San Diego County Teachers Infuse Art In Core Academic Subjects

This is KPBS Midday Edition. President Trump is not presented his budget proposal to Congress yet but it has been widely reported that among his budget cutting is it for the arts. They say arts funding is an example of wasteful government spending. The results of a multiyear study in San Diego seem to be challenging that assumption. The centers for research on creativity at UCLA has been setting the impact of a program that helps Sunday Eagle County teachers incorporate the I -- arts and create activity into core subjects. It is found that the program is led to games and problem solving critical thinking, collaboration and empathy among students. Joining me is Valerie Barnes, teacher, Flying Hills Elementary School in El Cajon . Welcome to the program. Thank you. Renee Weissenburger, artist, Collaborations: Teachers and Artists welcome. Thank you. So you are what of the 18 artists involved in the program at five schools here in Senegal. How does a program work?. We work with the school for three years and it's a lot of one-to-one cooperation with the teachers and each year for quarter a teacher collaborates with a different artist and we talk about different art forms to use and basically art becomes a vehicle for how to get kids to think critically and creatively so basically we like children to fall in love with learning. That is our main interest. So often special with history they see as this dead thing and will we bring it to life, they really get a sense of the humanity of history. It is building empathy and it is teaching them to think and listen about other people stories and not to jump to conclusion and to investigate enter earn their education and to drive it. Some subjects the more likely candidates for this kind of art and betting than others but you did in your students were able to incorporate in our element into social studies tell us about that. We did when I worked a couple years ago with another artist we were with the war in our students to out of a bucket. And that they created a character and they decided which of the 13 colonies they would be living in so that added to their character and what their character did in what natural resources were around them and why were they a patriot. It really added to the humanity. These were real people. These were not just lot words on a page. Equity think they got out of this exercise? I think they connected to it and when you bring are into learning it is something that children remember for years to come. They look back and remember that project. Not to say that they don't remember other things but I think this adapt to learning when you bring art into the curriculum. Is the goal of this research helping to enhance children's creativity or using their own creativity to increase their ability to learn quick I would say both. I would say that we want to foster critical and creative thinking but we want students to go in directions that we might have never imagined. That is a lovely thing about it is that that traditional arts program you are directing children a what to say what to do but what's exciting about this is I thought we are collaboration before the teacher and the artists also the students the older kids are instrumental in developing the projects in deciding where we go and what they want to learn what is important. Valerie, you've used art to interpret other forms of art for instance, you had students draw in your literature class. Yes, when I was working with Renée a few weeks ago. We were reading the book maniac Magee and incorporated our through that. As we collaborate and plan out our unit we have plans of where we are going but then sometimes in the classroom and in the discussions, we see the learning go in a different direction because of where the kids are taking it or what they're interested in a what they're asking but we did several forms of art related to may be the theme of the book so we talked about theme and what with the main themes be in this book and then we found different art forms that would maybe represent those themes. At the was segregation so we did a black and white print making to represent that theme of segregation. I'm interested in hearing about what it's been like teaching teachers a new way to look at their subjects. I think as a teacher myself, I'm always learning. To get stuck in these patterns of ways you've taught 1 million times before is the only stifling for the students but for the teacher as well. I think that we aim in our collaboration to push the creator goal -- critical thinking ourselves. The students are broadening my horizons and giving me new ways to look at the work and in turn the world. Valerie, have you found this make your own teaching more creative? Yes. We teach the arts for art's sake but we also because we love the arts to bring arts into our teaching but this has been so focused and such a great instruction for me. I do feel like I'm bringing art into more of my curriculum and my students love it. They are so motivated and I am to. I want to end this on what you have actually seen when it comes to how your students are grasping these particular subjects with this art element combined. How hasn't changed? The motivation is there. They are so excited to participate in the learning and the conversations that we can have and what it opens up to I think there is a vulnerability in any art form of who we are. It opens us up and there's a safety that happens in the classroom and because there's not safety, there's these amazing conversations that we have that you would not expect but because they've created this art together and they've delved into themselves a little deeper we have these deep conversations. I think that sticks with them. And makes it memorable. I have been speaking with Valerie Barnes, teacher, Flying Hills Elementary School in El Cajon and Renee Weissenburger, artist, Collaborations: Teachers and Artists. Thank you both very much.