other nation’s schools already put into
practice. Despite the periodic funding shortages among schools, nations
around the world recognize the
importance of including arts education in the curriculum as shown in
the Common Core report comparing
the curriculums among leading PISA
nations.
themselves, to better understand the
integration and practice of a discipline,
whether in drama, music, or the
visual arts.
LISTEN TO AUDIO CLIP
Since 2000, under the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
the education arm of the United
Nations, arts educators in numerous
countries have been seeking ways to
integrate arts education for children
and adolescents. Arts education not
only recognizes the value of art for its
own sake, note UNESCO educators,
but arts activities can also “enhance
children’s self-awareness, self-confidence, and acceptance of others” and
can further motivate youngsters, especially those at risk or with learning
disabilities, to stay in school (del
Corral, 2003, p. 2).
“What the artist transmits to the
child or adolescent is a concrete and
living relationship with a cultural
activity, a knowledge and a know-how
emanating from sensitivity, long familiarity and experience, whereas school
knowledge and its customary restrictions sometimes combine to undo
the link between culture and feeling,
knowledge and experience. The artist
as an individual anchored in the aesthetic tradition, is entrusted with a
tradition as much as he or she is a
vehicle for creative ability” (del Corral,
2003, p. 4).
Hilary Inwood, a professor at
the Ontario Institute of Education and Studies, spoke with
ASCD about integrating arts
education into the classroom to
help ensure students receive a
well-rounded education by
In fact, UNESCO’s Second World
Conference on Arts Education, which
was held in Seoul, South Korea, in
2010 and brought together arts education officials and experts from 95
countries, has codified its call for
arts education action in the “Seoul
Agenda.” The plan broadly calls for
countries to support arts education as
a “fundamental and sustainable” part
•;Merging eco-art education
with art classes so students
become aware of environmental issues as well.
•;Working with four teachers
to promote eco-art education in their classes.
The arts should be taught in a
lively and practical manner so that
children can make the connection
The educators were tasked
with developing nine plans but
ended up with dozens, including
outdoor classes, art gallery
visits, and debates over which
artists are eco-artists and which
ones are not.
too often, policy makers and school leaders
have limited knowledge and understanding—
which leads to a misunderstanding—of the
essential value of learning in the arts.
between theory and practice, which
arts education experts say can enliven
an appreciation of local and popular
culture among students, who often
passively absorb a technology-driven
global culture. By also opening the
school doors to professional artists
and arts organizations, students have
the opportunity, through the artists
of a “high-quality renewal of education”; to ensure programs are high
quality from both a pedagogic
and artistic viewpoint; and to foster
creativity, social solidarity, and inter-cultural dialogue.
the National Center for Education
Statistics report A Snapshot of Arts
Education in Public Elementary and
Secondary Schools: 2009–10 gives the
impression that the arts are “alive and
well in our nation’s schools,” but there
are still issues involving equity and
access that need to be highlighted and
addressed.
Deborah Reeve, executive director
of the National Arts Education
Association (NAEA), cautions that
In the United States, policy makers
need to better understand arts education—whether in dance, music, theater,
or visual arts—not merely as a set of
decisions about curriculum, instruction,
