The threat to Fine Arts Education in Alberta

It has become apparent to me during the last few weeks that, when discussing the future of fine arts Education in Alberta, very few people actually realize that the potential to loose the excellence that exists in fine arts education is in fact there. As a member of Alberta's Save Our Fine Arts (www.saveourfinearts.ca) I am a strong supporter of the preservation and expansion of fine arts education, and wish to see education take the best possible path during the rolling out of Inspiring Education.

There are many exciting ideas emerging with Inspiring education, (Education Minister Dave Hancock's plan to essentially remodel the way we look at and carry out education), but with those ideas also come a number of concerns, especially for a fine arts supporter. The first of these is that the Inspiring education document talks of creativity integrated over all aspects of learning. Whilst I am not against this idea, I feel that it does give the potential for a focus on disciplined fine arts education to be lost. There are many papers and studies that support that the arts are an essential part to an education, ultimately leading to more creatively thinking citizens. However, making a high school student color maps in social, or attempting to teach chemistry through dance is not a way to make more engaged, critically thinking citizens. In fact, I would argue that too much arts integration into core classes would increase the number of students who see school as a joke, leading to an increase of students not attending class, or even dropping out of school. This would lead to an increase in the number of students not graduating high school, lower diploma scores, and Alberta students failing to compete for University placements.

It is instead the established fine arts programs that we currently have, the programs that are disciplined and focused that produce the students that many Education systems aim for. The fine arts teach students many skills that other classes simply do not. Walk into any arts class, be it music, drama, dance or art, and you will see time after time again examples of students building confidence, learning how to express themselves, learning the skills needed to think creatively and quickly, often improvising on the spot. Drama, dance and music teach students the importance of working together, collectively working hard towards one goal. The arts build character. They build personality. Furthermore, no other class gives students the same reward that many students get after putting on their top performance, or finishing the piece of art work they have been working on for months. The arts create emotions and feelings that no other class does.

Alberta Education has a number of words that they see their model students becoming. We all know them. The studies show that the arts create students that match these words, and in an idealistic world, all students can become said words if they are exposed to the arts. But the truth of the matter is that it is the discipline and integrity in our fine arts programs that create these citizens, and it is not as simple as learning math through acting.

It is not that I disagree with Minister Hancock's vision for education; I strongly believe he is heading in the right direction. But it is important to make sure that Alberta Education realizes the differences between what looks good on paper, and what the reality of the classroom is. That is why I am involved with Save Our Fine Arts, and as a supporter of the arts, of education, or of tomorrows citizens, I would hope you too see the importance of becoming involved.