Connections, Relationships and Applications in Fine Arts Education

Teaching the arts through integrated or interdisciplinary lessons and units can make learning more sensible and relevant to students and more manageable to teachers because of the thematic connections across disciplines (Lake, 1994). Moreover, recent neural research suggests that integrated learning is a more natural way to learn (Sylvester, 1998). Lake (1994) notes that the brain uses previous experiences and meaning derived from that experience to make new learning easier and quicker. Because the brain processes numerous impressions, ideas and concepts simultaneously, holistic or connected experiences are easier to recall. The brain looks for meaning through patterns and may reject new facts or ideas if they seem isolated or fragmented or do not fit with existing patterns. Learning is faster and more thorough when meaningful patterns encompass it (Lake, 1994).

The arts are effective in curricula integration because of their deep connections within cultural and social contexts. Such instruction should emphasize the relationships among the domains (Efland, 2002). Teachers may integrate subjects at a basic level, where only isolated facts or skills from two or more domains are connected; or they may integrate concepts extensively so that students gain deep understanding of the relationships. At the most effective levels, students use the inquiry tools and processes of multiple domains to solve meaningful, real-world problems (Lake, 1994). Teachers may want to pose key questions at the topical level to tap connections between students’ lives and perceptions of the world.

In an evaluation of the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), Catterall and Waldorf found that arts-integrated lessons are connected to increased skill levels in speaking, motivation and making decisions. Stevenson and Deasy (2005) note that arts-centered integrated instruction helps students understand both arts and non-arts subjects because they use personal experiences to derive meaning. For example, these connections are particularly strong in language arts instruction when drama is used to help students learn the concept of character. In addition, multi-arts projects help students deepen their grasp of the significance, processes and structures of oral and written communication. When students’ desires to communicate personal meaning increase, they become more likely to use language arts for communication (Stevenson and Deasy, 2005).

Transfer Across Disciplines

A concept related to interdisciplinary learning is transfer, in which learning in one subject area enhances learning in another. While there is some emergent research supporting the idea that learning in the arts fosters or strengthens learning in other subjects such as language arts, mathematics and science, this research is not without its detractors. A landmark study from the last decade (Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky, 1993) found strong links between music learning and spatial cognition (popularized in mass media as the "Mozart Effect"). Follow-up studies by others failed to replicate these findings, until Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky confirmed the findings themselves (Deasy, 2002). Hetland (2000) later used summaries to confirm their work

These issues are central to a debate between those who claim that studying the arts increases the ability to achieve in other subjects (Catterall, 2002; Luftig, 2000) and those who advocate the arts study primarily or solely for the values that are essential to art (e.g., Eisner, 2002; Winner and Hetland, 2000). In one sense, these divisions mirror a more fundamental difference among arts researchers. Anderson (2004) frames the debate between essentialists and contextualists. Each provides a rationale for teaching students to make, perceive, respond to and think about arts experiences. Contextualists’ reasons include the communication of ideas. Essentialists’ reasons include more intrinsic values related to learning the important elements of arts and using them formally in significant ways.

In a comprehensive summary of previous research, Winner and Hetland (2000) found little evidence of a causal link between arts education and general academic achievement. One reason for this lack of evidence may be that researchers have focused too narrowly on test scores and grades as outcomes. The researchers also admit that "the arts are messy, they do not point to clear answers, and they call for multiple and conflicting interpretations." However, Deasy (2002), found significant evidence to support the transfer of various forms of drama instruction, fantasy play and role-playing to reading and oral language skills, and especially to comprehending written text. In addition, some beginning research supports the connection between drama and drawing and the development of narrative writing skills (Deasy, 2002).

Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000), in their influential analysis, How People Learn, provide several important insights about transfer:

Transfer is supported by meaningful understanding based on connections between disciplines and not just on the amount of time that is spent on a task;
Teaching for transfer should focus on overarching themes and ideas, causes and consequences, not just on facts;
Knowledge that is taught in multiple contexts is likely to support transfer and expertise;
Learning to look for, recognize and extract underlying themes and ideas can help students to understand when and how to apply their knowledge, an aspect of expertise;
Transfer is an active process of determining the meaning of what is studied and must be assessed dynamically over time and with multiple measures.

These strategies are supported by Winner and Hetland (2000), who state that transfer can result only if teachers explicitly design strategies for it. Teachers must develop lessons to reinforce learning strategies that students can apply across disciplines, rather than simply teaching basic facts, rules or techniques. Teachers should teach so that students understand the respective arts disciplines but also can transfer those skills to another subject or subjects (Winner and Hetland, 2000).

The findings of Burton, Horowitz, and Abeles(2000) have virtually eliminated the specific controversies and questions about the exact nature, direction and character of transfer. They found that the arts contribute a multiple constellation of competencies, capacities and dispositions that are layered and unified in varied aspects of artistic experience. These same capacities can be applied equally in other subject domains and can be used freely across domains.

Life and Work Connections

The arts have significant connections to aspects of student life and experiences beyond the school day, and provide voices for students to express and comprehend these experiences. Arts programs can build better relationships among students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community. In fact, the arts contribute to a school becoming a community (Stevenson and Deasy, 2005).

Stevenson and Deasy (2005) also found that these arts-related connections help make learning meaningful to students. Involvement in arts education places students at the center of the instructional process and connects education to their own lives, identities and cultures. School work becomes an authentic project that provides positive roles in the community through several processes.

The student as an artist, takes on an expressive and original role. The arts become a "third space" that draws on the student’s lived world (the first space) and the taught curriculum (the second space).
The students’ have the opportunity to explore themselves and their identities through imagination, including what their future lives may be.
Students learn the value that art contributes to themselves and others.
Students become self-efficient and learn that what they do can make a difference.
Students become more involved and enthusiastic about school and the learning process, which may keep some students from dropping out of school (Stevenson and Deasy, 2005).

Stevenson and Deasy (2005) and Sikes (2005) found that the public display of student artwork-not only in the school but in community settings-brought about significant increases in community awareness, appreciation and understanding of the school’s role in the community and the importance of student learning. Arts programs also provide rewarding, positive school experiences for parents (Stevenson and Deasy, 2005; Sikes, in press).

It is important to help students make connections between their previous knowledge and their current academic tasks (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000), and the arts appear to be very good at this. Ohio State University (2002) found that successful integrated lessons can connect with students’ lives through broad, interdisciplinary themes.

Connections to World Cultures and Future Success

Instantaneous communication and the rapid exchange of goods and ideas in the modern global society mean an integrated, holistic approach to education is imperative. The ability to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives and to incorporate information from different fields are essential ingredients for students’ future success (Lake, 1994).