Chapter 2 & 3 Take-Aways

The Underpinnings of Arts Integration: Philosophy, Theories, Research, &

Wisdom
Chapter 2:
Overview: Philosophy is based on reason behind actions educators take or what
they do; it is the network of beliefs about teaching and learning, including what
works, what doesnt work, what is ethical, and what is not. Educational theories,
research-based findings, and professional wisdom are used to craft AI philosophy,
which is expressed as a school mission statement (goals) and vision-what you see
and hear happening that bring abstract goals to life.

Making a clear mission statement: (1) describe the students, (2) the focus for
the school, and (3) the schools unique purpose. The mission is an umbrella
statement that acts as a clarifier and a compass. It focuses and directs work.
A creative and sincere mission statement can motivate and inspire teachers
and students, causing them to feel that their work is significant and
contributes to the future. Almost like an epitaph, an artful statement often
capsulizes how the school wants to be remembered.
Arts-based communication, pre-dating verbal and written, is evidence that
the arts were our first communication forms. The arts endure because words
are not up capturing the wide range of human thinking. Greater
communication capacities develop as students grow language arts along with
arts abilities; thus, they have more ways to understand, respond to, and
express ideas and feelings.
AI aims for full multifaceted, multimodal literacy matched to the outside
world.
Arts communication expands our ways to comprehend/understand and
express/represent learning from all curricular areas and life.
Constructivists believe students should make, not merely get, meaning.
Understanding cannot just be found or located, as in finding the main idea.
Meaning is created through inquiry process, using the personal filters of prior
knowledge and background experiences. Humans are predisposed to make
sense.
Two Is & Seven Cs: Context, Challenge-> Imagine possibilities, Collect,
Connect-> Incubate, Conclude, Critique, Communicate.

Ten Pillars of Arts Integration

Chapter 3:
Arts Integration Pillars:
1. Philosophy of Arts Integration: It is the philosophy about the goals of
education, given changing societal and personal needs. AI philosophy is

informed by theories, research, and wisdom that consider child development,

learning, and teaching.
2. Arts Literacy: Each art has its own language, think of arts symbol systems as
alphabets that range from musical notation to the visual art elements of
color, shape, and line. Similar to print and word-based communication,
messages are created and sent using arts languages. How messages are
understood depends on the receivers ability to read or listen to texts
ranging from book illustrations to cultural dances to opera.
3. Collaborative Planning: Working collaboratively with arts specialists, AI
teachers seek out overlapping ideas, concepts, and skills-such as
communication and inquiry- found in separate standard documents for each
academic area, including the arts. By planning together, educators are able
to better locate mutually supportive academic relationships and plan
multidirectional transfer.
4. Aesthetic Learning Environment: The place of learning deeply affects
learners. Aesthetically stimulating places and spaces provoke curiosity,
surprise, and a sense of mystery.
5. Literature as a Core Art Form: Included as one of five major arts and
respected full-fledged art form, possessed of the aesthetic power to develop
deep comprehension and evoke emotional understanding.
6. Best Teaching Practices:
a. What You Teach is WHO You Are
b. Inside-Out Motivation
c. Engagement and Active Learning
d. Creative Inquiry
e. Explicit Teaching
f. Apply and Practice/Rehearse
g. Aesthetic Invitations
h. Process and Product
i. Management: Behavior, Time, and Materials
j. Independence and Self-Discipline
7. Differentiation for Student Needs: Masterpieces reflect individual creativity,
and masterpiece lessons dont paint all children with the same brush.
Students should be treated as the originals they were born to be. Equal
instruction in not fair. Differentiation is about teaching individuals differently
for the sake of justice.
8. Instructional Design: Routines & Structures; should be established for the
classroom as well as within the school schedule to ensure the arts are
permanent curricular members, not drop-in visitors.
9. Assessment for Learning: The arts rely on teacher, self, and peer critique
during work before eventual evaluation of finished products. Thus,
assessment is fluid, with criteria continually evolving as artists collaborate to
consider what works and what to do next.
10.Arts Partnerships: form a web of mutual support based on common needs and
goals.