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New York City
August 2002

Art and Education: the Links are Critical
By Tom Kertes

According to Critical Links, a compendium of 62 research studies and interpretive essays published by the Art Education Partnership (AEP), arts in education enhance a student’s ability to learn and think.

The study, which carefully reviews various forms of art including dance, music, multi-arts, drama, and visual arts “reveals a very strong interrelationship between learning and the arts,” said Richard J. Deasey, the Director of AEP. “And this interrelation turned out to be two-fold: art education helped students in their thinking skills, in learning other material – mathematics, languages, etc,—that is totally independent from the arts. And it also helped students forge more positive social and interactive skills. It became clear through the studies that students participating in the arts became better motivated both toward learning and toward acquiring more positive social interactions and attitude.”

“Students studying and performing drama, for instance, became far more socially tolerant,” added Deasey. “There was the teamwork aspect to this, of course. But the drama also became a bridge to whatever gaps existed socially; it served to teach the kids to tolerate and enjoy their differences.”

According to Deasay, “Economically disadvantaged students appeared to have a particular enjoyment of the arts and used the art-forms as a form of expression not previously available to them.” “Special ed students, who had trouble with social engagement in the classroom previously, found another avenue to express themselves. In both instances, the arts somehow served to lower the social barriers.”

Perhaps the most dramatic results concern younger students, especially those in pre-K and grade school. Art instruction appeared to enhance a young child’s ability to “break the phonetic code” that unlocks written language by associating letters, words, and phrases with sounds, sentences, and meanings. Young children who engaged in dramatic enactments of stories also improved their reading comprehension and ability to read materials that they have not seen before. Critical Links also makes several recommendations regarding the future of arts education research, which includes studies that track students over a period of time and examine the impact of the arts on a child’s ability to learn; studies that clarify the nature of learning in the arts forms and the appropriate methods for assessing that learning; and studies that determine the optimum contexts and conditions for learning in the arts and the enabling school policies, practices, and resources.#

For a copy of the report visit http://aep-arts.org.

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Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
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All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2002.


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