I was sitting in a downtown cafeteria, wondering which should be an interesting topic to discuss in my next article when a father-daughter conversation caught my attention. The girl was complaining about receiving too many math lessons per week and just one ballet lesson per week. To her innocent eyes learning how to dance was more important than learning how to add and subtract. And I questioned myself, why schools, high schools and universities do not consider art as an important element for student’s development?
Today’s world is evolving and changing very fast, and schools and education are not the exception to the norm. From languages to math, and from music to science the school’s curricula have been modified a lot. Some schools are replacing art education for a higher emphasis on math and science, content areas, that have been increasingly gaining popularity. So, what about the art lessons? Are they not important for children?
Some experts agree that art contribute enormously to the cognitive development of kids and students.
“Art enhances children’s cognitive processes, involving children in problem solving, thinking and using symbol systems to record their thoughts, ideas, and feelings” (qtd.in Wright)
But Art lessons help not just the cognitive development, but it also works as a way for kids to communicate and transmit their thinking to their parents and the world. And more than a way for children to express themselves, it is also a way to envision the world on areas rather than the content areas commonly taught in schools.
Better development of the cognitive processes and communication skills is not the only benefit a kid can obtain from the art education, it also brings positive effects to children’s critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Why Math and not Art?
By: Shanisse Murillo