	March/April, 2005
The Arts: Frills or Fundamentals? By Dr. Suzanne Irujo, ELL Outlook™ Staff Writer Jorge was one of those eight-year-old boys who would forget his head if it wasn't attached. He consistently forgot his homework, never remembered to bring his library books back on time, and had trouble remembering that a short a sounded like the a in cat. It was with great trepidation that I gave him a speaking part in our annual drama production, which my third- and fourth-grade bilingual class presented to other classes in the school. If this child could barely remember to come to school, how could he possibly memorize even the few lines that he had to learn as one of the three little pigs in our modernized version of the classic folk tale? But he was a perfect "little pig," so I decided to give him a chance. To my great surprise, he returned to school the day after the parts were assigned with his lines memorized perfectly. I would not have been so surprised if I had known more about the benefits students receive from participation in the arts. How Do the Arts Affect Student Achievement? Research has shown several ways in which participation in the arts affects students' performance in other areas. One way is direct application of a skill learned through the arts to another area: Not surprisingly, participation in drama improves story comprehension. Another way is transfer of something learned through the arts to a related area: Instruction in music, for example, has been shown to be related to improved spatial reasoning. Improved academic performance may also be the result of the increased engagement and motivation that come with arts education (Catterall, 2002). No matter how it happens, there is wide consensus that participation in the arts is advantageous for all students. A summary of seven major studies of arts programs found that "high participation makes a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than for high-income students" and that "learning in and through the arts can help 'level the playing field' for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances" (Fiske, 1999, p. viii). Many English language learners come from backgrounds such as these, so they could be expected to benefit from arts programs even more than other students. Yet in most places, only students who attend affluent schools have access to anything beyond rudimentary instruction in art and music. Field trips to museums and theaters or artist-in-residence programs are beyond the means of schools with limited resources. If it is true that the arts are central to a good education, then, as a matter of equity, all students must have opportunities to experience them in meaningful ways. For students learning English, there are also linguistic reasons for incorporating arts into the curriculum: These subjects are especially good for facilitating language learning. Singing in a second language is an excellent way to develop correct pronunciation and intonation. Drama and theater help develop self-confidence when speaking a second language. The concrete contexts of instruction in less verbal areas, such as visual arts or dance, provide comprehensible input that students are intrinsically motivated to attend to and process. When the arts become an integral part of the curriculum and students read and write for authentic purposes related to their arts experiences, proficiency in reading and writing improves. In one Dallas school, students who were "mostly English-language learners from poor neighborhoods [were] turning out the kind of writing you usually get from wealthier, more advantaged students. By fourth grade, a number of them were writing as well as sixth graders in the district" (Reardon, 2005). This occurred after three years of participation in ArtsPartners, a program that integrated the arts into lesson plans through teacher training, materials development, and collaboration with museums, theaters, and other arts groups. What Makes It Work? Most of the programs that have been researched have been special programs that have been externally funded, at least partially, that include field trips, well-developed materials, and teacher training. Their positive effects may have been due to these special characteristics, which are very difficult for school systems to replicate without external assistance. The success of these programs may also have been due to what is known as the "Hawthorn effect," in which performance increases simply because some special treatment has been provided.¹ Would the same results accrue from ordinary art and music classes or from my once-a-year drama performance? In my own case, my students had two art classes and two music classes every week, but to my knowledge there was no noticeable effect of this instruction on other areas of the curriculum, beyond providing teachers with a daily preparation period. Yet I was certain that the once-a-year drama performance increased self-esteem, motivation, and possibly reading and writing skills. What was the difference between students' weekly art and music classes and my annual theatrical production? In most of the programs that have been researched, the arts have been carefully integrated into the core curriculum. In the Dallas ArtsPartners program, teachers decide which activities best meet the needs of the students and the curriculum (Reardon, 2005). In my case, I knew that for something to be meaningful and to have any kind of transfer effect on other learning, it had to be relevant to other things that my students were learning and to their lives. Our productions grew out of the language arts curriculum through themes that came from stories or books that the students read. Preparation of the productions helped them develop language skills in all domains: listening and speaking as they planned characters and plots; reading as they read other stories related to the theme and plays to see how a script carries the characters and plot; writing as they wrote scripts. These skills then fed back into the language arts curriculum. For me, this is the key to transfer from the arts to basic skills. The arts transform the tasks of the basic curriculum into authentic learning experiences that are real and meaningful for students. There are innumerable ways to integrate the arts into any curriculum. Visual and plastic arts can enhance a science curriculum through building models of everything from atoms to solar systems. Drama can be used in social studies to act out historical events or make concepts such as inflation come alive. Dance and movement can be used to demonstrate geometric forms and concepts. The possibilities are limitless.² What Can We Do? This presents a problem, however. In this era of testing and accountability, teachers complain that they have no time to teach even science and social studies because of the amount of time that is mandated for teaching reading/language arts and mathematics so their students will pass the tests. Even if they had the teaching time, teachers are burdened almost to the breaking point with federal and state requirements. How can we tell teachers who are not trained in arts education that, in addition to everything else they do, they must now integrate the arts into their curricula? There are two things that teachers can do. The first is vital. Teachers must believe that the arts are fundamental to the curriculum, not a frill to be done only if there is extra time or if everybody is too tired to do any more "basic skills." The second is to get help. Almost every community has an arts organization that would be more than willing to help with whatever activities teachers need and that can often help financially as well. In my own very small rural community in the Northeast, the school activities director who coordinated the arts programming with the regional arts council was limited by a ridiculously small yearly budget. Yet when the education director for the arts council met with the superintendent, money was found for a week-long residency program that coordinated with the district-wide theme for the year. Publishers can also do a lot to help. Many already include arts activities in their teachers' guides, but these activities are usually presented as "extras" that teachers can choose to do or not. Why not make arts knowledge, skills, and attitudes an integral part of the subject matter? Students can learn a lot about geometry from experiences in the plastic arts; rhythm studies will help them understand fractions; conducting and writing an interview with an actor can help develop speaking, listening, and writing skills; different perspectives on history can be acquired from studying the visual arts of a particular historical period. Based on my own experiences with dramatic presentations, I firmly believe that students would learn more from experiences of these kinds than from more teacher explanations and textbook exercises. Conclusion I can't claim that my students learned more from participating in drama activities than they would have without them. I had no pre- and post-tests, no standardized test scores, no control group. I did have my classroom evaluations that showed improvement in my student's language abilities as they wrote invitations to other classes, visited those classes to describe the upcoming presentation, and learned to speak their lines clearly and with proper emotions. And I had my observations of Jorge's behavior when he was motivated to memorize his lines, and of Fernando's transformation from social isolate to valued class member because his art skills helped produce professional-looking stage sets (professional for a third-grader, anyway). I needed no more to be convinced of the value of this particular arts experience for my students. Despite the fact that every year after the performance I heaved a sigh of relief and vowed, "Never again," I always did it again the following year. End Notes ^{1 The term "Hawthorn effect" originated in a 1920s study of the effect of ambient lighting on productivity in a factory in Hawthorn, Pennsylvania. It has been described as: "intervening in a social system can in itself produce positive changes, because the people in that system may be encouraged by the extra and unusual attention they are receiving" (Sklar, Johnson, and Lund, 2000).} ^{2 Examples of curriculum units that integrate arts with all subject areas at various grade levels can be found at http://www.capeweb.org/clcurricula2.html} References Catterall, J. W. (2002). The arts and the transfer of learning. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical links: Learning in the arts and student academic and social development.(pp. 151-157). Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership. Retrieved February 17, 2005, from http://aep-arts.org/cllinkspage.htm Fiske, E. B. (Ed.). (1999). Champions of change: The impact of the arts on learning. Washington, DC: The Arts Education Partnership. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/ChampsReport.pdf Reardon, C. (2005, Winter). Deep in the arts of Texas. Ford Foundation Report. Retrieved February 18, 2005, from Sklar, E. I., Johnson, J. H., & Lund, H. H. (2000). Children learning from team robotics: RoboCup Jr. 2000. Educational http://www.fordfound.org/publications/ff_report/view_ff_report_detail.cfm?report_index=549 Research Report. Milton Keynes, UK: The Open University. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from www.cs.wlu.edu/~levy/courses/cs397s2004/sklar.ppt If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.
Copyright © 2005 Course Crafters, Inc.® All rights reserved.

March/April, 2005

The Arts: Frills or Fundamentals?

By Dr. Suzanne Irujo, ELL Outlook™ Staff Writer

Jorge was one of those eight-year-old boys who would forget his head if it wasn't attached. He consistently forgot his homework, never remembered to bring his library books back on time, and had trouble remembering that a short a sounded like the a in cat. It was with great trepidation that I gave him a speaking part in our annual drama production, which my third- and fourth-grade bilingual class presented to other classes in the school. If this child could barely remember to come to school, how could he possibly memorize even the few lines that he had to learn as one of the three little pigs in our modernized version of the classic folk tale? But he was a perfect "little pig," so I decided to give him a chance.

To my great surprise, he returned to school the day after the parts were assigned with his lines memorized perfectly. I would not have been so surprised if I had known more about the benefits students receive from participation in the arts.

How Do the Arts Affect Student Achievement?

Research has shown several ways in which participation in the arts affects students' performance in other areas. One way is direct application of a skill learned through the arts to another area: Not surprisingly, participation in drama improves story comprehension. Another way is transfer of something learned through the arts to a related area: Instruction in music, for example, has been shown to be related to improved spatial reasoning. Improved academic performance may also be the result of the increased engagement and motivation that come with arts education (Catterall, 2002).

No matter how it happens, there is wide consensus that participation in the arts is advantageous for all students. A summary of seven major studies of arts programs found that "high participation makes a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than for high-income students" and that "learning in and through the arts can help 'level the playing field' for youngsters from disadvantaged circumstances" (Fiske, 1999, p. viii). Many English language learners come from backgrounds such as these, so they could be expected to benefit from arts programs even more than other students. Yet in most places, only students who attend affluent schools have access to anything beyond rudimentary instruction in art and music. Field trips to museums and theaters or artist-in-residence programs are beyond the means of schools with limited resources. If it is true that the arts are central to a good education, then, as a matter of equity, all students must have opportunities to experience them in meaningful ways.

For students learning English, there are also linguistic reasons for incorporating arts into the curriculum: These subjects are especially good for facilitating language learning. Singing in a second language is an excellent way to develop correct pronunciation and intonation. Drama and theater help develop self-confidence when speaking a second language. The concrete contexts of instruction in less verbal areas, such as visual arts or dance, provide comprehensible input that students are intrinsically motivated to attend to and process. When the arts become an integral part of the curriculum and students read and write for authentic purposes related to their arts experiences, proficiency in reading and writing improves. In one Dallas school, students who were "mostly English-language learners from poor neighborhoods [were] turning out the kind of writing you usually get from wealthier, more advantaged students. By fourth grade, a number of them were writing as well as sixth graders in the district" (Reardon, 2005). This occurred after three years of participation in ArtsPartners, a program that integrated the arts into lesson plans through teacher training, materials development, and collaboration with museums, theaters, and other arts groups.

What Makes It Work?

Most of the programs that have been researched have been special programs that have been externally funded, at least partially, that include field trips, well-developed materials, and teacher training. Their positive effects may have been due to these special characteristics, which are very difficult for school systems to replicate without external assistance.

The success of these programs may also have been due to what is known as the "Hawthorn effect," in which performance increases simply because some special treatment has been provided.¹ Would the same results accrue from ordinary art and music classes or from my once-a-year drama performance?

In my own case, my students had two art classes and two music classes every week, but to my knowledge there was no noticeable effect of this instruction on other areas of the curriculum, beyond providing teachers with a daily preparation period. Yet I was certain that the once-a-year drama performance increased self-esteem, motivation, and possibly reading and writing skills. What was the difference between students' weekly art and music classes and my annual theatrical production?

In most of the programs that have been researched, the arts have been carefully integrated into the core curriculum. In the Dallas ArtsPartners program, teachers decide which activities best meet the needs of the students and the curriculum (Reardon, 2005). In my case, I knew that for something to be meaningful and to have any kind of transfer effect on other learning, it had to be relevant to other things that my students were learning and to their lives. Our productions grew out of the language arts curriculum through themes that came from stories or books that the students read. Preparation of the productions helped them develop language skills in all domains: listening and speaking as they planned characters and plots; reading as they read other stories related to the theme and plays to see how a script carries the characters and plot; writing as they wrote scripts. These skills then fed back into the language arts curriculum. For me, this is the key to transfer from the arts to basic skills. The arts transform the tasks of the basic curriculum into authentic learning experiences that are real and meaningful for students.

There are innumerable ways to integrate the arts into any curriculum. Visual and plastic arts can enhance a science curriculum through building models of everything from atoms to solar systems. Drama can be used in social studies to act out historical events or make concepts such as inflation come alive. Dance and movement can be used to demonstrate geometric forms and concepts. The possibilities are limitless.²

What Can We Do?

This presents a problem, however. In this era of testing and accountability, teachers complain that they have no time to teach even science and social studies because of the amount of time that is mandated for teaching reading/language arts and mathematics so their students will pass the tests. Even if they had the teaching time, teachers are burdened almost to the breaking point with federal and state requirements. How can we tell teachers who are not trained in arts education that, in addition to everything else they do, they must now integrate the arts into their curricula?

There are two things that teachers can do. The first is vital. Teachers must believe that the arts are fundamental to the curriculum, not a frill to be done only if there is extra time or if everybody is too tired to do any more "basic skills." The second is to get help. Almost every community has an arts organization that would be more than willing to help with whatever activities teachers need and that can often help financially as well. In my own very small rural community in the Northeast, the school activities director who coordinated the arts programming with the regional arts council was limited by a ridiculously small yearly budget. Yet when the education director for the arts council met with the superintendent, money was found for a week-long residency program that coordinated with the district-wide theme for the year.

Publishers can also do a lot to help. Many already include arts activities in their teachers' guides, but these activities are usually presented as "extras" that teachers can choose to do or not. Why not make arts knowledge, skills, and attitudes an integral part of the subject matter? Students can learn a lot about geometry from experiences in the plastic arts; rhythm studies will help them understand fractions; conducting and writing an interview with an actor can help develop speaking, listening, and writing skills; different perspectives on history can be acquired from studying the visual arts of a particular historical period. Based on my own experiences with dramatic presentations, I firmly believe that students would learn more from experiences of these kinds than from more teacher explanations and textbook exercises.

Conclusion

I can't claim that my students learned more from participating in drama activities than they would have without them. I had no pre- and post-tests, no standardized test scores, no control group. I did have my classroom evaluations that showed improvement in my student's language abilities as they wrote invitations to other classes, visited those classes to describe the upcoming presentation, and learned to speak their lines clearly and with proper emotions. And I had my observations of Jorge's behavior when he was motivated to memorize his lines, and of Fernando's transformation from social isolate to valued class member because his art skills helped produce professional-looking stage sets (professional for a third-grader, anyway).

I needed no more to be convinced of the value of this particular arts experience for my students. Despite the fact that every year after the performance I heaved a sigh of relief and vowed, "Never again," I always did it again the following year.

End Notes

^{1 The term "Hawthorn effect" originated in a 1920s study of the effect of ambient lighting on productivity in a factory in Hawthorn, Pennsylvania. It has been described as: "intervening in a social system can in itself produce positive changes, because the people in that system may be encouraged by the extra and unusual attention they are receiving" (Sklar, Johnson, and Lund, 2000).}

^{2 Examples of curriculum units that integrate arts with all subject areas at various grade levels can be found at http://www.capeweb.org/clcurricula2.html}

References

Catterall, J. W. (2002). The arts and the transfer of learning. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical links: Learning in the arts and
          student academic and social development.(pp. 151-157). Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership. Retrieved
          February 17, 2005, from http://aep-arts.org/cllinkspage.htm

Fiske, E. B. (Ed.). (1999). Champions of change: The impact of the arts on learning. Washington, DC: The Arts
          Education Partnership. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/ChampsReport.pdf

Reardon, C. (2005, Winter). Deep in the arts of Texas. Ford Foundation Report. Retrieved February 18, 2005, from
          Sklar, E. I., Johnson, J. H., & Lund, H. H. (2000). Children learning from team robotics: RoboCup Jr. 2000. 
          Educational http://www.fordfound.org/publications/ff_report/view_ff_report_detail.cfm?report_index=549

Research Report. Milton Keynes, UK: The Open University. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from
          www.cs.wlu.edu/~levy/courses/cs397s2004/sklar.ppt

If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.