One teacher at a school for special needs students in Maryland writes in the Baltimore Sun that arts, particularly music, in schools, especially those that serve at-risk or special-needs students, may help motivate students and enhance learning.
While all students gain from Arts Integration, students with musical, dramatic and artistic talents, unconventional learners, and disengaged students benefit most in increased competence, self-awareness and confidence.
For instance, an African drumming exhibition mesmerized students, and some routinely started drumming to express their mood and discharge energy. One child with severe emotional and reading disabilities became so accomplished that he performed a stirring schoolwide drum solo this past spring. This and other targeted interventions caused his attitude and grades to improve, and he is now fully mainstreamed for 2012-13.
While Moton quarterly assemblies still salute academic stars, they increasingly recognize other talents. Interestingly, parental attendance at arts activities has risen, and interconnected afterschool clubs, music and drama programs have become quite popular.
First, recognize that this is another wonderful example of good teachers (Moton is the first elementary school in Carroll County, Md., to integrate arts into the school day for all its students) finding a way to get kids to like school.
I really don’t think it matters whether you use African drumming, Pavarotti’s rendition of “Nessun dorma”—which they play over the public address system at Moton on occasion—or a chess club, which the writer of this op-ed piece hopes to launch this year.
Different children have different competencies, and in order to help kids feel better as learners, teachers have to appeal directly to those competencies. It does absolutely no good to tell a child he’s no good at something. Instead, find out what each child is good at and integrate that into his day.
You will find him more motivated to come to school, more rewarded by learning and the intrinsic benefits it carries, and more accomplished after school is over and he finds himself looking for a job. Yes, kids need to become aware of their limitations, especially at-risk subgroups, but don’t harp on it, for Pete’s sake.