Arts IntegrationIt is a teacher’s responsibility to educate the whole child, to meet their every need for academic and personal growth. Arts Integration should be woven into a teaching philosophy as a moral imperative, especially for students who are at risk. From my own experiences with the arts in school, I have always found value in creative expression. I have played alto saxophone, piano and french horn. In high school, I was President of my Thespian Troupe (theatre). I hope to incorporate drama, music and movement to be an integral part of my future classroom.
Benefits for StudentsArts integration causes students to want to learn, which is evident as the arts leverage motivation and enrich communication to further student’s effort and develop persistence. Arts-involved students score higher academically, with more arts yielding higher scores and achievement building over time (Cornett, 2015). Arts-based teaching engages a wide variety of learners, makes learning more equitable, breaks cultural barriers and offers improvements in reading, writing and math for disadvantaged students (Cornett, 2015). In my inquiry from last semester, "See, hear, do! Instruction for me and you!", I investigated how to appeal to multiple learning styles in every lesson. I was able to ensure engagement and achievement by including movement, songs and kinesthetic learning that often included creating visual art (evidence for inquiry claims). Not only have I integrated arts activities (1) (2) at the Boys and Girls Club over the summer, but I have applied arts knowledge to meet learner's needs for the past year. “Driven by the need to find, introduce, construct, or reconstruct something new, creative thinking actively seeks expansion of possibilities”; creativity is finding a meaningful way to use an ordinary item in an extraordinary way (Cornett, 2015).Creative inquiry through artistic thinking and creating meaning promotes high level thinking that allows students to achieve Common Core standards, make connections across disciplines and create meaning in the world beyond the classroom (Cornett, 2015). Making connections across disciplines leads to more holistic and deeper understanding, which I hope to guide all my future students to. The completion of Common Core standards ensures their mastery, readiness level and achievement. Providing students access to success through the arts involves creative inquiry. Creative inquiry includes the following: (Cornett, 2015, p. 58). The following key words are a part of creative inquiry, as well as the Common Core standards: challenges, questions, problem solving, collecting and connecting details and facts, inferring and pattern finding, conclusions based on evidence, critique, and publication. How to Integrate the ArtsArts-based teaching is teaching with, about and through the arts. Quality AI lessons include those in which students learn about arts concepts/skills, are involved in applying arts processes and can receive and express new content understanding through inquiry with the arts. In order to effectively integrate the arts in my classroom, I will ensure I have a steady foundation for learning by including the following pillars. Pillars of Support for Arts Integration:1. Philosophy: Beliefs that include strong values for diversity, creative inquiry, active learning (head/heart/hands-on learning), and student independence. All students have the capacity to construct personal meaning through using a variety of materials and communication tools, including language arts and arts.
2. Arts Literacy: The verbal language arts, visual arts and performing arts all aim to communicate ideas, emotions and values. Literacy is the ability to understand and express thoughts and feelings. Students should understand the purposes of the arts (why), processes of the arts (how), the people (who), products or art forms and arts elements, skills and concepts. Knowledge of arts concepts promotes student’s development of creative answers and solutions, which contributes to their problem-solving abilities. 3. Collaborative Planning: Overlapping ideas, concepts and skills (like communication and inquiry) can be done through arts integration in each academic area that promotes interdisciplinary studies. “The goal is to engage students in arts-based creative inquiry leading to student-construct meaning or evidence-based conclusions—also called deep understanding or high-level comprehension," (Cornett, 2015). 4. Aesthetic Classroom Learning Environment: AI energizes learners with an engaging physical and psychological climate that provokes curiosity, surprise and a sense of mystery in an uplifting way. 5. Literature as a Core Art 6. Best Teaching Practices: Internal motivation can be enhanced through: a focus on understanding (not grades), interest/curiosity, choice, meaning and purpose, goals, and effective collaboration through group work. Engagement is concentrated focus for the purpose of understanding. 7. Differentiation: Equal instruction is unfair, as students should be treated as the originals they are. AI differentiated instruction develops individual differences by expanding on each student’s creativity through the communicative capacities of arts. 8. Instruction Design: Routines and structure should be maintained to place arts as permanent curricular members. Effective AI lessons follow an introduction, development and conclusion organization pattern. 9. Assessment for Learning: Arts assessment seeks to increase the quality of work and is a fluid process that produces a culture of excellence. Effective assessment focuses on strengths and needs, has authenticity in that students apply knowledge, is multi-factored to give insight of growth over time and is continuous, including observation, self-reflection and peer feedback. 10. Arts Partnerships: A web of mutual support is formed based on common needs and goals. (Cornett, 2015, p. 98-143).
2 Comments
Lakesia
6/23/2016 08:13:01 am
Thank you for sharing your thoughts this week in your blog. I really enjoyed reading your response. It was great to read about the connections that you made with the arts. When thinking about this week's readings, what was the biggest takeaway for you? Based on what you have read, what is the piece that you plan to try to implement right away in your internship/traditional classroom context?
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Mekayla
6/23/2016 12:08:45 pm
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