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Supporting Arts Education in our Schools
This is a streaming video version of the Montana Arts Council’s arts education advocacy tool. To order a free copy of the PowerPoint DVD, see below.
To read a transcript of the narrative (PDF format) click here.
This 16-minute presentation was designed to help arts educators and advocates clarify the importance of arts education in our schools – how it impacts our children, our cultural heritage, and our communities. Images highlighting Montana arts organizations, artists, students and teachers make this a project that reflects Montana values and priorities while also providing solid statistical arts education research that is nationally recognized and respected.
Since 1950, more than 11,000 studies have been conducted in English-speaking countries alone on the effect that arts education has on school-aged children. We have learned that arts education is key to the development of the whole child. Innovation, creativity, problem solving, and the self-esteem necessary to succeed – not only in school, but outside of school – are just a few of the benefits and skill sets it provides.
The American public, by an overwhelming margin, believes the arts are vital to a well-rounded education, and the Montana Board of Public Education Content Standards for Arts supports that, stating: "The arts enable students to make decisions and seek multiple solutions. They improve perception, reflection, and creative thought. They advance higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The arts provide powerful tools for understanding human experiences and cultures – past, present and future. Arts education engages students in a creative process that helps them to develop self-motivation, discipline, cooperation and self-esteem necessary for success in life."
The arts are also considered core content in the No Child Left Behind act and in fact share equal billing with reading, math, science, and other disciplines. But recent trends, shrinking budgets and the current economic crisis all combine to make the decisions school boards have before them even tougher, and can often result in diminishing the arts. It is more important than ever for arts education advocates to have solid, well-researched and compelling information to help policy makers with those decisions. Few have said it better or more clearly than the Nevada Alliance for Arts Education: "It’s not an education without the arts."
For a PDF of the talking points click here. For a PDF of the credits, photos and sources click here.
To request a free copy of this presentation (PowerPoint format) or for more information, please email Beck McLaughlin at the Montana Arts Council, bemclaughlin@mt.gov or call 406-444-6522.
