What I am investigating:
Arts and music education, and the budget cuts affecting them... they've always been a point of contention among educators, parents, etc. With our economy in its current downturn, it will doubtless be a subject at the meetings of many education boards and organizations. What I am attempting to accomplish with this article is to investigate the state of art and music education in the United States. How much money has been cut from these programs? How is it affecting classes? How is it affecting the prospects of people looking for careers in that field? I'm hoping to get a college and grade school perspective in interviews to balance out the investigation. One might assume that elementary schools are being hit harder than colleges. Finally, why should we keep these programs? Is letting the kids paint and sing really that beneficial to them? I think we can all walk away from this a little more educated.
Informational Links
Article from Edutopia - This article elaborates on the influence of education in the arts on a child's cognitive development attempting to show that art education is essential. http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development Article from Americans for the Arts - This site offers a wealth of sources on art education, from quick facts to national surveys to other art education website links. http://www.americansforthearts.org/public_awareness/artsed_facts/ Article from US Liberals on www.about.com - This article shows how much good ol' Dubeeya cut from various educational programs. Look at arts and music. The results aren't pretty.
Information on the UNI budget - How hard is our university being hit by the crisis? What are we doing about it?
Educational Leadership: Rigor Redefined - This article by Tony Wagner shows the conclusions that he came to from interviews concerning what business executives are looking for in employees nowadays, and how the arts can improve these qualities in a person.
Interviews
I have currently interviewed five victims (I mean subjects). I have interviewed:
Amy Hunzelman, Director of Education at UNI
Kevin Taylor, a UNI senior instrumental music education major and an aspiring music teacher.
Lynnette Clark, an elementary art teacher in the Belmond-Klemme Community School District.
Amy Pollitt, an elementary music teacher in the Belmond-Klemme Community School District.
Diane Franken, Executive Director of the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education
I am still waiting to hear back from some other people. Unfortunately professors seem very busy with finals week and not all have been good about answering my calls.
|