Give Students the Freedom to be Creative, Collaborative, and Innovative

Throughout Arts in Education Week, we, as arts advocates, set out to show the benefits that the arts can bring to a student's growth and development, which includes developing skills in "creativity, collaboration, and innovation." However, it is important to ensure that we are giving students the freedom to actually use these skills we claim to nurture through the arts.

As Mark Slavkin, Vice President for Education at the Music Center: Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, discusses this in his article, "Helping Students Find Their Own Voices in the Arts."

"We need to look at our own practice and make sure we are consistently cultivating the benefits we claim for arts education. Are we giving kids license to be truly creative?

For example, in the performing arts, how often are students provided opportunities to compose original music or choreograph a new dance piece? How often are students encouraged to pursue their own ideas in the arts, as opposed to following the very explicit rules and directions from the teacher?

Since the rewards system for arts teachers gives enormous weight to the final show/performance, it is no surprise to see teachers focus their limited hours with students on rehearsing for the coming show or festival. Such events help garner support from parents and principals and serve as a source of pride for the school community.

The hard work, discipline, and teamwork on display are often quite impressive. But what about our claims concerning creativity and innovation? When do the band kids get to explore their own interests and ideas in music? Of course, the same pressures and patterns are also evident in the dance studio or theater stage. Contrary to our rhetoric, I worry we may be cultivating more “rule followers” in the arts classroom.

Clearly, there is an important part of arts education that involves honing basic technique and learning the work of great masters in each discipline.

I am simply suggesting we make more space for students to explore and find their own voice in the arts. If we want to cultivate true artists, and not mere technicians, we need to start somewhere."

We need to give students the chance to put the skills we set out to develop through the arts to use. This can be done by putting more focus on the actual creating and collaborative process of art, rather than just the final piece or performance. Just something to ponder during National Arts in Education Week.

If you want to read Slavkin's entire article, click here to read it on the Arts Education Network, a program of American for the Arts, blog.

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In what ways do you cultivate creativity, collaboration, and innovation in your classroom?