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The Attack on the Arts and A Fond Recalling of The Second Bill of Rights
The arts blogosphere seems to be lighting up daily with posts about how the arts are under attack again by conservatives: it’s the return of the culture wars. On the face of it, yes, it’s true: the NEA, NEH, CPB, PBS, etc., are all on a big hit list for zeroing out by any number…
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Artsmarts: Why Cutting Arts Funding Is Not a Good Idea, from Psychology Today
Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, the co-authors of Sparks of Genius, the 13 Thinking Tools of the Most Creative People, bring you a wide-ranging blog on how funding the arts funds scientific innovation and economic development. Which arts should we invest in? All of them! While almost all arts correlated with increased success as a scientist or…
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Using Art for Public Education Advocacy: An Exemplary Advocacy Video
I love this video, for its message and the artful way its delivered. And, it’s instructive.
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Scorched Earth Educational Policy: Toledo Public School System to Eliminate All Elementary School Arts and Phys Ed
That’s right, ALL arts and physical education. Click here to read End of Art in School Means End of A Legacy, from the Toledo Examiner. There was a radio interview with one of the Board of Education members and when they were asked when the child will be introduced to music the person said “…they…
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Will The Common Core ELA and Math Standards Override State Arts Standards?
I am a pretty big-time fan of the Common Core ELA and Math standards, primarily for the ways in which the standards are designed to broaden what has often been a very flat world of literacy and numeracy. And of course, the Common Core Standards has received a great deal of attention. It’s here to…
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How Important is Arts Education? The New York Times Asks Students
From The Learning Network of The New York Times, comes How Important is Arts Education?, by Katherine Schulten. As a follow-up to Chloe Veltman’s recent piece on how youth choirs are flourishing despite cuts in arts education, Schulten asks the students to respond to: Does your school offer classes in music, drama, dance or the…
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The Shanghaiing of Arts Education Part Two: All is Not What Meets The Eye
As a follow-up to The Shanghaiing of Arts Education, I am happy to direct you to a very interesting blog by Yong Zhao: “It Makes No Sense,” Puzzling Over Obama’s State of the Union Address. It’s a very important read, as it tackles the emerging mythology on how China goes about educating its students: Is…
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How I Learned to Love Steve Reich: Quality in Arts, and Arts Education
It happened again the other day: an assistant principal I know asked me about a conversation she had with one her music teachers. The conversation focused on whether or not a particular artist that the assistant principal was fond of was an artist of quality. The music teacher didn’t think so. It was cause for…
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Not So Fast Chairman Rocco: Arts Education Has A Marketplace Too
Okay, everyone is all abuzz about NEA (as in arts endowment, not the National Education Association) Chairman Rocco Landesman raising the issue in a recent blog of there being too much supply for the demand. In other words: there are too many arts organizations in America. It’s tough to argue that point. I am just…
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More on Belinda Reynolds’s Manifesto: Where Art Thou Composition in Music Ed?
Those who know music education, know that for many years research has indicated that creative music making, meaning composition and improvisation, is taught at a distinctly lower frequency than other types of musical activities not centered in musical creation, but instead interpretation. So, as a a follow-up to Belinda Reynolds’s Manifesto, I thought it would…