It is possible to combine elements of art education with virtually any core curriculum subject. It is therefore challenging to determine which combinations are truly meaningful as opposed to combinations that are trite and forced for the sake of proving the academic worth of visual arts. Art, in reality, does not need to prove its worth. In itself, art moves people to dance, cry, and even war. Surely a subject with such deep potential to affect the minds of human beings should be regarded with utmost importance, and yet we are concerned with finding ways to relate art to other subjects in order to legitimize it. Though largely fruitless, we may notice but a few worthwhile connections. One such connection can be found in the integration of art in a social studies curriculum. As pertains to human behavior, culture, and environments, there are few subjects as capable of seamlessly intertwining with one another. Human beings have chosen art as a form of expression for as long as they have had the imagination and capacity to do so.
For that reason, viewing and understanding art from the perspective of cultures that are being observed in social studies classes is even more effective than simply reading about them. Allowing children to create artwork that is historically relevant to the cultures that they are studying fosters a deep awareness of their subject material. Countless pieces of information are received by children who read through their social studies textbooks, but much of it seems irrelevant and out of context. This is a fair reaction from young children who lead mostly egocentric lives, and yet it is not necessarily the only outcome to be achieved. In Nancy Beal’s The Art of Teaching Art to Children: In School and at Home, it is evident that children involved with visual arts / social studies activities were impacted on a deep cognitive level. By simply beginning or ending a history lesson with an informed art project based on the people being studied, children are able to form personal connections with their areas of study.
By appropriating art from different cultures and imposing those art styles into core curriculum assignments, memory retention is inherently increased as children develop the feeling of having been there. This, however, is not easily accomplished. Much of my read with Beal’s text left me to imagine the limitless potential of ignorant teachers creating culturally insensitive lesson plans. Given the great degree of benefits that art integration offers in social studies classes, it is the responsibility of educators to create respectful assignments. Simply drawing out basic one-dimensional geometric images, in reference to the Andean chakana, will not do well to educate students about the context and meaning of the symbol. We must challenge our children to create models out of clay and we must expect them to explain the purpose of the models, and furthermore recite their significance and perhaps even the dates of their construction. This is only a single example of how to use visual arts in a social studies lesson, but the possibilities are truly endless.
The online classroom is often considered a removed an incomparable experience, next to the physical classroom, and yet the pandemic has forced so many teachers to utilize its interface. I have taught online classes within the New York public school system, and it is without a doubt more challenging than teaching in a physical classroom. That being said, we at Ur Tempo! know that where there is a will there is a way. You can expect us to teach art with clay, music with all manners of instruments, and even math with virtual reality. Our team is dedicated to delivering real, memorable experiences, and I dare say we can do it even better than it could be done in a physical classroom. keep an eye out for our art programs in the very near future.