The motivating philosophy underlying this book is that the arts are fundamental to education because the arts are fundamental to human knowledge and culture, expression and communication. Artistic methods and activities encourage creative and critical thinking skills, while at the same time enabling students the freedom to imagine possibilities, seek solutions, and be active seekers of knowledge. Because students are engaged in metaphoric thinking while creating even the most simplest of artworks, they are actively involved in meaning making and constructing knowledge. This book takes a dramatically different approach to arts education in that it does not focus on learning about arts as is most often the case in schooling. Instead, it focuses on how teaching and learning can be considerably enhanced through utilizing art-based activities.
Students can Learn about the arts, Learn with the arts, and Learn through the arts.
The most familiar, most common, and least integrated experience students have with the arts is learning about them. When learning about the arts, students attend classes taught by arts specialists where they learn about painting, drawing, music, and perhaps even dance, or drama. Learning about the arts is not the goal of this text. Instead, the focus is on educating you to help students learn with the arts and through them. Learning with the arts occurs when an art form is the source of a study.