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Arts
Rationale and Philosophy
In a world inundated with an array of messages and
meanings, an arts education helps young people
explore, understand and accept ambiguity and
subjectivity. At the same time, the arts bring
excitement and exhilaration to the learning process
which transcend subject matter boundaries. Study of
and competence in the arts and other disciplines
reinforce each other; students become increasingly
interested in learning, add new dimensions to what
they already know, and enhance their expectations
for learning even more. Research has shown that
students of the arts continue to outperform their
non-arts peers on College Board Examinations.
Perhaps most important, the arts
have intrinsic value. They are worth learning for
their own sake, providing benefits not available
through other means. The arts also make a
contribution to education that reaches far beyond
their intrinsic value. The skills recommended for
success in the workplace of the future are those
learned in arts education programs: working in
teams, communication, self-esteem, creative
thinking, imagination, and invention. Finally, a
comprehensive, articulated arts education program
engages students in a process that helps them
develop the self-discipline and self-motivation
necessary to lead productive and fulfilling lives.
- Through the study of
music,
students move, sing, play, dance, and create as
well as engage in the fundamental musical
processes of analyzing, evaluating, and
listening to sound.
- Through education in
theatre, students study and integrate
acting, designing, directing, script writing,
researching, analyzing and critiquing, and
understanding contexts of theatrical forms.
- Through study in the
visual arts, students develop thinking
skills by analyzing artwork in multiple contexts
and by producing artwork in various media.
Systematic involvement in the arts
also facilitates the important modes of physical,
cognitive, and emotional development of students
because they gain powerful tools for:
- developing problem-solving
skills which bring an array of expressive,
analytical, and developmental tools to every
human situation;
- communicating their thoughts
and feelings in a variety of modes, giving them
a vastly more powerful repertoire of
self-expression;
- enhancing body directionality
and kinesthetic development;
- understanding human
experiences, both past and present;
- learning to adapt to and
respect others
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