"Keep Educators Working Legislation" is being considered with the small business funding bill. Please call and leave a message for Senator Lugar 317-226-5555end_of_the_skype_highlighting and Senator Bayh: 317-554-0750end_of_the_skype_highlighting now!
93% of Americans believe that the arts are good for our children. These are the same children who are spending over ten hours each day engaged with visual media. 1. We all want them to be globally competitive and productive citizens, but there are differing opinions of what they should learn in school.
Bold visions and powerful images are produced by children who have high quality arts education. But what you don’t see are the unique skills learned through deep engagement in the arts. In a challenging time, now seems like a bad time to cut arts programs.
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.—Georgia O’Keeffe
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.—Alvin Toffler
Recent research shows that learning in the arts:
• Develops unique skills that contribute to academic success.2
• Develops sought after 21st century skills including multiple literacies, self direction, teamwork and collaboration, higher order thinking skills and sound reasoning, hands on creation, and productivity.3
• Actively engages students and can help keep at risk students in school.2
The wealth of nations and the well‐being of individuals now depend on having artists in the room. Everyone, regardless of profession, must cultivate artistic sensibility. We may not all be Dali or Degas. But today we must all be designers.
—Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind
A little arts education is simply not enough and would be considered unacceptable in any other core academic area.4 Skillful educators know that teaching students to be creative is a deliberate process, much like teaching literacy or mathematics. It takes more than simply handing out materials; expert teachers break down the creative process to enable students to identify the problem, gather relevant information, try out solutions and validate those that are effective.
1 Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8‐18 Year Olds, 2009
2 Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
4 The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) defines the arts as a core academic subject.
The arts are an essential language that are critical to literacy in a visual age. Deep engagement with the arts allows our children to. . .. . . tap into creative potential. . . solve complex problems. . .process divergent information. . .realize self‐efficacy. . . respect diversity. . .exercise critical judgment. . . understand multiple perspectives. . .appreciate nuance. . .express ideas and emotions. That’s just to name a few skills the arts teach.
Our kids need the arts.
It’s not just what you see.
It’s also what you don’t see
Contact your AEAI District Representative or Clyde Gaw (Campak14@yahoo.com ) if you are concerned about a cut to your art program or those of your colleagues. The AEAI Advocacy Team will send your administrators and school board a letter of support.
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