Tanisha Allen

ELE 545
Methods of Arts Integration
6/30/2014

What does the author see as the most compelling reasons to integrate arts into
teaching?
In The Arts Make a Difference by Rabkin/Redmond, they list compelling reasons to
integrate arts into teaching. Studies have shown that arts education can have powerful
effects on student achievement. Especially for students that are struggling or have
learning impediments. When students are engaged they are more likely inclined to
perform better, academically. Arts programs attract high risk students and had greater
academic benefits. At risk students often feel that they are already operating at a
disadvantage. By integrating arts into teaching, creativity is called upon instead of
traditional left-brained hard-wired knowledge. Integrating arts into curriculum levels the
playing field and gives teachers another opportunity for differentiation.

What rationale is presented here for arts integration?

In the article,Arts as Research by Tepper it is explained that when arts are used as an
interdisciplinary tool, math, science, history, and english/language arts can be
introduced to the students in a creative way which enhances their excitement. Students
will more than likely persist, stay focused and learn. Gone are the days of standard
teacher stands in fronts and lectures while students stay seated straight ahead and
listen. Arts integration allows students to creatively explore traditional subjects. Lesson

plans should be crafted to reflect the color, creativity, and excitement that arts
integration can bring. When students are excited and engaged, students learn.

How can arts integration enhance student achievement and creativity and what
should a teachers priorities be when planning to integrate arts into lessons?
The article, The Arts and Academic Improvement found a correlation between learning
to play music and spatial reasoning. Spatial temporal reasoning was enhanced when
standard music notation was learned as well. By incorporating music, teachers found
that spatial skills that were necessary for musical instruction could be applied to other
disciplines. The gain seemed to be of particular importance in other subjects. This
finding was equal for general and at-risk students. Some proponents argue the value of
spatial skills but subjects such as math and geography are taught spatially and students
will have an advantage in these subjects.

ASCD rationale on arts integration. According to this article, what is a compelling

rationale for arts integration in your classroom?
According to the ASCD article, when students are exposed to rich and varied curriculum
instead of endless reading and mathe exercises, their growth academically improves.
This article highlighted a study based on a Guggenheim Art Project that found that when
students spent one day with artists over a 10 or 20 week period, or were taken to the
museum to see exhibitions, they performed better in critical thinking and literacy skills.
They were more capable of hypothesizing, reasoning, and being able to describe
objects. This research found a direct link between art observations and literacy skills. In
every subject literacy is essential. Differentiated learning opportunities must be present

in order to help disadvantaged students catch up with their peers. The problem is that
more schools focus on math and literacy instead of the arts. Schools devalue the joy
factor that the arts bring to education. This factor is essential for student engagement
and learning retention.