WHY INTEGRATE THE ARTS

5 Compelling Reasons to Use Arts Integration

As an educator, you’ve probably seen or been effected by one of these scenarios:

  • You have students in your classroom that work incredibly hard, but still struggle every day to “perform” on their assignments.

  • Your colleagues come into school looking stressed out, frustrated, and worried about how to get everything done.  It’s not even 9AM and already, they feel defeated.

  • You’ve seen students who typically get labeled as “difficult” light up the minute they walk into an art room or on stage.

  • As a leader, you want to support your staff and provide flexibility, but the reality is that you are being judged on test scores.

Sound familiar?  This is exactly what is going on in most schools today.  We know that creativity, innovative practices and flexibility is critical to meeting the needs of our students (and ourselves!).  But the accountability structure that exists shoves all of that out of the way.

Let’s face it.  As much as we say that we want to provide an “optimal learning environment”, very little is actually changing about education in the 21st century.  We are bound by test scores and limited student achievement measures.

Here’s why arts integration is critical: because the approach provides an opportunity to bring back creativity and increase student achievement at the same time.

 

Sound impossible?  It’s not.  Arts Integration is a research-based approach to teaching and learning that has proven results for the past 30 years.  For schools that commit to using arts integration with integrity, the results are astounding.  Schools that intentionally use arts integration find student achievement rises by 10% OR MORE across the board.

No longer can we say that creativity, innovation, and meaningful learning cannot exist in schools today.  Instead, schools must be brave enough to look beyond traditional approaches (which yield very little result) for approaches like Arts Integration and STEAM that have a proven track record of working.  Here’s why:

1

Student Buy-In

Students become active participants in their learning when the arts are intentionally integrated. This in turn, provides an opportunity for students to own the learning and have a vested interest in their own success.

2

Builds Critical Thinking Skills

Students engage in critical thinking and construct personal meaning through their learning in arts integrated lessons.  They develop the skills to work through problem-solving and to innovate new solutions.  This builds grit and perseverance capacities in all learners.

3

Empowerment for Teachers and Students

Instructors become facilitators of creative learning and are empowered in their own professional growth.  Teachers feel fulfilled and able to provide a hands-on learning environment for their students.

4

Affords Equity

Yields an equitable learning environment for all learners through their own access points.

5

Provides Connective Learning

Furnishes a research-based pathway to teaching 21st century learning skills and natural avenues for differentiation.

How to Get Started

This site serves as a professional development resource for you in the Arts Integration and STEAM approaches.  We offer free daily articles, monthly online workshops, videos, and downloads to help support your efforts.

Additionally, if you are looking for a step-by-step process that we have used in schools all over the country, we have developed a comprehensive suite of online classes that you can take for PD hours.  You’ll get lifetime access to each self-paced course along with templates and resources to make integration a reality.

We also offer an online conference twice per year (in February and July) that features some of the brightest educators who are using arts integration and STEAM strategies with success each and every day.  We regularly have over 2,000 educators from around the world register for these events, which can be accessed live or on-demand.

Our goal is simple: to provide a space where classroom teachers and arts educators can work together, break down the silos and finally make a change in education for good through the arts.  We look forward to supporting you on your journey!