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The Academic Focus of the Visual Arts  Jimmy spent hours with the supplies his mom bought. Paper mache, cardboard, paint and scraps of this and that covered the floor. Jimmy thought it was the coolest volcano and it actually worked! To his teacher, though, it was Jimmy's lesson in plate tectonics.
What tool was Jimmy's teacher using to encourage him to pay attention and remember exactly what causes a volcano to erupt? He was using the visual arts, an approach that motivates many students by creating a positive and exciting learning experience. Employing visual arts in teaching offers an alternative way to interact with students that have a variety of learning styles, including students with special needs.
Studies show that art encourages higher order thinking skills, creativity, fine motor development, observation skills and more. Most recently, Columbia University's Teachers College found that there are significant and direct relationships between the arts and academic success.
Many new schools are turning to the arts as their central theme. The School for Arts in Learning (SAIL), a charter school in Washington, DC, is one of them.
SAIL was founded by Larry Riccio, a professor of Special Education at Trinity College, and a benefactor of Washington Very Special Arts. Riccio believes that art can help even the most intensely challenged child. "All kids, no matter how exceptional, can benefit through or in the arts. Through a single art project, we can teach the benchmarks while accommodating a variety of learning styles. That single activity can be used to communicate ideas, expand aesthetic awareness, and build cognitive skills."
The SAIL program develops the student's skills in a variety of academic areas such as reading, math and social studies. Last year, the first-graders were learning math equations and made equation mobiles that hung throughout the classroom. Not just seeing the equation on the blackboard, but being able to create and touch the equation, helps these students understand and remember what the equation means. While drill and memorization work for many, not all children benefit from traditional teaching. |
