Statement

Throughout this process of researching arts integration methods and grass root organizing in urban locations I have found that there is a lot of improvements to be made, but also that extensive work is currently being done and continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Urban areas around the United Stated tend not to have the resources for arts integration within their public schools. But from what I have researched, these urban communities have a lot of passion and drive to turn these limited resources around and make it into something the youth can truly respond to. These programs, when done smartly, do not need to be costly. Many of them run free of charge so that all students in the area have the option of learning through creative outlets. Through these outlets, students can take hold of their own educations and identities because they are participating in something they care about. We, as teachers, just need to facilitate these experiences so that this creative expression remains an option for all students. It is not the role of teachers in these programs to spew information at the students, but instead offer a safe space where discussion, interpretation, and creation can happen over and over again. This is an empowering technique because it allows for the students themselves to essentially be the driving force behind their own educations.

In this way, teachers are still essential to the process, but are presented with a different role than traditionally before. There is a lot of thought and preparation that goes into a successful arts integrated program that goes beyond the teacher into the root of the school. What needs to happen in order for arts integration methods to become successful is professional development of teachers so they have the education they need in order to teach effective lessons to students. This is why arts integrated grass root programs are so important, they bring together passionate people that are driven towards a certain cause. Many of the programs started from only a handful of people and are relatively new programs. It was encouraging to see how a great number of them have blossomed into something that truly affects many local students positively. The implementation of arts integration is not forced upon them by mandate of the school, but instead a conscious decision of what they wanted to dedicated their careers too.

Through this conscious decision, a strong sense of community is developed because it is fostered by the community. This, in turn allows students to become involved in the community themselves and bring about social change through the arts. There is a great variety of means to participate in arts integrated grass root programs. The visual arts are of course important, but only a scratch at the surface of the different types of media students can explore. Music, creative writing, dancing, poetry, and more all can be responsible for achieving a creative outlet necessary for student empowerment and success. Just as students cannot be pigeonholed into a one-way form of thinking, the arts cannot be understood as one specific entity. The arts include a great number of methods and some might resonate more with students than with other students. So I was happy to see the great range of grass root programs offered around the United States that included all of these different artistic medias for students to explore. Similarly, I was happy to find that these programs do not just have their students do behind the scenes arts. Although the creative process can be a therapeutic way to go about arts integration, many of the programs I researched had a focus on both the process and end result. They had the students work towards a goal to motivate their own successes. These programs lead students to perform original raps, poems, and dances or exhibit their own art shows publicly in front of their peers and community members. This strengthened the message of the programs because it allowed the students to learn more than just about arts. It allowed them to push themselves to reach their goals, public speaking skills, and how to interact with others, all of which are important aspects of a successful future that they might not have received from school.