The Benefits of Using the Arts in the Classroom

Teachers who use the arts in their classrooms report a number of benefits. These benefits include increased teacher satisfaction, better student engagement and learning retention, and improved executive function.

In a high school English Language Development class, students practice using language comparisons by analyzing a painting.

This technique helps in revealing a student’s true potential and improves their overall performance.

1. Improved Educational Performance

Art Integration offers a unique, multi-faceted learning experience that allows students to develop deeper connections with academic content. In addition to this, it requires a great deal of critical thinking and problem-solving, which promotes grit and perseverance. By integrating the arts, teachers can help students become more invested in their education, making them better equipped to succeed in the classroom and beyond.

Arts Integration is a teaching method where students learn and demonstrate their understanding of a subject through an art form such as dance, drama, music, or visual arts. It is a teaching strategy whereby students ‘form their learning through a creative process that relates to and meets the standards of both the core subject area and the art form1.

As students work through the creative process, they reflect on their work in terms of its clarity, accuracy, and meaningfulness. These verbal or written reflections transform learning experiences into knowledge. As an additional benefit, arts-integrated learning engages students in group learning. Students must work together as they consider how to communicate their ideas through the medium of dance or drama. This builds social-emotional skills, including teamwork and collaboration, which are essential in the workplace.

2. Enhanced Motor Skills

Art-integrated learning is an excellent teaching method that helps to develop students’ motor skills. Children need to have improved and enhanced motor skills, especially as they grow up and enter their teens. This is because they will be able to write better and perform better in athletics and other physical pursuits. Moreover, it will help them to have better decision-making abilities and be more focused on their studies.

By integrating art into the curriculum, teachers can encourage children to explore their ideas and emotions through various artistic activities. This will, in turn, allow them to express themselves more freely and will be a crucial skill they will need for their future lives. In addition, art integration also teaches social and emotional skills such as empathy, teamwork, and self-expression. These skills are critical in building cognitive schools and are extremely valuable in the workforce.

However, the best way to achieve this is through professional development and training. A number of non-profit arts organizations are willing to work with educators to help them learn how to integrate art into their lessons. This way, they will be able to create meaningful and engaging learning experiences for their students.

3. Enhanced Decision-Making Skills

When students create art, they must think critically about the process and make decisions about what materials to use, how to arrange the piece on a page or canvas, and what elements of design will best convey the subject matter. This kind of problem-solving is a crucial aspect of logical thinking and a skill that will be useful for lifelong learning.

Moreover, when students are asked to work together on art projects, they must collaborate and communicate with their peers. This is a great way to help them develop interpersonal skills and build self-confidence. Similarly, drama and role-playing are excellent ways for students to understand historical events or literary works as they step into the shoes of the characters and explore different perspectives.

As with any new initiative, teachers must receive training to utilize arts-integrated learning effectively. However, they don’t need to be artists; they must have a basic understanding of how to blend art concepts with other curriculum ideas. In addition, they must also be encouraged to express themselves and be creative. With these elements in place, teachers will be able to leverage this teaching strategy to achieve the best results. This technique will help them reveal the true potential of their students.

4. Enhanced Creativity

In art-integrated learning, students get a chance to learn concepts with a creative approach. This makes the whole learning process fun and engaging for them. They are also able to focus better and acquire enhanced motor skills that help them to achieve more tremendous success in academics.

This teaching approach also helps in developing collaborative skills among students. As part of a group project, students working on the same art form and subject matter collaborate to brainstorm ideas, listen actively, plan, and negotiate. These are the types of critical life skills that will serve them well in future career settings.

As teachers, we have seen students who are labeled as “difficult” light up in dance class and on stage. We have also seen students who struggle in other subjects become successful in art and music. These examples reinforce that the skills are a powerful tool for connecting students with content, building confidence and self-esteem, and encouraging creativity.

5. Enhanced Communication Skills

For a long time, art was a subject that was reduced to a minimum to make room for other standardized subjects in the school curriculum. However, this has changed with the emergence of art-integrated learning. This teaching method merges art with different concepts of the curriculum to make learning fun and engaging. It helps students understand complex concepts and improve their educational performance.

This enables students to express their feelings through art and learn how to interact with other people. This also makes it easier for them to share their knowledge with others. It can even help them build self-confidence and improve their academic performance.

The process of creating art with different subjects allows the students to find innovative ways to demonstrate their understanding. For example, they can design a timeline of an inventor’s work, role-play the sequence of events in a history lesson, or develop a short film on a topic.

This enables the teachers to assess their student’s progress and achievement in the classroom. It also democratizes the assessment process and provides an alternative to traditional paper-pencil or oral and recall tests. This way, students can use any medium to show their understanding of the topic and become confident in their creative work.

6. Enhanced Collaboration Skills

The Arts help students develop skills such as collaboration, creativity, decision-making, and risk-taking. This is a great way to prepare students for the 21st-century workplace and life.

As a bonus, students who learn through art integration perform better academically. By incorporating art into core subject areas, students are more engaged and have a stronger connection to the material. This approach also allows teachers to create a more dynamic learning experience, which is essential for student engagement.

When teaching through art, teachers can incorporate different strategies to help students understand and communicate their learning. One technique is known as elaboration, which involves creating an image or non-verbal representation of the concept being taught. For example, students may act out a dramatization of a text or make a tableau (a still picture created through the positioning of bodies). Students who participate in these types of activities often find it easier to comprehend a topic and are better able to retain the information.

Another benefit of integrating art into a curriculum is that it promotes teamwork and socialization among students. Students work together to complete projects that require multiple steps and can help build self-confidence. Moreover, it encourages a sense of community among students and educators as they become more collaborative.

7. Enhanced Creativity

Art-integrated learning is an interactive teaching approach that has been gaining popularity due to its many benefits. It helps learners become creative problem-solvers and allows them to explore the subject matter from different perspectives. It also encourages learners to use their visual skills in innovative ways, which makes learning more accessible for them and helps them improve their performance. Furthermore, AIL promotes the growth of learners’ language, social, motor, decision-making, ability to take risks, and innovation-led thought processes. It also helps them develop a better understanding of color, layout, and balance.

As a result, learners who use AIL in their education experience improved academic performance and are more interested in school. They are able to learn complex concepts and understand them well. Additionally, AIL provides learners with a way to express their thoughts and opinions in a meaningful manner.

By combining art with other subjects, arts integration activates both sides of the brain at the same time and enhances cognitive abilities. For example, drama and dance techniques can help students communicate in new and different ways while helping them develop their fine and gross motor skills. Furthermore, it has been found that these activities help with the development of students’ empathy and problem-solving skills.