workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems
and communicate, the ability to learn new skills,
to be creative and innovative, and to strive for
excellence.
a life spent in search of the "good" to Samuel
Clemens's (Mark Twain's pen name) observation
that he "never let his schooling get in the way of
his education," people have always debated the
characteristics of a quality education.
and drama, both curricularly and extra-curricularly.
We also teach the arts as discrete disciplines with
measurable goals. The School has a longstanding
tradition of inspirational music, art and drama
teachers, from Bill Duncan and Ruth Henderson
to Lisa Maule, Steve Miles, Margaret Fox, Fiona
Murdoch, Steven Masters and Rebecca Dorrington.
realised the potential of creating a `Centre of
Excellence' around the arts. Not only was the
instructional expertise present, but the talent of the
students was incredible. From the award-winning
quilt that Lower Primary students created for the
Island's 400th anniversary, to the individual student
music performances at Upper Primary Assemblies,
to the acting prowess of our Secondary students at
the Shakespeare Festival, there existed ample
evidence that the School had the potential to be a
leader in the arts.
arts, drama and dance courses are being eliminated
in favour of reading/language arts, science and
mathematics. Conversely, China and India are
expanding their curriculums to include more arts
education. Few people appreciate the fact that
visual art, music and drama courses are mandatory
in schools in countries that consistently rank at the
Japan, Hungary and the Netherlands.
social development. The arts provide a rich and
engaging curriculum that develops students'
abilities to think, reason, and understand the world
and its cultures.
mathematics, reading and writing. In mathematics,
for example, studies point to a direct connection
between music and spatial-reasoning and spatial-
temporal (relating to time) skills, which are important
to understand and use in mathematical concepts.
that students of the arts annually outperform their
non-arts peers on Scholastic Aptitude scores.
In 2010, for example, students who studied music
scored 40 points higher on the mathematics
portion of the test than students reporting no arts
coursework. Similarly, students who took drama
courses outscored their non-arts peers on the verbal
portion of the SAT test by 66 points. Leadership in
the future depends on a deep vein of creativity that
is constantly renewed--a myriad of people who can
imagine, innovate and invent. These are qualities and
habits of mind developed by the study of the arts.
A
the arts
improve
in other
subjects
including
maths,
reading
and
writing'