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The Problem with Educational Segregation

As a student who was always logical and calculated, someone who excelled in
math and science, but not in the arts, I have always been criticized for a lack of
creativity. Is it true that students who do poorly in traditional art programs are not
creative? What about the naturally artistic person? The stereotypical artist performs
poorly in traditional math programs, right? And the jock, well, society has no educational
expectations for them. Often, these labels are given to students at a very young age
through elementary, middle, and high school. Equally as often, these labels prove
incredibly inaccurate and, in my opinion, prevent children from reaching a well-rounded
state.
First, I will tackle the situation which sits close to my heart, then I will attempt to
relate it to the greater context. Art is an important aspect of our racial identity. It has its
own place in attempting to describe many things which are incomprehensible with
numbers, facts, and figures. I deeply believe that in order to be a functional human in
any of todays vastly differing societies, one must experience art in one form or another.
This is a difficult fact to impress upon many young people today who struggle to see
why art can be more important than some tweet by a celebrity who will be forgotten 6
months from today. Combining that fact with a disinterest spurred by multiple poor
grades in a seemingly useless class can leave a fairly bitter taste in the mouths of
millennial youth regarding art programs.
I was certainly trapped in a very similar rut until very late in my high school
education. Throughout my career until that point as a student I never once was made to
feel creative. Often, it would be just the opposite. I was typically labeled as a noncreative and neglected by the teachers who should instead be embracing all of their
students.

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But what is creativity? Some people, those who traditionally control the artistic
education of the youth, confine creativity to those who perform, or create. Many of the
art programs, which are dying in the face of reduced budgets, could see a resurgence of
success if they focused on a more progressive approach which caters to a broader
definition. The curriculum would be more inclusive for both the traditional creative types
along with those who can creatively problem solve. Some students will not be able to
paint well. Some students will struggle to master an instrument. But these students may
not be a lost cause from an artistic education standpoint. They may simply require a
different approach to learning the program.
In the essay Blue Collar Brilliance, by Mike Rose, he discusses a very similar
issue. He is tackling the generalized notion that blue collar workers are less intelligent
and not as capable as perhaps more educated workers. In the same way that practical
and STEM students are creative, but differently so than artistic students, blue collar
workers are brilliant in their own right. Rose uses the example of his mother, the
waitress, and all of the little tricks and techniques she had developed over the years in
order to streamline her own efficiency and balance all of the relationships in her life. Her
intelligence didnt come from a textbook, but it is certainly there, albeit in a different form
than many look for. (Rose) When people overlook the creativity of a different sort, a
similar situation is created wherein students talents are swept under the table and left
underdeveloped. Fortunately, my experience isnt quite like that.
I took Art 1 during my junior year of high school. This was a personal challenge to
see what skills and critical analysis abilities I could gain from an art class. Obviously, for
me it was challenging. I never embraced the artistic process. Instead, I always enjoyed
the problem solving process. It is very much engrained inside my psyche. To me, the

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natural artistic procedure is very melancholic. It took me much longer and a

considerable increase in effort over other students to complete the same assignments
because I was taking a systematic and calculated approach while they seemed to
already understand. With some hard work, my methods produced quite acceptable
results, but often well after other students had already completed much better pieces.
Luckily, my teacher for that particular class was exceptionally accepting of different
learning and artistic styles. If I had had a more closed-minded instructor I am certain
that my personal education mission with that class would have been a complete failure.
The problem does not lie solely on the shoulders of the art professors within our
society. The problem is a systematic generational discrimination. Certainly, this is not as
important as the fight against racial or gender based discrimination or the recent issues
with sexual orientation. But, if society were to really analyze issues such as the former, I
think they would find a number of these segregational issues which occur subtly
throughout our culture. Not only are students who excel in math and science often never
given the recognition or opportunity to become wonderfully creative people, but just the
opposite happens. Many advancements in teaching has aided creative students in
alternative learning for mathematics and other logic based courses. Again there is a
societal connotation, which is almost universally held, that artistic students cant do
math.
Both statements about STEM students and artistic ones are accurate in the
context of traditional educational programs. Unfortunately, many of these cultural myths
hold up in the household also. In many American homes, children are just as
categorized as they are at school. He is the smart one or She is the artist in the
family are some typical examples of statements which most parents might utter to other

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parents at a birthday party or other gathering. When a child is constantly bombarded

with a label like that, are they likely to do anything besides conform to it? Especially
when that label was given to them by their parents, typically a much respected person
by the child.
While I was given the label of geek and the smart one because of my natural
ability to complete challenging math problems and grasp difficult scientific concepts, my
brother had the choice of competing with his older brother for that title or, more easily,
just gaining recognition through another avenue. Since an early age, he was formed into
the athlete in the family. According to traditional (yes, I know I use this word a lot, but I
am developing a negative connotation) lore regarding athletes and jocks, they often
have very little intelligence. In much of todays culture, we see the education of students
being sacrificed for their athletic success. Many students make the personal choice not
to do that, but, often, if they did choose athletics over school, society would not be
surprised or alarmed because he/she is a jock so they cant be expected to have
intelligence in addition to their athletic prowess.
This categorizing of our children, no doubt, has a tremendous effect on the
people they will eventually become. With a strict set of expectations to meet the
stereotype which has been constructed for hundreds of years by our ancestors long
ago, when we fail to live up, shaming by parents or educators will make sure that we fit
into the little game. This results in distinct groups of developed adults who have a wide
range of talents as a group, but individually are single faceted and incapable.
Throughout my, limited, life experience it has become apparent to me that we, as
a society are far from finished in any sort of battle for the equality of opportunity. It
seems that after every success, another stone is turned over revealing more issues.

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This does indeed beg the question: What would a culture and society with perfect
equality look like? Ill have to let the dystopian fiction authors handle that one.

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Bibliography
Rose, Mike. "Blue-Collar Brilliance." The American Scholar (2009): 5. Essay.