Misunderstood Role of the Arts - Eisner

Britt Beil
MUSIC 23241
March 15, 2011

Misunderstood Role of the Arts

               In this article, Elliot Eisner focuses on the importance of arts in the schools and how people perceive them today. One of his concerns is the lack of time the schools provide for these classes and how that is affecting the students. He believes that schools who don't provide the arts can't give their students the proper opportunities the arts supply in human development. He discusses the common flawed beliefs that people have such as human conceptual thinking requires the use of language, sensory experience is low on the hierarchy of intellectual functionary, and intelligence requires the use of logic. He then tells the reader four contributions the arts provide such as not all problems have single, correct answers; the form of a thing is part of its content; having clear objectives and pursuing them clear-cut aren't always productive or necessary; and arts can help with the distinction between expression and discovery.

                I have had many experiences where there just wasn't enough time in my choirs and art classes to get everything accomplished that the teacher wanted to do. Whether it was because students were slacking off during class, or interruptions by the school, or it just took longer to learn something than expected, it was very frustrating for the class and the teacher. Also, my choir teachers was one of the first teachers I had who would ask a question, and then tell us that there were more than one answer. Of course, at a younger age, this was mind-boggling for me because I had been taught that if you ask a question, you will receive one answer, so the music classes definitely helped in the development of critical thinking for me.

               I had a lot of neutral feelings while reading this article. I didn't particularly agree or disagree with any of the statements or main points. I do believe that if schools don't have art and music classes, they are definitely taking away from human development in the students because of the many qualities and basic skills the classes have to offer. Overall, I just wasn't as interesting in this article as some of the others we have read so far.

Eisner, Elliot W. (1992). The misunderstood role of the arts in human development. Phi Delta Kappan, 591-595.