October 7, 2009 • 2:55 pm 0
Frank Curkovic is an art teacher who lives in Japan and posts to his blog, Learning IT. I found it this morning via a post on Facebook, and have added his blog to our links page. He has also posted this video on YouTube, and it is a cogent and clean explanation of why the teaching of the arts in schools is not only beneficial, but necessary.
Filed under: Advocacy, All Disciplines, Education
October 7, 2009 • 2:40 pm 0
Another interesting article from the NY Times from October 5.
A study published in Psychological Science by Dr. Travis Proulx of the University of California, Santa Barbara and Prof. Stephen Heine of the University of British Columbia, suggests that, paradoxically, a sensation of absurdity or nonsense derived from artwork, literature or even every day life, may prime the brain to sense patterns it would otherwise miss — in mathematical equations, in language, in the world at large.
Proulx and Heine argue that the brain evolved to predict, and it does so by identifying patterns. When those patterns break down. . .the brain gropes for something, anything that makes sense. It may retreat to a familiar ritual. . .but it may also turn its attention outward, the researchers argue, and notice, say, a pattern in animal tracks that was previously hidden. The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the brain will find one.
This theory of using absurdity or nonsense (think Jabberwocky) to realign pattern-oriented thinking “supports what many experimental artists . . . have always insisted: at least some of the time, disorientation begets creative thinking.”
October 7, 2009 • 2:14 pm 0
via Learning IT…
An October 1, 2009 NY Times article discusses the incorporation of art not in the classroom, but in new schools being built across the country, from New Haven, CT to Los Angeles. The artwork is built into the design of the schools, or room is left both in the building and the budget to provide artwork throughout the school, in order to provide students and teachers opportunities to learn while walking the halls. In New Haven:
The Columbus school incorporates sculpture and other art into nearly every corner of its year-old building with the hope that it will inspire students in this working-class Hispanic neighborhood to learn. It is one of a growing number of newly built or renovated public schools across the country that look more like cultural centers than the austere, utilitarian houses of learning of the past, displaying museum-worthy pieces commissioned from artists alongside more traditional finger paintings and statues of school mascots.
The schools can be expensive to build, but they are replacing buildings that are 40 to 50 years old, some older, and the artwork being installed is a mere pittance compared to the rest of the budget.
Administrators are happy with the response, as are teachers, parents and children. By surrounding students with “Art”, art begins to lose its feeling of separation from the other core subjects, and it is used to enhance and support that learning.
This article is a pleasant report about the power of arts in education.
Filed under: All Disciplines, Education
