Parent's News: Head's Column

January 8, 2004

In November we were treated to a wonderful evening of enlightenment by Elliot Eisner, professor of art education at Stanford. Full copies of his talk are available in both offices and I encourage you to pick one up.

At the heart of his talk are convictions and beliefs, supported both by research and experience, that education in the arts teaches a range of intellectual and academic skills that are central to our conception of an educated person. Furthermore, many of these skills can only be acquired through the arts, which makes their place and value in curriculum primary. Eisner argues that the arts teach, at a minimum, the following skills, disciplines and forms of thinking. (I have paraphrased and quoted liberally from his written talk.)

• The arts teach students that relationships matter. Artists put parts together to form a coherent whole and to evoke forms of human experience. Notes to the composer and colors to the painter are what words are to the author or symbols are to the mathematician.
• The arts teach us to think within a medium, and to assess limitations and possibilities.
• The arts teach that nuance and subtlety matter. Details matter in the arts as in the shading of a painting. Small changes have big consequences—as in life.
• The arts teach that form expresses feeling. Children learn to use art to discover their feelings and perceptions and to evoke feelings in others. “Art orchestrates our emotional life.”
• The arts teach that purposes are best accomplished flexibly. The arts teach us that process matters and that ends can and should change as possibilities evolve. What a great life lesson!
• The arts teach us that knowledge can be expressed through means other than language. Poetry enables expression that prose cannot. In this sense, the arts are a vital means of communication.
• The arts teach that surprise is the reward of imagination at work.
• The arts teach students that some activities are self-justifying; the reward is in the journey. Engagement in the arts enhances our quality of life and is a satisfying experience in and of itself.

These are big and important ideas for a school. They are central to our mission at Prospect Sierra, and a primary reason for the renovation and construction on our campuses. These skills and abilities will serve our students well as they move along in their education and have always distinguished our graduates and given them a recognizable outlook and style. Let us continue to celebrate and recognize the arts as a central value in our school.

— Buzz