McKay School of Education > News > Artists Among Us
Artists Among Us
Participants at Arts Express Conference
All performers during the three-day conference have full-time careers in other fields, but are outstanding in their creative expression. The elementary teachers attending the conference were asked to draw on their talents and participate in artistic expression during the workshop portion of the conference. Some were confident in expressing their talents, others had to dig deeper and overcome inhibitions, and still others discovered talents they didn't know existed, but all participants became the "artists among us."
Research Data
Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige cited research data representing 25,000 students, including those in the lowest socioeconomic quartile. He said, "Students who participated in the arts had better grades and test scores, performed more community service, watched fewer hours of television, reported less boredom in school, and were less likely to drop out of school." A recent Harris poll indicates that 93% of the public consider the arts as important to a "well-rounded education."
Despite documented results favoring arts participation, other data indicate that children are only receiving seven minutes of art instruction a week. BYU and the BYU-Public School Partnership are committed to teaching the arts and to integrating the arts into the teaching curriculum.
To promote arts teaching and facilitate arts integration in elementary curriculum, the BYU A.R.T.S. Partnership held the Arts Express Conference at Timberline Middle School in Alpine, Utah. A.R.T.S. stands for Arts Reaching and Teaching in Schools. The A.R.T.S. Partnership has been a collaborative effort of the McKay School of Education, the College of Fine Arts and Humanities, and the College of Health and Human Performance directed by their deans: Richard Young, Steven Jones, and Sara Lee Gibb. Beverly Taylor Sorenson, a patron and supporter of arts education in Utah, provided the resources that initiated this partnership, provides much of its funding, and ultimately made the conference possible.
Arts Express
The Arts Express Conference was under the direction of Cally Flox, BYU A.R.T.S. Partnership director; Jolie Hill, the partnership district liaison; and Debora Escalante, research and assessment director. A group of 15 presenters served as master teachers for the conference, with contributions of several additional university faculty and public school personnel. Volunteers and advisors from the five BYU-Public School Partnership school districts of Jordan, Alpine, Provo, Nebo, and Wasatch provided valuable contributions and support.
The keynote speakers were Dr. Claudia Cornett and Dr. George D. Nelson.
Day one of the conference centered on celebrating the relationship between literacy and the arts. In his welcoming remarks, Dean Richard Young of the McKay School of Education said that children come to school with different backgrounds and experiences. The arts can help students learn from a variety of approaches and perspectives, assisting diverse learners in becoming successful learners.
Dr. Cornett addressed "The Fourth R: Literacy IS the Arts: Teaching with, about, in, and through." Cornett is Professor Emerita of Education at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where she has taught courses and directed the reading center. Her message centered on putting the arts back into language arts. She stated, "Literacy involves effective communication through understanding, responding to, and expressing thoughts and feelings." She encouraged all to use the arts in their teaching regardless of their expertise. "The arts," she said, "are natural motivators." She explained that comprehension is invisible, and teachers need to facilitate its expression. This can be done through stimulating the imagination and making it visible through dance, music, visual art, media, or drama.
Following Dr. Cornett's address, a series of breakout sessions addressed teaching literacy through the arts. Some of the workshops were titled The Art of Reading: Books to Educate and Enhance Cultural Literacy; Teaching Music with the Brain in Mind; Using Creative Dance as a Comprehension Strategy for Literacy; The Creative Process: Linking the Arts and Writing; and Acting Out in the Classroom: Enhancing Literacy through Drama and Dance.
Dr. George Nelson, the closing keynote speaker for day one, is an associate professor at BYU with joint appointments in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts and the School of Education. Since 1979 he has worked on developing educational programs using theatrical structures, theories, and practice to reach at-risk learners. He discussed characteristics of learners and ways individuals collect their energy. He said, "No one gathers anything they don't value. Teachers need to know their students and what they value so that subjects taught will be internalized."
The theme for the second and third days of the conference was "Arts Express--A Better World." These were days to celebrate collaboration, connections, imagination, tradition, and diversity. Each participant attended three different workshops presented by master artists, and during the workshops held on the third day collaboratively developed an "informance"--a demonstration piece that was presented to the entire group. Many educators admitted that they stepped way out of their comfort zones to sing, dance, act, paint, or create electronic media presentations for an audience of peers. All were actively engaged in demonstrating how arts can be integrated into the regular curriculum. The excitement of discovery and commitment was evident as the teachers performed. They will return to their classrooms this fall with a better understanding of how to implement the arts in the classroom.
The conference closed with a media presentation that captured images of the three-day conference, highlighting creative time spent immersed in the arts.
Participant responses were enthusiastic. A Westridge Elementary School teacher commented, "I have attended hundreds of workshops over the past 25 years of teaching. This and Arts Academy[ a year-long series of workshops held by the A.R.T.S. Partnership] have been the most meaningful, empowering, and enjoyable!" A teacher from Sandy said, "I love the positive attitude and the encouragement this has given me. I truly was feeling discouraged about teaching. This may bring back the joy."
The goals of the BYU A.R.T.S. Partnership are to provide sustained, sequential teaching of the art forms in schools, to integrate the arts throughout curriculum areas, and to enrich arts-literacy connections in children's lives. This past school year the partnership has organized and conduced the following: the Arts Academy, five 2-day workshops for principals and teachers, impacting 17,500 children; the Arts Express Summer Conference, the subject of this article, attended by 170 educators, impacting 4,000 children; the Side-by Side Teaching Program, a partnership in which a BYU arts student works in the classroom with an elementary teacher, impacting 150 children; and the Community Outreach Program, opportunities provided for elementary students to attend a professional dance concert and participate in an interactive performance with BYU student dancers, impacting l,610 children. The A.R.T.S. website is located at education.byu.edu/arts/.
20 July, 2007