Making Connections

My mission with this blog and this whole experience is to document first hand observations of the impact of arts education on the students' lives. As I was sitting at breakfast this morning (eating spicy rice covered in curry - yes, rice and curry for breakfast) I became a little overwhelmed at the task. Would I be able to observe concrete evidence of connections between the arts, academic achievement and life skills? Yet, as the day and its many activities continued, I quickly learned that observations of this connection are almost painfully evident in the students' lives at Shanti Bhavan.

An example of how arts is ingrained in SB life

An important daily event at SB is the assembly. This is a time when the entire school comes together to essentially get on the same page for the day. It kicks off with a beautiful nondenominational prayer voicing gratitude for SB and asking to always remain mindful of ways to serve others. Then one student stands in front of the entire school to read the virtue of the day, which in today's case was the value of keeping an organized life. Dr. George, the founder of SB, gave the student constructive criticism, citing her cadence as too singsong-y. The student took the notes graciously and attentively. Next four students went to the front and one-by-one reported on news articles about different issues happening nationally and internationally. The presenting students then opened the floor to questions or comments, proceeding to answer the questions on the spot.

I was a little shocked by this entire event and how well the students held themselves in the spotlight. Not one back was slouched, not one voice was inaudible and not one presenter was fidgety. No sentence fillers or embarrassed giggles to be found. Moreover, the audience was attentive the entire time, I never heard even one snicker or side conversation. After observing this assembly I had no doubt that the students' exposure to arts education played a role in their eloquent behavior. From my own experience, theatre and drama education contribute to public speaking skills, dance training benefits posture and stance, and all the arts advance critical and original thinking skills.

http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Publications/critical-evidence.pdf

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the Arts Education Partnership teamed up to create a compendium on the importance of arts in our public school education. Based on their findings, the NASAA and AEP identified six major types of benefits associated with study of the arts and student achievement: reading and language skills, mathematics skills, thinking skills, social skills, motivation to learn, and positive school environment. Yet, while visual art classes are prominent, very few public schools that I know of offer performing arts classes.

Later in the day we had the opportunity to get silly and play games with the students. We sang songs and danced dances about forming and peeling bananas, hugging bears, and tiny mice with tiny feet who get pushed through a toilet seat. Do these songs and dances directly enhance the students' life and academic skills? I couldn't say for certain, but I would not be afraid to bet they do.

Playing "Funking Chicken" with 4-12 grade

Gearing up for Hugging Bears