common core standards in drawing and the arts...

The common corp standards have been shaking things up in American education, along with the standardized testing that was designed (in some cases poorly) to measure whether or not the standards have been met. Overall the idea of the common core is a good one. Students entering college or a career need to have attained certain knowledge and skill in order to advance. And adopting the common core ads to the teacher's level of professionalism. The jury is still out on whether or not we can test our way to an American schools success story. This page, Common Core and the Arts has some interesting discussion with regards to how the common core curriculum addresses the arts. Aside from the arts which are basically ignored by the existing core, some mention is made of drawing when it comes to assessing and measuring shapes in geometry. In other words, drawing is not completely ignored by the common core. Nor are some of the other skills that kids can best acquire through participation in the arts.

It is my belief that educational reform should be led by a resurgence in the arts. Music, dance, drama, wood shop, painting, pottery and the like, bring real life into the classroom, and carry students interests in the rest of learning forward. When students have a use for what they must learn, then what they learn will be kept and used again because it was tied to experience that they hope to repeat. Is that so hard for educational policy makers to grasp?

Richard Bazeley from Australia, has joined me in carving wooden spheres. His is shown in the image above. I can imagine Friedrich Froebel having left a trail of wood chips where ever he went.

Yesterday I went by the Clear Spring School wood shop to see the wood turning class in action. It was lovely to see so many wood chips and so much enthusiasm for turning.

Make, fix and create...