her transform into not only
a self-confident young lady and an accomplished musician, but also a student leader. Through the act of
making music, she overcame her insecurities and found her voice and place in life.

3. Improved Cognition

Research connects learning music to improved "verbal memory, second language pronunciation
accuracy, reading ability, and executive functions" in youth (Frontiers in Neuroscience). By immersing
students in arts education, you draw them into an incredibly complex and multifaceted endeavor that
combines many subject matters (like mathematics, history, language, and science) while being uniquely
tied to culture.

For example, in order for a student to play in tune, he must have a scientific understanding of sound
waves and other musical acoustics principles. Likewise, for a student to give an inspired performance of
Shakespeare, she must understand social, cultural, and historical events of the time. The arts are
valuable not only as stand-alone subject matter, but also as the perfect link between all subject matters
-- and a great delivery system for these concepts, as well. You can see this in the correlation between
drawing and geometry, or between meter and time signatures and math concepts such as fractions.

4. Communication

One can make an argument that communication may be the single most important aspect of existence.
Our world is built through communication. Students learn a multitude of communication skills by
studying the arts. Through the very process of being in a music ensemble, they must learn to verbally,
physically, and emotionally communicate with their peers, conductor, and audience. Likewise, a cast
member must not only communicate the spoken word to an audience, but also the more intangible
underlying emotions of the script. The arts are a mode of expression that transforms thoughts and
emotions into a unique form of communication -- art itself.

5. Deepening Cultural and Self-Understanding

While many find the value of arts education to be the ways in which it impacts student learning, I feel
the learning of art is itself a worthwhile endeavor. A culture without art isn’t possible. Art is at the very
core of our identity as humans. I feel that the greatest gift we can give students -- and humanity -- is an
understanding, appreciation, and ability to create art.

What are some of the benefits of an arts education that you have noticed with your students?

The future of arts and Creativity

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills posits that The 4Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Critical
Thinking, and Creativity are the central skills and dispositions that all students must master to be
successful in our increasingly complex world (Partnership 2010). An education centered in creativity and
the arts may hold promise for such a twenty-first Century approach to teaching and learning.

In their seminal book, Hetland et al. (2013) describe a series of eight studio habits of mind that they
observed in various schools and programs with strong visual arts curricula. They identify the habits that
artists—and arts teachers—tend to employ as:

1.

Develop Craft: Learning tools, materials, and artist’s practices.

2.

Engage and Persist: Learning to pursue topics of personal interest; develop focus, ways of thinking to
persevere.

3.

Envision: Picturing, imagining what cannot be observed.

4.

Express: Creating works that convey ideas, meaning, or emotions.

5.

Observe: Learning to view visual, audio, and written resources more critically.

6.

Reflect: Learning to think and converse about one’s work and processes of making.

7.

Stretch and Explore: Learning to stretch beyond perceived limitations, explore, and learning from errors
or accidents.

8.

Understand Art World: Learning about art history and artistic practices and engaging the arts
community.

The habits provide insight into the ways arts teachers teach and art students learn, and are not
necessarily linear or hierarchical. The first habit, development of craft, involves learning about
technique, understanding artistic conventions and the use, practice, and care of materials as well as the
organization of studio space. Another habit refers to learning about art worlds beyond the classroom
such as art history and artistic communities of practice such as galleries, curators, and critics. The six
remaining habits, which are seen in serious and high quality visual arts classes, involve general cognitive
and attitudinal dispositions towards learning. These six habits are also used in many daily activities as
well as various academic pursuits. Causal research about success in the arts and the relationship to
success in academic endeavors is still needed, yet current research suggests that the development of
artistic habits of mind supports students’ interests in innovation (Winner et al. 2013).
The Hetland et al. research is further supported with studies by Eliot Eisner (2002). These scholars
demonstrate how the arts help students develop flexibility, expression, and the ability to shift direction
(Hetland et al. 2013, p. 7). There is clear evidence that arts learning is not just an “emotive” discipline
but one that requires deep reflection and intellectual rigor. In my own work (Nathan 2009), I describe
how we teach the arts not so that students will get better at other subjects such as math (the now
debunked “Mozart effect”), rather we teach the arts because they are necessary for enabling their
maximum personal development. The arts are a critical part of a young person’s education because they
are vehicles for instruction about tolerance, diversity, and the importance of human understanding. In
my experience, as our students develop these studio habits of mind, they tend to achieve more success
in school and in life outside of school—a finding which will be demonstrated with a case study later in
this chapter.

The literature on imagination also supports the importance of creativity and the arts in education. In
socio-emotional studies, imagination involves the ability to envision a productive future, and take steps
to become the person you want to be in that future (Killingsworth and Gilbert 2010). Young people who
are immersed in an education system that values and promotes creative and critical thinking will rise to
demand what even they did not think possible. Over my many years, as a faculty, school leader, and
teacher, my colleagues and I debated how to define creativity and imagination. In the end, we knew
both mattered and we experimented with many different curricular innovations with our students to
expand the opportunities for creative and critical thinking through the arts