JUSTIFYING ART BASED LEARNING Justifying Arts

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Chelsea Layman
University of Michigan
Justifying Art Based Learning
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In order to thoroughly examine the controversial issue regarding the use of
the arts in the classroom, one must first consider the individuality and learning
style of their students, the importance of embodiment, experience, and reflective
thought, as well as, the contradicting theories against the use of arts in the
classroom.
I really think the arts are a wonderful way to facilitate learning in the
classroom because they allow us to incorporate embodiment and enriching
experiences into typical curriculum and reach out to children as individual
learners. All of these things are very important parts of the learning cycle and
can strongly benefit students. Allowing students to have experiences is much
different than simply giving them a lecture. Although a teacher may stand at the
front of the class everyday and talk about the same thing, that lesson probably
wont stick with a child the way an experience would. An enriching experience not
only teaches students something, it leaves them with a powerful memory that will
stick with them forever.
I feel that experience and embodiment are a vital part of learning because
before we can even begin to expect students to understand any given concept,
we must first ensure that they have the proper background information and
experience to go along with it. For example, one could not begin to understand
how to multiply numbers if they have not yet learned to add. To put it in even
simpler terms, It would be impossible to teach someone what a poodle is if they
do not even know what a dog is. There are always specific terms and
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background knowledge that one must know in order to even begin to understand
something. However, one can start to understand something much better
through simple experience. For example, going to a dog show and seeing
several types of dogs and then seeing that one is actually called a poodle
would really help clarify that a poodle is a type of dog (Akinleye). These are the
types of experiences we need to create for our students and many believe this
can be done through the arts.
According to Kurt Levin learning is a cycle that involves active
experimentation, concrete experience, reflective observation, and abstract
conceptualism. This cycle is called The Learning Cycle and is backed up by the
beliefs of other philosophers such as John Dewey. John Dewey believed that the
arts were a wonderful tool to create valuable experiences and reflective thought
(Akinleye). Dewey's concept of education put a premium on meaningful activity
in learning and participation in classroom democracy. Unlike earlier models of
teaching, which relied on authoritarianism and rote learning, progressive
education asserted that students must be invested in what they were learning.
Dewey argued that curriculum should be relevant to students' lives. He saw
learning by doing and development of practical life skills as crucial to children's
education (John Dewey). He believed that being fully engaged in an experience
and reflecting on that experience is the best way to learn. The learning cycle
refers to making a plan, having an experience, reflecting on the experience, and
then coming to a conclusion and/or learning something. I too agree with this
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cycle completely and feel that the arts are a wonderful way to create experiences
and facilitate this cycle in the classroom.
As teachers, it is important that we understand each of our students
individuality and learning style. Understanding a childs personality and how they
learn best allows us provide them with what they really need in a classroom.
According to Howard Gardner everyone is intelligent in different ways. There are
eight main areas of intelligence that students may or may not excel in including
Spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily kinesthetic, musical,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic (Smith, 2002).
Each area of intelligence is significantly different and helps us see how a
specific individual learns best. A child who is a spatial learner is a visual learner
who likely prefers using pictures, maps, graphs, colors, and things of that nature
to learn. A child who is a verbal-linguistic learner may or may not be as interested
in visual things because they learn better through things such as reading and
writing. Someone who is logical-mathematical enjoys learning through logic and
reasoning and may or may not be interested in the same things as the students
Ive mention so far. A bodily-kinesthetic student will likely be interested in things
such as sports and dancing because they are known to learn through hands on
movement and experimentation. Musical learners obviously enjoy using music to
learn or memorize things, but also share the ability to learn through lectures with
verbal-linguistic learners. Musical learners are often able to play instruments and
have an ear for recognizing sounds, tones, and rhythms. Two rather different
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intelligences are interpersonal and intrapersonal. Interpersonal people tend to be
good with people and thrive in social situations; however, intrapersonal people
are the exact opposite and tend to keep to themselves. Intrapersonal students
may like to work alone rather than in groups because they often learn best
independently. The last type of learner is the naturalistic learner who often
enjoys the outdoors and can appreciate the things around them. This type of
learner may do well studying things like weather since they love nature (Smith,
2002).
Although everyone fits into a category of intelligence, they probably also fit
into others. Everyone is either interpersonal or intrapersonal, but they may be a
little of both and they may also be a little of one or more other intelligences at the
same time. These categories are a good way for teachers to determine what kind
of materials/activities they need to provide in order for their students to learn to
the best of their ability. However, everyone is different and may or may not fit
exactly into one category.
In my opinion, it is our job, as teachers, to really get to know the children in
our classrooms and pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. A wonderful way to
create a classroom fit for all students in the class is by envisioning your room
through your students eyes. It would be very easy to look at things through our
eyes-only and not through the eyes of our very different students while designing
our classrooms, but this is far from okay. I believe teachers need to EXPECT that
everyone in their classroom fits only into only one individual area of intelligence
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and that someone fits into each category. Although this is highly unlikely, this
concept would really help create a classroom that has every element it could
possibly need for educating young students of any kind.
I believe the arts are a wonderful way to approach the concept of multiple
intelligences because they can be presented in many different ways. An
intrapersonal student may not want to get up and dance around, but they may
want to sit and paint a picture of the other students dancing. There are endless
possibilities when it comes to the arts and the ways we can use them in the
classroom. They can be presented in a way that will works for any type of
learner and provide children with unique and enriching experiences.
Although I personally agree with the use of the arts in school, there are
people out there who disagree. I have not found evidence of any major
educational philosophers who disagree with the arts; however many people of
the general public seem to find the arts pointless. Recently art has been
eliminated in many schools due to testing demands and budget issues, but what
people do not understand is that the arts are not only present in art class or
music class, they should always be present. The arts are not meant to be used
as a form or entertainment or to rid children of their extra energy before
beginning a lesson. The arts are meant to create learning experiences unlike any
before.
In conclusion I personally agree with incorporating the arts into curriculum
as much as possible. As far as I can see the only real argument against the arts
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is regarding financial issues and overrated testing demands. People need to
realize that learning is not all about tests and filling empty vessels with pointless
information that they do not really comprehend. Learning is whatever the learner
makes it. It is an experience. It is something amazing.


















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WORKS CITED
Akinleye, D. A. (n.d.). Art, experience,learning and reflection: Theory overview.
Unpublished raw data, University of Michigan, Flint, mi, .

Schoolhouse Pioneers: John Dewey. PBS. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/john.html

Smith, M. K. (2002). Howard gardner, multiple intelligences and education.
INFED, Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/howard-gardner-multiple-
intelligences-and-education/