The Purpose of Arts Education

The arts, better than any other subject, communicate the human condition – through drama we learn the human feelings connected with love, death, and longing. Creating and performing are at the core of the fine arts. The fine arts are a fundamental means of expression and communication in all societies. Through the fine arts we gain a sense of our social and individual identity.

Drama experiences are collective in nature. Through experiences in drama, students will learn to work co-operatively with others and will develop an understanding of the processes involved in working in groups of various sizes. Students will develop abilities in listening, expressing and initiating ideas, negotiating, problem solving, decision-making and consensus building. Students will develop an understanding of the processes and elements involved in creating works of dramatic art. Students acquire skills to produce and perform drama. They learn to use media, tools and technologies. They learn to shape ideas and emotions into sounds, images and actions. They become more imaginative, and learn to respond to the creativity of others.

Through observation, discussion, interpretation and analysis, students learn the "language" of the arts. They learn to understand how others express ideas in dramatic expression. In addition to acquiring knowledge essential to performance and production, students become arts consumers (e.g., attending live performances) who understand the basic elements and principles underlying artworks and are able to critique them. It is the existence of focus, tension, contrasts and symbol within drama that creates form and uncovers and deepens meaning. These elements function to serve the intentions of all dramatic artists (playwrights, actors, directors, set designers, etc.) and to connect the work

of all of them in the dramatic art they create together. It is important that students learn to recognize the theatre elements and understand how they function, both within their own work and within works of dramatic art created by others.

As students work together to create their own works of dramatic art, and as they study works created by others, they will develop an understanding of the processes and elements involved in creating such works. Processes in which students may be involved include choosing topics, researching, synthesizing, identifying the focus of their work, translating ideas into dramatic form, reflecting, refining, rehearsing and performing.

Is it the purpose of arts instruction to study the great works of the present and past or communicate the indefinable through artistic performance? Should arts education be built on what is essential for students to know and be able to do? Perhaps the purpose of arts education is to value the process more than the product is another philosophy.  Or perhaps education should lead rather than follow, thus, the arts become critical to the curriculum because through literature, painting, dance, theater, and music, they portray the miseries and inequalities of humanity. Social awareness of the human condition instills a connection to each other.

Drawing on these four philosophies, a curriculum with consequence and objectives is attainable to instill awareness of the dramatic process, understand the effect of culture upon it, to understand effective tools for communication of emotion and to build interpersonal strength for the continued journey of self-awareness.