Week 12

ü Reflect on the contrasting articles written by Winner & Hetland and Burchenal et al.

· Which perspective do you find most persuasive?

· How does it support your own beliefs about the role/strengths of art education?

I think “Art for Our Sake” by Winner and Hetland is more persuasive to me. However, the second article is not totally contradictory to the first one. But I really love the statement that “As schools cut time for the arts, they may be losing their ability to produce not just the artistic creators of the future, but innovative leaders who improve the world they inherit. And by continuing to focus on the arts' dubious links to improved test scores, arts advocates are losing their most powerful weapon: a real grasp of what arts bring to education.”

“Why Do We Teach Arts in the Schools?” support the idea that art education can truly develop students’ ability such as math and writing that can help to make them get higher scores in tests. They used the VTS as an example. However, I agree with what Winner and Hetland said: “art program teach a specific set of thinking skills rarely addressed elsewhere in the curriculum—and that far from being irrelevant in a test-driven education system, art education is becoming even more important as standardized tests like the MCAS exert a narrowing influence over what schools teach.” Actually, VTS can do much more than improve the test scores. VTS can also teach students “studio habits of mind” according to Winner’s article. VTS is about observation, innovation through exploration, reflection and expression. So I think we should treat art education in both sides, but cannot only treat it merely a tool of improving the scores.

“For students living in a rapidly changing world, the arts teach vital modes of seeing, imagining, inventing, and thinking.” Art should be used to restore balance and depth to an education system increasingly skewed toward readily testable skills and information. The purpose of both articles is good: schools should not cut the time for art, every student deserve to receive art education.