Literacy and the Performing Arts

The performing arts can provide an exceptional opportunity to partner with other disciplines to develop young students as literate, caring, and sensitive people. In a time of culture wars and ethnic clashes, immersion in the arts can foster sharing and promote mutual understanding and respect.

The arts are a special way of knowing the world. Some would argue that the arts are the most powerful force in the world because they define humanity in the rich context of human activity. The arts transcend time, and the knowledge they create is ageless. Making art brings new knowledge into the world; this knowledge is deeply personal but becomes a part of our endlessly emerging identity. The visual arts have traditionally provided strong integration of its techniques and processes into the curriculum, especially in early childhood and elementary schools. The performing arts have been more isolated, and they can learn from the success of the visual arts and strive to help other educators understand the unique and universal qualities of their arts and their relevance for teaching literacy.

A major issue facing education is the difficulty that so many children have in learning to read and write. One might argue that in one sense, these skills are also universal arts. Perhaps if we teach literacy artistically and less like science, reading and writing will become more vital in the lives of young people. The arts can play a strategic role in developing the literacy of our young people. This has been mandated in some states, so that artists who are teachers are expected to develop techniques and strategies that contribute to the growth of literacy.

Artists who are teachers can find very creative ways to infuse the arts throughout the curriculum. They can collaborate with other teachers to develop effective strategies and models for integrating the arts as central to teaching and learning. The most effecive shift in the paradigm for teaching and learning can be the development of a curriculum in which all educators emerge as dynamic, creative, and effective collaborators.