Emily Day CIED 4213.

002
Philosophy of Art Education
The value and importance of art education has been a topic of discussion among educators for
many years. Some believe that the focus in schools should remain on mathematics and the
sciences. Others think that art and music are beneficial experiences that students should receive
as electives. Art education is an invaluable experience for students of all ages and should be
made a part of every curriculum. Every student has something to gain from art education and if it
is never made available to them they may never again receive the opportunity to gain the specific
knowledge and skills that only art education can provide.
Arts Education Partnership describes art education as, comprising a rich array of
disciplines including dance, music, theater, media arts, literature, design, and visual arts
(National arts in education week). Art education is centered around broadening students
perspectives as well as providing each student with important social, emotional, and cognitive
skills. In art education students are required to complete various art projects. Such projects could
include sketching, painting, composing, performing, sculpting, or even playing an instrument.
However, art education does not end with simply completing a required art project. In addition to
these art projects, teachers push their students to engage in self-evaluationto step back,
analyze, judge, and sometimes reconceive their projects entirely (Winner & Hetland, 2009).
This self-evaluation and appraisal is even more important than the project itself because it helps
students to gain, The ability to make judgments in the absence of rule, the capacity to think
about relationships with no name, [and] the willingness to engage in hard work in order to
achieve what is worth making (Eisner, 2009). The purpose of art education is not to force
students to create something new. The purpose of art education is to, instead, encourage students
to create something with meaning and depth. Every child has a voice and children who
express their ideas, responses, and reactions with honesty, sensitivity, and perceptiveness from
within a framework of compositional principles and design actually create art (Clements &
Wachoiak, 2010). Therefore, students are encouraged to let their thoughts, feelings, and personal
experiences inspire their art.
More recently educators are finding that, Art is a core academic subject and an essential
element of a complete and balanced education for all students (National arts in education week).
The distinction between art as an elective and art as a necessary and valuable part of education is
important because it is often not thought of as such. Art education teaches students skills that,
include visual-spatial abilities, reflection, self-criticism, and the willingness to experiment
and learn from mistakes and to, place a high value on breaking the mold (Winner &
Hetland, 2009). Art education can be achieved through many different approaches but the goal is
always the same: to broaden the students perspectives while providing outlets for them to
express themselves. Whether it is through visual arts, music, writing, or any other art form
students are shown that their experiences and views are significant and valuable. These lessons
are not often taught in subjects like mathematics, reading, writing, and social studies, increasing
the value of art education in our schools today. Each of these subjects are valuable to students in
their own ways, however, the importance of art and the ways it expresses what makes us human
are all too easily overlooked. Such expression is inherently absent in the sciences and
mathematics.

Another important aspect of art education for children is that it teaches both verbal and nonverbal communication. In fact, non-verbal communication is essential to interpreting,
understanding, and producing art because, The language of art uses a different symbol systemone that fusses into a single entity the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor modes of learning
(Clements & Wachoiak, 2010). Art teaches students to recognize and interpret non-verbal
communication as well as the ability to understand, respond to, and talk about visual images
(Why art education, 2005). Such abilities are valuable in all vocations, creative or not.
The emphasis on cultural understanding and diversity, and the subsequent impact of this
emphasis on society, is one of the most valuable aspects of an art education. Art is universal and
does not require language to be understood or impactful. Its symbols can reflect endless
messages including, but not limited to, messages relating to cultural identity, time, social issues,
values, and religion. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This statement is
reflective of the reason that art is so important in our society. Art is a powerful way of
communicating non-verbally and its reach is not limited by age, race, religion, or location. In his
letter to the president Dr. Eliot W. Eisner wrote, First, the arts provide symbol systems that
enable individuals to express what they have experienced in forms that will make their
experiences sharable with others (Eisner, 2009). A great example of the impact art can have on
society is war photography. Throughout history a single black and white photograph of a soldier
cradling his wounded partner or a child standing in the middle of the rubble of a battle has
greatly altered the way individuals and families at home viewed war. No text or explanations are
needed for those photos because the images themselves contain powerful messages about social
issues that pull on the heartstrings of their viewers. Works of art such as these show that, You
cannot touch art without touching values: values about home and family, work and play, the
individual and society, nature and the environment, war and peace, beauty and ugliness, violence
and love (Why art education, 2005).
As a future elementary teacher I plan to emphasize the importance of art in my classroom and
to implement art into each subject I teach. In fact, I would like to implement at least one art
activity or project in my classroom each day. It is all too easy for students to go through school
without ever realizing the many ways that art can impact, and does impact, their lives. I am often
told that if a teacher is not excited about a certain subject or activity their students will not be
either. I am a true believer in the power of art and hope that I am able to convey that to my
students. Wherever there is an art program of quality and promise, there is an enthusiastic,
resourceful, knowledgeable, imaginative, and gifted teacher at its center (Clements &
Wachoiak, 2010) and I hope to be that teacher for my students. My goal is to not only help my
students love, or at least appreciate, art, but also to encourage my students to express themselves
through their art because, By teaching pupils to describe, analyze, and interpret visual images,
we enhance their powers of verbal expression (Why art education, 2005).
Art education is cognitively, emotionally, and socially beneficial to both students and society
as a whole. It is becoming increasingly important for our schools to start using the arts to
restore balance and depth to an education system increasingly skewed toward readily testable
skills and information (Winner & Hetland, 2009). Art education allows students the opportunity
to gain valuable knowledge and abilities they will carry with them the rest of their lives and can
seldom be found in any other kind of classroom. As stated in Art for Our Sake, Those who
have learned the lessons of the arts, however- how to see new patterns, how to learn from
mistakes, and how to envision solutions- are the ones likely to come up with the novel answers
needed most for the future (Winner & Hetland, 2009).

Works Cited
Clements, R. D., Wachowiak, F. (2010). Emphasis art: A qualitative art program for elementary
and middle schools. United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc.
Eisner, E. W. (2009, January 13). A letter from Dr. Elliot Eisner to President-Elect Barack
Obama.
National arts in education week. Arts Education Partnership. Retrieved from http://www.aeparts.org/resources-2/national-arts-in-education-week/
(2005). Why art education? National Art Education Association. Retrieved from
http://www.naea-reston.org/whyart.html
Winner, E., & Hetland, L. (2009). Art for our sake: school art classes matter more than ever- but
not for the reasons you think. Colleagues, 4 (2). Retrieved from
http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol4/iss2/5