How the Arts Lead to Success
‘The arts’ feature highly in our weekly learning opportunities at Victorious International British School. From the performing arts (Dance, Theatre, Music, Singing, Poetry) to fine arts and sculpture, all these subjects promote valuable, transferrable skills for our pupils’ futures including ‘The 5 Cs’: critical thinking, collaboration, confidence, communication, and cultural awareness.
How do the Arts Guarantee Success in all Fields?
Think about every highly successful human achievement: from a development of new medicine; a ground-breaking invention; an innovative business; to a highly talented teacher creating new methodologies. All of these achievements have one thing in common:
They all started with a single spark of creativity and imagination.
From doctors to lawyers, and engineers to architects, every successful person needs to be creative and draw upon problem-solving skills and able to think outside the box.
Future Opportunities
The study ‘Are They Really Ready to Work?’ found that employers highly value skills taught in Arts Education, since skills such as creativity and collaboration support innovation and teamwork, which better allows a company to achieve its goals.
Academic Benefits
Multiple research studies support the notion that students who engage in the study of the Arts perform better in Maths, Reading, and Writing. The Arts Education Partnership performed a meta-analysis of 62 studies that revealed that students who study music have increased achievement and proficiency in Maths. Reading and cognitive development were found to increase, as were verbal SAT scores.
The Language of Music
Learning to read musical notation is essentially learning a new language, and interpreting a code. It is mathematically structured, as well as linguistically designed – telling a story – and this can lead to greater academic success, especially in Maths, Reading and Writing. According to converging evidence has demonstrated that musical training is associated with improved perceptual and cognitive skills, including executive functions and general intelligence, particularly in childhood.
Social and Emotional Benefits
The benefits of art courses extend beyond the academic realm. A number of studies have shown that the arts have a positive influence on student behaviour and school environment as well.
The meta-analysis by the Arts Education Partnership revealed that drama courses in particular helped students develop an improved understanding of social relationships and complex emotional issues. Students in dance courses were found to demonstrate a greater capacity for positive self-expression, social tolerance and self-confidence.
Arts for Success
To conclude, every child is an artist and every artist is a creator. Our pupils will be creators in whichever medium they choose, whichever subjects they follow and whichever profession they succeed in.
Further Reading and citations:
The Importance of Fine Arts Education. Katy Independent School District, n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2015.
