Schools Need to Face the Music: Honors Blog 9
In “Strong Arts, Strong Schools,” an excerpt from a 1994 keynote address, Steven Fowler presents several answers to the questions: What is the connection between excellence in education and excellence in the arts? Why are schools with strong arts programs better schools? How do the arts add significantly to the dimensions of general education?
First of all, Fowler argues that the arts form an integral part of a comprehensive education. No single way of learning forms a complete picture of the world around us, so we must take from as many systems of learning as we can. Arts also offer a different way of education, one that encourages critical thinking and different solutions to the same problem. Students aren’t told what to think, but instead taught how to think.
In the third section, Fowler calls the arts “the cement that brings all the disparate curricular areas together.” The arts relate to almost any other subject matter and can help students relate to the past in a much more personal way than a dry textbook. Similarly, students can use the arts to relate in the present time as well – to other cultures, other countries, other ethnicities, etc. This teaches us to be more empathetic and open.
Fowler writes that the arts enlighten. For instance, theater shows us aspects of our human nature so that we can see them more objectively and perhaps recognize our own shortcomings or strengths. He then concludes by saying, “The arts are our humanity.”
Response:
I can’t count how many essays I’ve written on this very subject. I’m not sure how anyone can still look at the piles of data, statistics, hard evidence, etc. and still be convinced that the arts aren’t valuable subjects in schools.
Indeed, the issue doesn’t center on whether arts education is beneficial to students; instead, in the harsh reality of low funds and little space, the question becomes how it can remain in a public school’s budget. After all, a school won’t keep a band over a science class; it just doesn’t make sense. In a world where finances quickly dry up and schools are punished for low test scores, schools feel backed against the wall and “cut the fat.” But, it’s clear from years of study that music and art programs are worthwhile; how, then, can schools keep them?
On a local level, organizing fundraisers and asking stores or corporations to donate products for free or a reduced price might take away from the high cost. Individuals must also make their voices heard, whether it be supporting a candidate for the school board who favors education in the arts, or increasing interest in music and art programs by arranging concerts or appearances by well-known artists. The efforts of those concerned should strive to restore and maintain music and art programs in schools. Their loss would be devastating, effectively cutting off many from an opportunity they will get nowhere else.