2001          

Sommer Brown teaches the children to think and love.

Why Integrate the Arts into the Classroom?*

            “Children are dancing, singing, acting...all they are doing is playing and they can do that on the playground.  In the classroom they must sit at their desks and learn!”  This is what the principal at Rockford Elementary school had to say to me last Friday when I went to speak with him on his decision to cut the integrative arts from the classroom curriculum.  Is this really the case or is this a man who does not fully understand what integrating the arts is and what it can do for children?  To find the answers to my questions and get to the bottom of this uproar that is sweeping through our community I interviewed a variety of people (teachers, students and parents) and this is some of what they had to say: 

“I have been teaching for ten years now and I have seen more than half of all the students that I have taught grow in such marvelous ways and now this teaching tool of mine is going to be nicked?  That is cheating my future students!” -Mrs. Wayside (4th grade) 

“My daughter is more expressive and outspoken since her teacher brought the arts into the classroom.  She lets me know what is going on inside that head of hers and I am very amazed. It is not playing, it is being a child and playing to the needs of children.” -Mrs. Osborn (mother of a 2nd grader)

 “I look forward to school. My teacher makes everything fun and now I won’t have anything to look forward to.” -Jackie (3rd grade student)

“I have students that don’t seem to concentrate on anything but when they are  moving, learning hands on, there is some true concentration and dedication.  My students have learned that you can communicate in more than one way, why would you want me to stop teaching that?” -Mr. Henry (5th grade teacher)

“Students are allowed to connect with things in ways that they cannot connect if I just have them at a desk.  They have energy and imaginations and I recognize this.  They are allowed to be creative, use their energy and imaginations.  I have one little boy who is very disrespectful and when I did a drama lesson on respecting people he was able to see how he was making people feel.  This was a lesson that can not just be told to a child.  Integrating the arts in my classroom teaches real things and does it in a way that makes an impact on the children.”-Miss Daffy (1st grade teacher)

            These were only some of what the people that I interviewed had to say about the integrative 
 arts being cut from the classroom curriculum.  I didn’t just get positive ones, these are some of the people who were supporting the decision made by Mr. Mean the principal: 

“My son needs to learn math and he doesn’t get that by playing!”-Mr. Right (father of a 4th grader)

 “I have been teaching forever and I have never had a problem with not using the arts in my classroom.  Children need science and math and they get all that other stuff from their parents.  We have art and music here, I don’t have to teach that stuff.”-Mrs. Buffy (5th grade teacher)

“My little girl doesn’t say anything about it so she must not like it.  I don’t want her to be held back in any other subject because her teacher wants to teach a song  in class.  She can learn all about music and art in those specific classes.”-Miss Joe (mother of a 2nd grader)

             This discussion has created quite the wild fire and it doesn’t seem as though anyone on either side is backing down.  I myself am an education major and so this topic interests me a great deal.  I don’t think that people who are supporting this decision know a great deal about what integrating the arts into  classroom is all about. They seem to have a lot of misconceptions about it being all play and no learning.  So if you are supporting this crazy decision this is what I have to say to you:  how else does one learn but through exploration?  What is it that children really learn through this exploration that I am claiming they will be doing?  Well, if you did not get a sense for what they can learn through what so many of the parents, teachers and children had to say then read on my friend.

            Children have the great potential for learning how to empathize with how another person or thing might be feeling and this is not something that can be learned through a book it must be hands on and using the arts is very much hands on.  Children learn how to communicate how they are feeling and how something else might be feeling through many different forms of communication, music being one of these forms.  They learn how to not only use their voices through monologue, chanting, singing, and choral speaking (just to name a few) but through their bodies.  A child’s body is as precious as an adults and to be able to communicate with your body through facial expressions, movement, dance, sign language, gestures, miming and pantomimes (just to name a few) is not to be taken for granted.  Expressing how they feel or what they have learned through art can be very useful to a child who has a difficult time expressing themselves  For children who have a hard time concentrating or paying attention to just book work, this can be a path that will open up a whole new world to them. 

            Not only can children learn how to express themselves but they can learn how to do this as individuals and as a group. The world needs team players and people to be able to express their thoughts and emotions and how can this be taught through a text book?  I personally have seen children who have not spoken a word in a group go through dramatic changes and be able to express their ideas and emotions.  Why would you want to take this chance away from any child is beyond me?     

            This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg!  Children have this great potential to learn about the world in ways that we can only wish that we could have learned about the world.  As adults we have to realize that for a child to have the chance to tell a story, use their imaginations, observe others doing as they are supposed to be doing, being a team player, being creative, sharing their ideas, orally reflecting, experimenting with their emotions and using their energy is all a positive thing!  How can we as adults take away a child’s right to learn in the way that is best for them and if drama is way for a child to learn something in a way that is best for them and we are cutting this; aren’t we taking away that child’s right?  In a special addition of Parents Magazine they gave all of these pointers in how to integrate the arts into a child’s’ life.  If this is something that is supposed to even be integrated into home life; why not school?  If you think that integrating the arts into the classroom  is just play than you don’t fully understand what integrating the arts is.  And...what is wrong with learning through play because play is exploration and exploration is learning.  It isn’t as though teachers are doing this and there is no benefit.   Anne Gilbert teaches movement in  her classroom and does this because as a student it worked for her.  Now as a teacher her students are doing better on their tests because they are remembering what they are learning.  They are making a connection with the material they are studying and their bodies.

            A child’s’ potential is unlimited and by taking away something like drama, music, and art you are limiting that potential.  As educators, parents, and human beings it is our job to help children learn, let’s take that risk into what so many people fear...the unknown and realize that the unknown can open up a whole new world.  Children can’t learn about problem solving, oratory skills or different perspectives through books but you are right they can read about them. 

* The above is a mock editorial 
 

Drama Teaching Philosophy

          I think that adults forget about what it is like to be a child.  Children have this energy that runs through every part of their body and these minds that are capable of the unimaginable.  It is my belief that children need to be able to use all of the gifts that they are blessed with and that their incredible minds and unleashed energy can be used to help them with this exploration.  Growing up is similar to a journey and if on that journey you were only allowed to sit and do as you were told you would not gain the great many things that you are capable of gaining.  Drama is one path that can be taken on that journey of growing up and exploring that can allow children to grow and learn in ways that might not be possible.

          It is my true belief that children can benefit from drama in the classroom in ways that adults aren’t even capable of seeing because as an adult you can never truly become a child.  As a good teacher it has to be my job to realize that their are things that my children need that I cannot always relate to but that I must give them as best as I can.  I think that allowing my children to use their bodies and minds to imagine and explore is an avenue that I can take as a teacher to help meet the needs of my students.  I wish in so many ways that I could be a child again so that  I could remember what it is that children really feel but since I cannot go back in time I can only go forward using the knowledge that I have.  That knowledge is that children are special people with special needs that I have to help on their journey and  I know that I can help them gain  a great many things to make their journey memorable through drama.



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Copyright © 2001 [Sommer]. All rights reserved.
Revised: May 28, 2001 .