The Value of Arts Education
Why should the arts be a part of basic education? Why should the arts be up there with English, math and science? Ernest Boyer says that "aesthetic literacy is as basic as linguistic literacy."
He quotes John Ruskin who said that, "Great Nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last."
Here are some of the reasons the arts should be part of a basic education:
- "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform" by the National Commissioner on Excellence in Education, recommends that schools provide vigorous programs in the fine and performing arts.
- The College Board Report "Academic Preparation for College" includes the arts as one of the six basics to be included in the school curriculum..
- John Goodlad, author of "A Place Called School" views the arts as one of the "five givers" of human knowledge, along with mathematics and science, literature and language, society and social studies, and vocations.
- Ernest Boyer, author and educator, lists the arts as second curriculum priority, after language, in the proposed core of common learning. This proposed core includes nine subject areas. He goes on to say that the arts are ranked first among subjects most liked by students and receives high rankings in the areas of importance and difficulty.
- Howard Gardner's book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences states that there are seven forms of intelligence: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, artistic, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal. None of these ought to have priority over others.
