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Content: Arts Integration

Candidates engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication

to address authentic local and global issues using the arts (music, dance, theater, media arts,
and/or visual arts). (See Alaska Arts Standards)

“A report issued by the Center on Educational Policy found that five years into No Child

Left Behind (NCLB), 44 percent of school districts reported decreased time for social studies and

science instruction as well as art, music, and, of course, recess” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2017, p.

237). Harvey and Goudvis go on to say that most educational time is spent teaching what’s

being tested, and that science and social studies- when taught at all- have become the least

favorite among students. Being taught as a slog through textbooks has affected retention of

information and real-world connections in far too many students.

In a culturally responsive classroom, students are actively participating with

responsibility for their own learning, while teachers “... celebrate and incorporate the cultural

heritages of students within instruction, they recognize varied learning preferences and styles,

and they implement a variety of instructional strategies to teach all students” (Reif & Grant,

2010, p. 100). Coincidentally, incorporating art(s) into content areas in the classroom has very

similar effects. Incorporating art throughout the entire curriculum not only connects content

across curriculum, but it can create a deeper cognitive connection, and thus improve retention

and comprehension.

According to Ruppert (2007), the benefits of arts integration can be summed up “as the

recognition that learning in the arts is academic, basic and comprehensive” (p. 10). The

academic aspect includes reading/ language and mathematical skills, while basic and

comprehensive benefits include thinking, social, and motivational skills, as well as forming a
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positive school environment (2007). Further, “More than 65 distinct relationships between the

arts and academic and social outcomes are documented. They include such associations as:

visual arts instruction and reading readiness; dramatic enactment and conflict resolution skills;

traditional dance and nonverbal reasoning; and learning piano and mathematics proficiency” (p.

10).

One of many ways I integrated art into my lessons was during 4th grade social studies

with my youngest student, S.K.. In order to make social studies more engaging for her, I

introduced the idea of a diorama. We were in our Indigenous unit of study and she had just

finished research on Mayan culture before western contact, comparing it to her own Alutiiq

culture. After studying the housing, geography, food, art, and little bits of history significant to

the Mayan people, I offered for S.K. to choose one of the two cultures to emphasize in a

diorama. I gave her free reign to all of the cardboard, art supplies, and office supplies that she

could possibly want.

Using the research she had just conducted, S.K. created a visual for each piece, to

include in the diorama. She included the ocean, tundra, mountains and a sun in her

background, using paints and tissue paper. Then she created a kayak out of cardboard, a tipi out

of sticks and fabric, spears with toothpicks, and even a fish rack out of pipecleaners. The

problem-solving and thinking outside the box (pun intended) was a struggle for her, at first. But

with a little encouragement and some options laid out, every single thing in that diorama was

her own idea. The final part was one that she was more excited about than I thought she’d be.

To further expand the art into her own culture, I requested that she label all the parts of the

diorama in English and Alutiiq. She also wrote her own “museum label” for the display case.
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This piece of art was an excellent representation of the academic, basic, and

comprehensive skills that Ruppert (2007) discussed. S.K. demonstrated the academic skills in

literacy, through the research and the labels. Throughout the process, she displayed motivation

to learn more about the Mayans, as well as to apply her knowledge of Alutiiq culture into the

art project. Then, the best part of it all, was her evident excitement to display and show off her

work, when the diorama was finished. Shortly after the project was finished, we held a

graduation ceremony in the school. S.K. was so proud that she pulled almost every guest of the

ceremony over to the display case so that they could see the work that she had done. Her mom

also told me that she talked about it for days after, until I finally told her she could bring it home

to keep forever.

As demonstrated, “students retain more information by using a variety of meaningful

strategies and multisensory ways” (Wlodarczyk, 2021, unp.). However, with budgets tightening,

expectations rising, and deadlines approaching faster and faster, it is often one of the first things

to be cut. I have also found that many of my fellow teachers over-think the idea of adding art

into the classroom. During my time in pre-service and candidacy, I thought the same thing. I

wanted to stick with pre-made lessons in textbooks because it was easier and cheaper. Then, I

moved to a village. With materials in short supply (if supplied at all) and students that learn best

when incorporating hands-on activities, I frequently had to get creative.

My students and I have created art out of everything. We’ve discussed the science of

colors, using different colored rocks. We’ve made culturally representative flags out of magazine

and book clippings. We’ve discussed historical events (such as Orange Shirt Day) and painted
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rocks in celebration. Music has always been the hardest to integrate because of a lack of

confidence with my students. It will continue to be the art form I work towards including.

“The intuitive need to express ourselves is precisely why the arts are an ideal vehicle to

develop language, deliver content, and encourage academic exploration in school in culturally

responsive ways” (Reif & Grant, 2010, p. 101). Including art in the curriculum and assessment

will support students academically, socially, emotionally, and especially culturally. Arts

integration, when done right, can be the content that creates an interdisciplinary and

cross-cultural bridges across all content areas. It can be included with abstract concepts,

real-world connections, and everything in between. Finally, with all different forms of art,

integration will ensure all students are included and the academics are fully comprehensive. Art

is a safe space where all people have equal access and equal reception.
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References

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2017). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for engagement,

understanding, and building knowledge, grades K-8. (3rd ed.). Stenhouse Publishers.

Reif, N., & Grant, L. (2010). Culturally responsive classrooms through art integration. Journal of

Praxis in Multicultural Education, 5(1), 100–115.

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=jpme

Ruppert, S. S., (2006). Critical evidence: How the arts benefit student achievement. National

Assembly of State Arts Agencies. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED529766.pdf

Wlodarczyk, A. (2021). What is arts integration and how is it beneficial to my program? The Art

of Education University.

https://theartofeducation.edu/2021/10/13/oct-what-is-arts-integration-and-how-is-it-be

neficial-to-my-program/