Arts Education

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a classical argument that the current policy towards arts education is harming the arts discipline. Specifically, this paper argues that by stressing the usefulness of an arts education, policy makers and educators who are trying to get more funding are actually marginalizing and undermining the arts by making the arts into a supportive skill set rather than a discipline in its own right.

From the Paper:

"In today's education system, the arts are often either minimized as unimportant or are translated into a "useful" discipline on par with the sciences in order to justify continued spending on arts courses. This places educators in a difficult position. Either they must make claims that the arts are utilitarian or risk facing program cutbacks or even shut-downs of arts programs. Although policy makers and educators can gain funding in the short term by depicting arts education as practical and useful, and although there can be little doubt that the arts do have useful applications, this approach tends to marginalize and harm arts education in the long run by making the arts into an auxiliary solution rather than a valuable discipline in its own right."

More papers on Arts Education:

• Research Paper # 60427 : "The State of Arts Education in New Jersey"
• Essay # 59919 : "Arts Education in the Schools"
• Term Paper # 90675 : "Arts Education in Secondary Schools"

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