Archive for February, 2012
High Quality Arts Ed for All
Author: Sue Bartman CEO
Research has shown that students in schools with a strong arts environment do better academically that their peers in arts-deficient schools. Arts education fosters children’s creative thinking, innovation and collaboration skills which are essential to growth and learning. In spite of budget cuts and reduced curriculum, school leaders have the daunting task of ensuring that the arts are an integral element of their students’ complete education.
So what can school principals and teacher do to strengthen their art programs?
The Art Education Partnership developed a guide for principals and teachers, What School Leaders Can Do To Increase Arts Education, which offers specific steps to take to ensure that every student receives quality arts learning opportunities. This guide offers three concrete actions with supporting tactics to help principals increase arts education:
A. Establish a school-wide commitment to arts learning
B. Create an arts-rich learning environment
C. Rethink the use of time and resources
Principals can tap into a variety of resources for the above steps including partnering with the local arts community or art organizations such as KidzArt. As the AEP guide emphasizes, partnerships can offer comprehensive, culture-rich programs and ensure continuity so that students’ arts experiences are consistent, lasting and impactful.
This guide recommends using the arts to reinforce in-school learning during after school hours. Whether after school arts efforts are paid from the school’s budget, grant funded or parent paid, the supplemental instruction and activities will aid in each student enjoying a more meaningful education.
Download a copy of the guide here.
read comments (0)New Online Art and Education Resources for Teachers
Author: Sue Bartman CEO
Here are a few online tools and resources that might be of interest to teachers:
-Google Art Project- Check out this site for online access to thousands of pieces of art at museums worldwide. Google has collaborated with famous museums around the world to create online ” walking tours” to view their collections. For educational purposes, descriptions of the art, artists’ bios and other information is offered.
-Art Education 2.0- Helping art educators explore the use of new technologies through forums, chats, etc., this site’s motto is “connecting art educators around the globe”. Great place to seek out new ideas and get feedback from other art professionals.
- YouTube for Schools- YouTube now provides access to free educational videos via YouTube EDU, which come from organizations like PBS, TED, and Stanford. YouTube for Schools is helping teachers use video in their classrooms in more innovative ways.