Kurt Morrison

Art 3700

Reflection #3

Maele Shakespear

Integrating Art Into The Classroom

One day, in my Introduction to Elementary Education class, my professor told us to bring a few crafts the next time we meet.  We were assigned to bring 3x5 note cards, card stock paper in a variety of colors, a glue stick and scissors.  I have never been skilled at assembling crafts so I went into the project with some trepidation.  As the class began, Dr. Barta explained that we were going to make bookmarks which would be decorated with colorful woven patterns resembling those of the woven textures of South and Central America.  We then proceeded to cut strips of colorful paper and glued them onto the white notecard crisscrossing the strips to resemble the woven look we were trying to imitate.  Without going into much detail, he then explained how this simple activity can help young kids to develop math skills as they figure patterns needed to create the woven look as well as calculate the number of ribbons per row, etc.  What an exciting idea, integrating an art project into teaching math concepts.  The more I ponder the idea of art integration, the more I realize that art is in every subject we teach and if recognized and explored, will only increase the grasp a student will have of that subject.   

I’ve mentioned in a previous reflection how art can help develop skills that often are not taught in other subjects.  Skills such as: creativity, critical thinking, and learning to work as a team.  The text, Emphasis Art Ninth Edition, specifically mentions, “Integration in the Three Domains: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor.”  The comprehension of these domains and knowing how to effectively apply them allows for a richer sensory learning environment for those students involved.  One of the main points discussed is the need to go far beyond the simple memorization of facts and figures and instead dive into a higher level of learning which involves the thoughtful analyzing and integration of these facts into our daily lives.  This would ideally be done through learning activities involving movement of the body as well as expressing emotion and finally reflecting on and analyzing the activity itself.     

Earlier I shared with you the making of the bookmark in class and how that can help children grasp math concepts.  There is however an additional principle a teacher could explore while in the midst of this project and that is the principle of cultural awareness.  Perhaps no other generation is more able to access visual culture the way today’s youth can.  As youth are educated in the visual arts of many different cultures, they would hopefully begin to appreciate those cultures and grow more accepting of our differences.  The making of the bookmark and perhaps even showing the kids real woven products made by such a culture could be an additional integration technique.    

As to the idea of whether or not the integration of arts is important in the overall school curriculum, I feel that is may not be just important but perhaps vital.  Thinking back at my early education, I do remember a lot of memorization but unfortunately not a great deal of meaningful exploration through psychomotor and affirmative applications or even high levels of cognitive learning.  As a result, I felt ill prepared for real world situations where all of this knowledge is supposed to come into play.  From the website nwlink.com, additional thoughts are shared about the importance of The Three Domains, they state, “This taxonomy of learning behaviors can be thought of as the goal of the learning process.  That is, after a learning episode, the learner should have acquired new skills, knowledge, and/or attitudes.”   Exploration of another website, oaks.nvg.org, led me to this thought on psychomotor skills, “Learning is pleasurable but doing is the height of enjoyment.”  We can and should strive to bring enjoyment into all that we teach in order to foster the student’s desire for continuous learning.  Art is the one subject which allows for almost limitless creativity and freedom of expression and should not be confined to only one classroom in school but integrated into the entire curriculum for the benefit of all.