lesson 6

I have reviewed my resources and how they relate to my topic, which deals with motivation in the arts curriculum, with which I will be involving my middle school students. A lot of my research deals with this type of motivation. Within the research I have collected facts about the positive motivation that takes place within an arts curriculum and how it affects the students and teachers.

Motivation is the key to my research and with reading about this I discovered that there are two types of motivation. They are: intrinsic (something that is enjoyed and the individual is motivated to do the task at hand) or extrinsic (the individual needs an incentive to want to be motivated). After identifying these two types and looking at documentation I learned that not all motivation is self -motivation. Some motivation comes from the teachers and them being able to know their students and be passionate about the subject they are teaching. This helps with making the students motivated and eager to learn the material as well. Teachers can have a large impact on students if the students feel comfortable in the environment as well. The students are more likely not to worry about self-esteem issues and they are able to express themselves in their work and enjoy working on the assignments; they tend to retain more of the information. Within all the studies creativity, self-esteem, and self-expression were key elements in the area of motivating students in the arts and what often makes the art environment different from the student’s core classes. In an era where standardized tests seem to be taking over the classrooms, enrollment within the arts curriculum has proven to be an important avenue for students in the raising of their test scores. On the down side, there is also the opinion that the arts are seen as the “fun” classes and that classes that focus on strictly obtaining the highest FCAT scores should be the priority. As art teachers we know that the arts have an impact on the whole student and that some of the information they are learning will be able to be carried over to their core classes. Students in art classes can improve their skills in creative thinking, higher order questioning, as well as mental, physical, and social opportunities to be creative in the classroom. In some studies, this has been shown, but not enough research has been done for full verification. This is important research to continue so that teachers, parents and students can have more support in advocating for the inclusion of the arts curriculum and in showing the community how art positively affects the student’s motivation in ANY subject matter.

The two articles that I also included, from this class (so far), are those discussing the National Arts Education Association and Evans-Palmers’ The Potency of Humor. Palmers talked about the importance of reducing the stress in the classroom for teachers and suggested that humor will help you relieve this stress. Humor helps with keeping students engaged in the class, not just in the class but also on what is being taught. Being able to communicate with your students is important and can keep the students motivated and wanting to come back for more. The NAEA article talks about getting the community involved, being an advocate for the arts, and the focus on learning and being an effective educator. This all will hopefully be achieved with the final product. My goal is that with surveying and interviewing my students and looking at all the data that is collected, it will show that the students are motivated by taking classes with an arts curriculum and this by sharing this information it will then be a basis for others to join me in supporting these programs.

Beveridge, T. (2010). No Child Left Behind and Fine Arts classes (111th ed., p. 4-7). Longview, WA: Arts Education Policy Review.

Crossman, A. (2010). Equipping Students to Succeed In and Beyond the Classroom. Reston, VA: NASSP Leading Schools. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from http://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=Equipping_Students_to_Succeed_In_and_Beyond_the_Classroom

Evens-Palmer, T. (2010). The potency of humor . and Instructional Self-Efficacy on Art Teacher Stress , 52(1), 69-83.

Gazzaniga, PH.D., M. (2008). Learning, Arts, and the Brain; The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition (pp. 71-129). N.p.: Dana Press.

Glass, Ph.D, D. (2008). The Contours of Inclusion: Frameworks and Tools for Evaluating Arts in Educaiton (pp. 1-44). N.p.: VSA Arts. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from www.vsarts.org

Garvis, S. (2009). Improve the teaching of the arts: Pre-service teacher self -efficacy towards art education. US-China Education Review, 6(12), 23-28.

Heilig, J., Cole, H., & Aguliar, A. (2010). From Dewey to No Child Left Behind: The Evolution and Devolution of Public Arts Education (111th ed., Vol. 4, pp. 136-145). Austin, TX: Arts Education Policy Review.

Isreal, D. (2009). Stay in School. Arts Education and New York City High School Graduation Rates, 2-26. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from www.caenyc.org/Staying-in-School/Arts-and-Graduation-Report

Jones, B. (2009). Motivating Students to Engage in Learning: The MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation (Vols. 21 - 2, pp. 272-285). N.p.: International Journal of Teaching and Learning.

Loveless, T. (2009). How Well Are American Students Learning? (Vols. 11 - 4, pp. 3-32). Huston, TX: The Brown Foundation, Inc.

NAEA Research Commission. (2009). Creating a visual arts education research agenda for the 21st century: Encouraging individual and collaborative research. National Art Education Association.

Rabkin, N. (2002). Connections between Education in the Arts and Student Achievement (3rd ed., Vol. 13, pp. 1-8). Seattle, WA: GIA Reader.

Ruppert, S. "Critical Evidence." How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement (2006): 01-20. Arts Education Partnership. National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. .

Russonello, B., & Stewart, . (2005). To Educate the Whole Child, Integrate the Arts (pp. 1-96). N.p.: The Ford Foundation and Douglas Gould & Company.

Zakaras, L., & Lowell, J. (2008). Cultivating Demand for the Arts, Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State arts Policy (pp. xiii-150). N.p.: Research In The Arts.