Research Into Practice-Art

ResearchintoPracticeAssignment—VisualArtsBy:LaurenDonovan

InquiryQuestionAburningquestionthatIhavehadforquitesometimenowishowcaneducators

successfullyintegratetheartsintothecurriculumandwhatarethebenefitsofdoingso?LivedExperience Asapreserviceteacher,Iamalwaystryingtoincorporatedifferentsubjectsintomylessons.OnechallengethatIcameacrosswasincorporatingartseamlesslyintothecurriculum.WheneverIhavetaughtart,itwasalwaysitsownentity,neverapartofanothersubject.ThisiswhyIamreallyinterestedinstrategiesofartintegration.OnewaythatIfirstattemptedtoincorporateartintootherlessonswaswhenIwasteachingaboutBlackHistoryMonthandIhadtoprepareanartsbasedactivitysurroundingthetheme.Therefore,IhadthestudentstryandthinkofasymbolthatrepresentedBlackHistoryMonththatmeantsomethingtothemandwiththatsymbol,theycreatedPopArt.Thestudentsthoroughlyenjoyedthisactivity,butIstillfeltwearyofhowIcouldincorporateartintoothersubjectareassuchasscience,math,geography,andhistory.ThisiswhenIdecidedthatIwoulddelveintotheliteraturetoseewhatIcouldlearnaboutartintegrationintothecurriculum.CourseReadings

OnecoursereadingthatreallystoodouttomeregardingmyinquiryquestionwastheCornett&Smithrim(2001)article,AnIntroductiontoTeachingwith,About,In,andThroughtheArts.Thearticlestatedthatartshouldbeintegratedintothecurriculumbecauseitallowsstudentsto,“besmartinadifferentway”(Cornettet.al.,2001).Thisisextremelyimportantbecausenotallstudentslearnthesamewayordisplaytheirintelligenceinthesameway.Integratingartintothecurriculumisaperfectexampleofdifferentiatedinstruction,especiallyifastudentpreferstoshowtheirworkthroughvisuals.Theauthorsalsostatethatparticipatinginarthelpsstudentstoexpresshowtheyarefeelingorwhattheyarethinkingwithoutwords(Cornettetal,2001).Thisarticledemonstratesthattherearedefinitebenefitsforartintegrationintothecurriculum.Therefore,educatorsmustacknowledgethatintegratingartintothecurriculumisverybeneficialforstudentlearningandbepreparedwithstrategiesforimplementingartintothecurriculumwithintheirownclassroom.

Research ThearticlebyBarry(1996),discussestheimportance,andbenefits,ofartsintegrationintothecurriculum.Barrystatesthattheartsprovidestudentswiththeopportunitytobecreativeandexpressthemselves.Therefore,aseducators,wemustbeactivistsforintegratingartsintothecurriculuminordertoincreasemotivationandenhancestudentlearning(Barry,1996).Thearticlegoesonthediscussallthedifferentwaysthatartsintegrationbenefitsstudentsandsuggeststhat,“throughthearts,studentshavemyriadopportunitiesforself-expression”(Barry,1996).Thisarticleisverybeneficialbecauseitgoesontoprovidedifferent

ResearchintoPracticeAssignment—VisualArtsBy:LaurenDonovan

strategiesofhowtosuccessfullyintegrateartsintothecurriculum,forexample,takingthetimetoproperlyplananintegratedlesson,makingtheselessonsstudent-centeredandhands-on,andbeingcreativewiththematerial.

ThearticlebyMcPherson(1995)discussesthattherearetwomainissuesthatteachersmustovercomeinordertoproperlyintegratetheartsintothecurriculum.Thetwoissuesarethattheartsmustbeintegratedcoherentlyintothecurriculum,andtheartsmustbecontributingtospecificgoalsandrequirementswithinthecurriculum(McPherson,1995).Foreducatorstosuccessfullyintegratetheartsintothecurriculum,theremustalwaysbeareasonandanendgoal,makingcross-curricularconnectionsalongtheway.Onecaveatthatwasseenwithinthisarticlewasthatmanyeducatorsareoutoftheirelementwhenitcomestoteachingart;itisdifficultforboardstobeabletoaffordartsspecialistsineveryschool.Thisconstraintmayeffectstudentlearning,therefore,resourcesmustbemadeavailableforteacherstoconfidentlyandsuccessfullyteachtheartsinabeneficialway.

Resources1.ArtsIntegrationinPublicSchools:ThisdocumentistheChicagoGuideforTeachingandLearningintheArts,anditprovidesanoutlineoftheskillsandknowledgethatstudentsareexpectedtolearnfromthearts.Italsodescribeswhyartsintegrationissoimportant,andprovidesthereaderwithstrategiesforsuccessfulimplementation.Thedocumentoffersexamplesofunitplansthateducatorscanuse,alongwithsamplerubricswithintheappendix.Thisguideisextremelybeneficialasitalsoprovidesasectiondedicatedtoteachingtheartstostudentswithspecificdisabilitiesandautism.Itprovidesstrategies,recommendations,andaccommodationsforteachingthesestudentsinorderforthemtolearnandenjoytheartscurriculum.(Link)2.ArtsIntegration:TheAuthenticContextfor21stCenturyLearning:Thiswebsiteprovidesaguideforartsintegrationinthe21stcentury.Itdescribesskillsandknowledgethatstudentsarerequiredtoknowinordertosucceedina21stcenturyworld.Thewebsitealsoprovidesavarietyofreasonsforwhyartsintegrationhelpsstudentssucceed.Forexample,artsprovideengagingandhands-onactivitiesthatofferastrongplatformforstudentlearningwhentiedinacrossthecurriculum.Throughoutthewebsitetherearealsolessonplansthatcanbeusedbyeducators.Accordingtothewebsite,greateducatorscanhelpstudentslearnandacquireskillsthroughartsintegrationthattheycanhelpthemintheireverydaylives.(Link)3.CreatinganArtsIntegrationSchool:ThisdocumentbyMarylandSchoolsAlliancedescribeswhatartsintegrationis,whyschoolsshoulddoit,andhowtosuccessfullyimplementit.Thedocumentprovidesthereaderphaseswhichtheycanfollowinordertocreateasuccessfulartsintegratedclassroomandschool.Theresourcediscussesthatawarenessandcommitmentarekeyinsuccessfullyimplementingtheartsintothecurriculum.Studentsandteachersmustbewillingtosetgoals,striveforsuccess,andintimeobjectiveswillbereached.(Link)

ResearchintoPracticeAssignment—VisualArtsBy:LaurenDonovan

ReferencesAEMS.(n.d.).Creatinganartsintegrationschool.ArtsEducationinMarylandSchoolsAlliance.

Retrievedfromhttp://www.aems-edu.org/PDFs/CreatingAnArtsIntegrationSchool.pdfAustin,M.,Bayne,M.,Blum,E.,Caffall,E.,Dillman,L.,Hankin,R.,…Sevier,R.(n.d.).Arts

Integration:TheChicagoGuidetoTeachingandLearningintheArts.Retrievedfromhttp://chicagoguide.cpsarts.org/pdf/teachingresources.pdf

Barry,Nancy.(1996).Integratingtheartsintothecurriculum.GeneralMusicToday,9(2),9-13.

Retrievedfromhttps://journals-scholarsportal-info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/10483713/v09i0002/9_itaitc.xml

Burdette,M.(2011).ArtsIntegration:Theauthenticcontextfor21stcenturylearning.The

SoutheastCenterforArtsIntegration.Retrievedfromhttp://centerforartsintegration.org/articles/arts-integration/

Cornett,C.&Smithrim,K.(2001).AnIntroductiontoTeachingwith,About,In,andThroughthe

Arts.Retrievedfromhttps://pepper.oise.utoronto.ca/pepper5/data/note/90828/The%20Sense%20and%20Soul%20of%20the%20Curriculum.pdf

McPherson,Gary.(1995).Integratingtheartsintothegeneralcurriculum:anAustralian

perspective.Symposium,97(1),25-31.Retrievedfromhttps://journals-scholarsportal-info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/10632913/v97i0001/25_itaitgcaap.xml