"Art for our Sake" - 01/29/20

By: Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland

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I really felt that this text held some crucial information that some of the other texts for this week chose to exclude. Creating the distinction that, yes, the arts can have an impact on standardized tests but no, they will not raise the scores significantly higher than students who have not had the art experiences. In the words of Winner and Hetland, ‘correlation is not causation’. Instead, Winner and Hetland chose to discuss some of the crucial impacts that the visual arts can have on students. These impacts include teaching thinking skills that may not be covered within any other academic specialty. Within my values of teaching I specifically want to work on creating long lasting skill sets that students can continue to build upon for years to come and I feel that Winner and Hetland’s article completely aligns with this line of thought. The reflection and self-analyzation pieces that are referenced within the piece are crucial to the development of these long-lasting skill sets. In comparison to the other articles I have read this week I believe this one takes a more in-depth look into the specific instances in which art education has influenced the succeeding education of a student.