February 10: Integration

What are the benefits and limitations of integrating the arts throughout the elementary school curriculum? What issues are you encountering as you plan your unit? How do you think these issues might present themselves in the classroom situation? How are you addressing these issues now? How will you address them in the classroom?

There are a great many benefits to integrating art throughout the elementary curriculum. Art when combined with other curriculum areas can enhance the development of children by broadening the scope of their learning as combining two subjects allows the students new viewpoints on both art and the other subject matter. They are introduced to broader more inclusive learning systems that will improve their abilities to cope with different problems and situations in their own unique ways. Integration does not only enhance creative and “arts” skills, but encourages a better use of reasoning skills and logic to stretch their understandings and look outside proverbial boxes. Finally, integrating the arts with other subject areas addresses classroom differentiation by meeting the needs of a variety of learning styles.

The only limitations that I can see are sadly some large ones, such as the financial strain of providing the supplies for integrated art programs and inexperience or lack of knowledge and motivation to learn how to accurately bring art into other areas of the curriculum.

In my classroom I will look to address these issues by constantly striving to enrich my own knowledge of the arts so I can integrate it with my lessons. Making connections with local artists and inviting them to the school and my class will make art a real and visible presence in the school. As a teacher I know I will be engaging in tactics to stretch the funding for art materials. Some strategies include: recycling, sharing amongst classrooms, finding a classroom/school supporter of the arts and fund raising by selling some of the art we create. Within my classroom I may also encourage art projects that can be taken home and integrated with other subjects to ensure the learning is complete.