A global perspective on arts in education

2007 Golden Apple Fellow Melinda Wilson, who teaches dance at Curie High School in Chicago, recently returned from a visit to El Salvador.  She spent her time there at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos International (NPH), an orphanage in Santa Ana.

She learned some very surprising and inspiring things about education at NPH from a 14-year-old resident named Carlos:

During lunch, he sat right next to me and began telling me about himself.  He was personable, friendly, educated and happy.  “I’ve got pants, a shirt and shoes,” he says pointing to them.  “But most of all I’m getting a good education!” Carlos beamed.

NPH children have access to counselors, physicians, psychiatrists, a priest and teachers.  Dormitories are abundant with bunk beds and lockers for each child to store their belongings.  There is even a play area for the younger children complete with swings, climbing apparatus’, a pet rabbit, slides, a teeter-totter and two merry-go-rounds.  The kitchen and eating areas are large, clean and bright.

The children were especially proud to take us on a tour of their school.  The level of education at NPH surpasses state standards in El Salvador by going beyond basic curriculum and introducing all students to trades such as wood shop, sewing, computer technology and culinary arts.  NPH orphanages believe in the power of the arts and all students participate in dance, music, and the visual arts.

A recent op-ed piece in the Boston Globe highlights why American schools should be as strongly committed to arts education as this remarkable orphanage.

We don’t need the arts in our schools to raise mathematical and verbal skills - we already target these in math and language arts. We need the arts because in addition to introducing students to aesthetic appreciation, they teach…vital modes of seeing, imagining, inventing, and thinking.

I often hear that No Child Left Behind has caused schools to back away from arts programming.  Has that been your experience?  How have you responded?

[Check back soon for a link to a longer account of Melinda’s trip to El Salvador!]

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I agree. No Child Left Behind has cause school to back away from arts programming. However true this may be, it’s just not right. I know that for me, music was the only thing that got me out of bed in the morning. I was one of the only reasons why I showed up and graduated. I think that we as teachers need to in some way fight this “backing off” because we do not know how many children NEED the arts in their everyday lives.

I enjoyed reading about your trip. It seemed like a great learning experience.