Representative Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg) is sponsoring a bill that would add arts education to the state’s graduation requirements. If the legislature approves the bill, all high school students will be required to take a one credit arts course.
I really don’t have strong objections to the bill, but I do have some thoughts about how to improve the bill and improve arts education generally.
First, arts education needs to return to an emphasis on developing proper technique and understanding the complexities of artistic expression, not just “appreciating” the arts.
Second, why not allow students to fulfill the requirement through their participation in extracurricular or after-school arts activities, such as private music lessons, community theater, or dance?
Third, why not find some clever ways to integrate the arts into the core curriculum in a meaningful way? At my former high school, math teachers taught students how to use geometry to design quilt patterns. Students designed and produced beautiful quilts and (as test scores confirmed) learned a lot about geometry along the way.
One more thing. The arts are not in decline in North Carolina’s public schools. In a 2007 study of course enrollment, I found that, between the 2000-01 and 2005-06 school years, there was a 24 percent increase in high school students. At the same time, there was a 21 percent increase in high school students who enrolled in arts courses and a 34 percent increase in arts courses.
