Connections!
Not only are we in Maine looking at the connection points of the Arts and the Common Core for ELA and Math but that is the case in other parts of the country as well. The Gardner Museum in Boston has long championed Visual Thinking Skills and viewing and discussing art for the cultural experience. Now they also view the “powerful opportunity to tap into some of the same skills asked of students under the Common Core State Standards”.
In a Maryland county they are working across content areas to implement the new standards and see the “great platform for the arts to really rise and share their importance in the educational fabric of a school.” and in New York City they are working with arts educators to engage in a conversation to insure that the artmaking is not sacrificed while they “focus on developing and documenting interdisciplinary units of study and formative-assessment practices.”
The new president of the College Board, David Coleman, responded to a series of blog posts that were posted this fall on arts education and the Common Core. He said: “the great news is that the standards call on so many things the arts do well. The tradition of careful observation, attention to evidence and artists’ choices, the love of taking an artist’s work seriously lies at the heart of these standards.”
As the new national standards for arts education are developed and the documents are released in the near future you will see the alignment information that has been done with the Common Core. This will be useful information to the field of arts education and the work you may be doing in your local districts.
I know that many Maine arts educators are working with their colleagues to integrate the Common Core ELA and Math standards into the VPA curricula. Please do share the work you are doing by commenting on this blog post.
Let us not forget what Elliot Eisner said:
“To neglect the contribution of Art in education is to deny children access to one of the most stunning aspects of their culture and one of the most potent means for developing their minds.”
I recommend that you read the entire article that I am referencing found in Education Week, December 16, 2013, written by Erik W. Robelen by clicking here.
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