De Guzman, Jerusalem D.

ACTIVITY 1
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION
MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION
THE204: ARTS AND CRAFTS

1. What are the values of arts in education and in practical life?

Arts is very important in education for the reason that it supports
creativeness and critical thinking of students. Arts can be integrated in every
subject in school to connect arts pieces into another subject area. This technique
helps students to develop their motor skills, decision-making, language skills, and
social skills. Research also shows that students who perform at lower levels of
achievement may benefit from having arts-based learning activities that provide
alternate ways to acquire and demonstrate knowledge1. Don Jose Integrated High
School, the school where I teach, is taking this study seriously by having yearly
“Culminating Activity in Contemporary Philippine Arts in Regions” event. With this
kind of event, we ensure that the Philippine arts will never be forgotten and will be
passed from generation to generation.
Arts are valuable in our practical life. In fact, we are surrounded by different
forms of art without being aware of it. As an engineer, my personal views in art are
more on the design patterns, abstraction, and geometrical aspects. When I look at
an object, I look at it as to how it was designed, the patterns that the designer has
made to create his masterpiece. The way we value arts is based upon how deep is
our understanding in the canvass, work of art, or workpiece. It inspires us in all of
its forms to do our tasks in our everyday lives.
2. What is the role of arts in education?
Arts in education is beneficial to students in its every forms. It boosts
students’ creativity by expressing their emotions, positivity, and artistic
expressions. It helps students to express themselves in the form of art. In Don Jose
Integrated High School, we support differentiated instructions wherein we believe
that students varies in interests, preferences, strengths, and struggles. There are
students who are not doing well in math but are excellent in performing arts. It is
very important to design our lessons according to what are my students’ needs and
interests. Art-integration in classroom is a good way to conform with the
differentiated instructions.
Moreover, arts in education develops cultural awareness. In today’s
generation wherein students are more inclined with technology , they are likely to
ignore culture, traditions, and contemporary arts. To cultivate the minds of
students to have their interests into culture and art is a lifelong mission of DJIHS in
its children. Because we believe that Art helps them to discover themselves inside
or outside the school.

3. How important are handicrafts in the economy of the Philippines?

Filipinos are known being fond of handicrafts. Almost every Filipino family
owned one or more handicraft products like baskets, bamboo chairs, kitchen tools,
and other furniture. Philippines is blessed with rich natural resources scattered
throughout the archipelago. In fact, in year 2000, Philippines is considered to be
the second largest world producer of handicrafts. Filipinos are among the best
designers, engineers, architects, and craftsmen around the world. Because of this,
foreign investors are choosing our products rather than our counterparts in Asia.
Now that we have a president who is also the head of Department of Agriculture,
it is highly predictable that there will be improvements in the sector of agriculture.
We are abundantly blessed in natural resources and have plenty of talents and I do
believe that Philippines has the capacity to become the first and largest producer
of handicraft products around the world.

References:

1. Mariale Hardiman, Luke Rinne and Julia Yarmolinskaya, “The Effects of Arts Integration on
Long-Term Retention of Content and Student Engagement,” Mind, Brain and Education 8, no. 3
(2014): 144-148.
https://discover.hubpages.com/art/Philippine-Handicraft-IndustryTheir-Benefits-and-
Importance