Art Works: The College Board, in partnership with the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), recently released two research reports designed to support the revision of the National Arts Education Standards. Building upon the 1994 National Standards, which were the result of a collaboration of professional associations representing dance, music, theater, and visual arts teachers, the next generation of arts education standards will describe what students should know and be able to do as a result of a quality curricular arts education program. According to the NCCAS wiki, the new standards will “support the 21st-century needs of students and teachers, help ensure that all students are college and career ready, and affirm the place of arts education in a balanced core curriculum.”
Friday, October 07, 2011
Taking Note: The National Arts Education Standards
Art Works: The College Board, in partnership with the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), recently released two research reports designed to support the revision of the National Arts Education Standards. Building upon the 1994 National Standards, which were the result of a collaboration of professional associations representing dance, music, theater, and visual arts teachers, the next generation of arts education standards will describe what students should know and be able to do as a result of a quality curricular arts education program. According to the NCCAS wiki, the new standards will “support the 21st-century needs of students and teachers, help ensure that all students are college and career ready, and affirm the place of arts education in a balanced core curriculum.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
This is a lot like the other article about how prepared actors are for the real world. I think that these standards for education before entering the art world is important. Part of being in the art community is translating ideas and properly selling them to others. That being said, these new changes might hurt or stop some of the potentially incredible artists. THere are so many different types of arts, and there is so many different ways of thinking to produce the arts. Making these rules could really create obstacles and hinder work from being seen. I hope that this isn't the result and I know the board isn't trying to be snobby but it is a game changer when other aspects to the arts are thrown in. No matter how important they are for some.
This article leaves a lot to be desired. I still don't know what standards they are trying to enforce on art programs. I do believe that more rigorous guide lines are really important. To be a good artist you have to be in tune with your audience so I would agree that you need to have skills to match the 21st century culture. There is no excuse for not knowing about the culture we are currently living in and the technology that is out there because, not only will it help you live in the world but it will help inform the kind of art that you do.
To a large degree, this article is just preaching to the choir in terms of convincing anyone that arts education is necessary. What it does manage to do, at least for me, is remind me that the problems aren't just about securing FUNDING for any of it but then what to DO once we've got any money. I believe it's true that successful people most often come with a background in the arts, even if only minorly.
If "thinking creatively," "communication" and "collaboration" are some of the cornerstones of 21st Century Skills, I can't imagine where else you could learn and hone that skill better than in something like theatre.
I do not think that creating more rules will in fact help the problem presented. There is no one way to fix an arts problem as no art is the same. There should be standards that help to guide the decision that are made, but however do not get in the way of adapting to each individual situation.
That being said, if it means sacrificing flexibility for the ability to better support more, this might be a trade off worth looking at.
We are all well aware that in order for our society to progress with new creative ideas in any sector there needs to be arts education. What this article is addressing is the fact that in order to gage how well we are educating our student population in the arts, we need to have standards that serve as a measure of how well this task is being performed.
As much as I think it is impossible to put standards on art education, I see how in the society that we live in today they are necessary. Standards hinder educators in that they are required to teach particular methods and practices in order to meet these standards – thus imposing parameters that restrict them from exploring alternative ways of teaching. However, in order to measure the education that students receive about any subject you need standards. As difficult as it is to put measures on any art, it is the only way we’re going to gage how well our student populations are learning about the arts.
I completely agree with Zoe: I started out reading this article excited to see what was FINALLY being done about the College Board's lack of resources when it comes to higher education in the arts, but finished it not knowing much more than when I started. One can of course argue that the arts are "different" and the College Board points teenagers where they need to go to start figuring out their "real-world" lives, but the fact remains that some of us choose to spend our lives in art, and can make a career of it. It's a lot like people who encourage high school art classes as an extracurricular or resume buffer, not acknowledging that some people do actually pursue art careers and make a legitimate living at it.
Well, if this article does not give very much information as to how arts standards are going to be changed, at least it is letting us know that something on the national level will eventually changed. That's something that pretty much everyone can agree is very necessary. When school budgets are cut, as has been happening extremely frequently in the recent economic climate, arts education is almost always the first thing to be sliced off. It's refreshing to see people higher up on the ladder agreeing that the arts have a myriad of benefits even for those who are not necessarily interested in pursuing an art career.
Post a Comment