Abstract
This workshop presents theory, research, and practice related to using visual arts to promote academic and emotional success of students with emotional/behavioural disorders (E/BD). Rather than approaching the subject from the perspective of art therapy, ways visual arts can enliven and integrate the curriculum in order to facilitate educational achievement and social-emotional growth of students with E/BD will be explored.
Focus is not on interpreting hidden psychological meanings of paintings, but on using visual arts to tap the creativity seen in many E/BD students. The visual arts provide ways for the students to assimilate and demonstrate academic knowledge and skills, capitalizing on a different form of intelligence (as proposed by Gardner). Experiencing greater academic success in an environment which accepts the students and encourages their talents can lead to improved mental health and self-acceptance.
Participants will learn how visual arts can (a) stimulate interest, understanding, and achievement; (b) facilitate emotional success through improved self-concept and academic achievement; and (c) promote inclusion of students with disabilities and diverse backgrounds in general education. Visual stimuli used with the students will be shown, project ideas described, and examples of products made by high school students with emotional and behavioural disorders shown.
Introduction
I am neither an art educator nor an art therapist. My interest in using the arts stems from personal observations, confirmed by many, that students with learning disabilities (LD) and students with emotional and behavior disorders (E/BD) frequently display exceptional talent in the visual arts. My concern is that the schools' focus on managing and correcting the behavior of students identified as E/BD, ignores the creative faculty of the mind and an apparent talent or strength of many of these students which, if capitalized on, might help these students to better success in school and in life. Many teachers fail to appreciate imagination's role in education (cf., Anderson, 1989, 1991), valuing conformity to the expected norm more highly than creative or imaginative insight. That is, schools often appear more concerned with maintaining the status quo than with fostering the development of new ideas or ways of being in students.
The intent of this paper is to promote use of the visual arts as an integral part of the curriculum for students with E/BD (or any other handicapping condition). It is my belief that the arts can be used effectively with students identified as E/BD (a) to promote cognitive development; (b) to stimulate academic interest and involvement; (c) to foster emotional success through increased self-awareness, improved self-concept, more positive acceptance and recognition from others, and a sense of personal achievement that is valued by others; (d) to enhance inclusion of students with E/BD (or any other disabling condition) or diverse background into general education classes; and (e) to spark vocational interests and provide avenues for transitioning students in the secondary schools. The specific focus of this paper is on the visual arts, though the principles developed apply to music, drama, and creative movement as well.
Perspectives on Arts and Education
Interest in this paper is on how the arts are viewed and used by special and regular education teachers, not on art therapy, as this is not within the function or the training of the educator. Certainly there may be therapeutic value in using one's hands and in expressing one's feelings through painting or sculpting. But such an approach may falsely limit art to the emotional realm and miss its connection to the cognitive domain, including academic endeavor.
Many teachers simply view the arts as peripheral to the educational process. Being thought ancillary to the curriculum, art is often used as a "filler" to keep students occupied during "down time" (Schiller, 1994). Occasionally, students may be asked to create something visual in conjunction with an assignment, such as a diorama or picture rather than a written book report, or an illustrated time-line to document a period of history. But even when used in association with a lesson or unit of study, value tends to be placed on the product itself, not its usefulness in aiding student learning. This approach incorporates art into the classroom, but does not necessarily integrate art into the lesson itself. This use of art could be said to involve an element of active learning, but the arts remain somewhat disconnected from the everyday aspects of teaching rather than being used purposefully to foster reflection and assessment on the part of the teacher or the student.
Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE) focuses on technique, art history, or art appreciation. As a separate discipline, its purpose is to assist students to understand and appreciate the feelings, ideas, and values associated with major traditions of art (Clark & Zimmerman, 1981). This is the domain of the art teacher, not the general or special educator.
The use of art which is advocated in this paper is as an instructional tool for integrating and enlivening the curriculum. By infusing arts throughout the curriculum, teachers can foster integration between and among subject areas. Tying together in a more meaningful manner what is typically presented to students in isolated, and therefore artificial "chunks," has the advantage of promoting students' understanding by highlighting the essential interrelatedness of knowledge. Using the arts as an integrative tool will prevent curriculum fragmentation by promoting an interdisciplinary framework for classroom instruction. It can also combat the person-fragmentation that often results when developing an individual education plan for a student which, by its very nature, highlights the student's differences and segregates academic areas from one another, thus denying the holistic nature of the student and of education. In the words of Uhlin and DeChiara (1984),
Art, math, social studies, science, and language arts are not isolated aspects of living or learning; fragmenting these subjects also serves to fragment to child's learning process. For the emotionally disturbed child, particularly, art activities which reinforce skills and concepts common to both art and academic subjects may be very valuable and facilitate learning. (p. 136)
Incorporating arts activities in the curriculum also gives students opportunity to reflect on what they have studied and to create something, either direct or metaphoric, which demonstrates their learning. Further, it provides the teacher a means of evaluating student learning other than paper and pencil testing. In this way, the art is not an autonomous, self-contained activity but, as in life, is interwoven with the whole fabric of human experience (Collins & Chandler, 1993). Infusion of the arts into instruction helps teachers move away from the text-workbook-test approach, and allows their instructional creativity to come to the fore in designing lessons that will have greater appeal to all their students. The result may be more joyful teaching and learning and a more authentic way of assessing changes in students' knowledge and academic behavior.
The Importance of Art to Education
The potency of the arts for learning has gone largely untapped despite years of evidence pointing to the important contribution the arts have to education and human development. This may be attributable to the false dichotomy in education between science and art, and perhaps because of the firm grip of behaviorism and behavioral "technology" on special education and the felt need to "control" students considered E/BD. There is, however, a significant body of literature which shows the value of the arts to students' development in the cognitive, academic, and social-emotional domains. (Readers can refer to the original sources for details; only the relevant conclusions from the literature are summarized in what follows.)
Cognitive Development
The literature shows that students engaged in creative arts processes in the classroom or in discipline-based art education programs show improvement in cognitive functioning through:
Academic Achievement
The literature also reveals the following regarding academic achievement, school attitudes, and school behavior when students are enrolled in programs which purposefully integrate the arts:
Social-Emotional Development
Similarly, and perhaps most important in regard to students with E/BD, the literature reveals that programs incorporating the arts can lead to affective and social changes in students. Among these changes are:
While some of the studies and theoretical literature identified above have dealt with students who have special needs, others focused on at-risk students or general education students. However, the findings are consistent that using the arts can promote cognitive, academic, and social-affective gains in students. The conclusion of Cowan and Clover (1991) regarding enhanced feelings of affiliation, personal self-worth, security, and accomplishment seem particularly relevant to students with emotional disturbance who frequently are alienated, display an inappropriate sense of self-worth or self-concept, and struggle with security, belongingness, and achievement.
Key Elements of Art-Infused Programs for E/BD
Several key elements are at play in programs that incorporate the arts which reflect or inform current notions of best practice in education and special education. Four are specifically addressed.
Multiple Intelligences
Purposefully using the arts to help E/BD students participate more fully and successfully in the curriculum and instruction of the schools recognizes that art is a way of thinking - a way of thinking and understanding that may be more effective for these students. It resists what Eisner (1981) identified as the tendency to regard as cognitive only those activities in which ideas are mediated linguistically - through words or numbers, which are thought to be more abstract than images. School subjects are then viewed hierarchically, with maths and sciences as higher than fine arts and vocational activities. Such a view fails to realize that art's very purpose is to convey meaning, not simply feeling. It is instructive to note the striking similarity when comparing attributes of science and art: curiosity, discovery, inquiry, experimentation, persistence, inventiveness, exploration, critical thought, problem solving, etc.
Gardner's (1983) recognition of visual-spatial intelligence as one of several valid forms of knowing supports the use of arts in the classroom as a means of capturing students' interest and allowing the students to more successfully and legitimately communicate their learning and skill to others. Armstrong (1994) remarked that an important aspect of the theory of multiple intelligences is that it promotes a more positive view of the students by enabling special education teachers to see the strengths their students possess: "MI theory provides a growth paradigm for assisting special-needs students in school. It acknowledges difficulties or disabilities, but does so within the context of regarding special-needs students as basically healthy individuals" (p. 136).
Cambell, Campbell, and Dickenson (1992) provided a telling anecdote about a student who displayed visual-spatial intelligence but who, until this fact was recognized, seemed on a path towards marginalization through placement in special education:
Sarah was an unmotivated student, lacking pride in her school work and turning in papers that were not indicative of her true capabilities. The one area where she excelled was drawing, yet such skills were rarely needed in most classroom tasks. Sarah was usually obligated to draw on the sly, adorning the margins of her papers with artistic flourishes or filling blank sheets with complex imagery. Teachers often requested that Sarah refrain from doing art work so that she could pay attention.
Throughout her early elementary years, Sarah was described as restless and disruptive; moreover, she seldom recalled information from for a day's study. By the time she was in fifth grade, her teacher noticed that when Sarah was allowed to draw during a lesson, she was not only quiet, but also appeared attentive to class material. Her hand went up occasionally to answer questions and her recall was sharp. One day as a teacher was speaking with Sarah about a science unit on the structure of the earth, Sarah excitedly showed her a drawing of the morning's lecture. There, in a visual language developed and understood by the girl, were images that represented the earth's core, the mantle and crust with appropriate features and proportions displayed in an artistic code. Sarah's drawings captured the content of the subject matter itself. (p. 41)
Differences in Hemispheric Processing and Learning Style
Using the arts may be particularly appropriate in teaching students with LD or E/BD who may more efficiently process information in ways associated with right hemisphere functioning. Vitale (1982) identified several teaching strategies which she believes cater to a "right-brained approach to learning," many of which incorporate the use of art-based activities. Of particular relevance is that the right hemisphere of the brain is said to process information visually and metaphorically or through analogy - in a holistic or simultaneous fashion rather than through sequential, analytic modes which most current educational approaches employ. Louise Appell's observation bears repeating:
There is some material that I have read that seems to indicate that those children who are deprived of creative kinds of activities suffer in terms of their overall functioning because they have not developed those portions of the brain that focus on creative activity. What results is lopsided people. (Quoted in Nazzarro, 1978, p. 381)
Eisner's (1993) advocacy of a broad concept of visual learning as a means by which humans make sense of the world resonates with this understanding of brain functioning and learning style differences, and with Gardner's (1983) concept of visual-spatial intelligence. Eisner described visual learning as relating to a person's capacity both to construe meaning from surrounding visual forms and to create visual forms that convey the meanings we intend. Thus, wise teachers will use various art forms as part of their ongoing instruction as well as a legitimate means for students to demonstrate their understanding of that has been explored in the classroom. In fact, Eisner pointed to teachers' tendency to use examples when verbal explanations alone are insufficient, stating that examples illustrate "not by providing visual images directly but by inviting the child to use his or her imagination to create them in order to 'see' what previously was not understood" (1993, p. 82). By examining the whole simultaneously, using visual learning, students are better able to comprehend and manipulate ideas. As Eisner (1993, p. 85) maintained .
The use of [visual forms of learning] in our classrooms would contribute to greater educational equity for our students. The single minded narrowness inherent in the dominance of text in teaching impedes the life chances of students whose aptitudes are more attuned to nontext forms. Diversifying the resources we use to teach would give more of our students a chance to succeed.
Wolf and Balick (1999) similarly maintained that the arts teach visual thinking and sensitivity to metaphor which are important tools for understanding that students can apply "outside the studio or off the stage" and which "signal that learning is not a series of distinct classes and topics, but an integrated enterprise" (p. 3). Unfortunately, as Armstrong (1994) pointed out, teachers sometimes mistakenly believe that writing things of the chalkboard for students to copy (i.e., words) is a form of visual learning. Teachers seem unaware that students who have grown up in the West have been raised in a highly visually-oriented society focused on television, film, and other visual media, usually very fast-moving and "energetic" - quite different from the typical classroom atmosphere. Perhaps many children considered disabled because of learning or behavioral disorders are simply products of the changing culture as it clashes with the traditional ("ancient"?) system of teaching.
Multisensory Education
Since the days of Itard, emphasis on multisensory learning has been nearly synonymous with special education. Teaching with and through the arts provides hands-on activities that are appropriate for any age student and which allow the integration and application of various academic skills (e.g., measurement, reading and research, attention to task details), social skills (e.g., negotiating, sharing, teaming), and executive control mechanisms (e.g., planning, organization, monitoring, checking outcomes).
Constructivism
Using the arts as an integral part of education is consistent with the constructivist notion that students "create" their own knowledge. When the curriculum is integrated through the arts, the thematic units that are explored by the students help them to see the interrelatedness of concepts and the unity of knowledge and a "cohesive thread of understanding" is woven (Simpson, 1993). In Simpson's words, "Beyond acquisition of skills and reinforcement of ideas, art can often be the link to more imaginative interpretations of ideas; the concrete 'seeing' of patterns; the visual symbolic message necessary to cement a concept or to push it toward deeper meaning" (p. 57).
An Example of Using the Arts with Students Labeled "E/BD"
Recognizing the value of the arts in educating students with emotional or behavioral problems, the program at Spring Lake Park High School set about to build the students' confidence, to help them develop a healthy ego, to help them learn how to express their feelings and emotions in a healthy manner, and to help them experience greater success in school. In addition to teaching art principles, visual art forms were used as media for teaching literature, history and social issues, principles of mathematics, and cultures and diversity. Listening, visualization, and reading skills were also enhanced, as were attitudes of respect for others, and craftsmanship.
Classroom Setup
The resource room which housed the program provided a carefully crafted environment which included many visuals, including posters from art museum, movies, travel bureaus, and student-produced artwork to encourage discussion. The goal was to produce an unhurried, calm, and safe atmosphere which would encourage freedom of expression. In this room it was permissible to be angry, happy, or sad (as long as these emotions were expressed appropriately, such as through an art project); to ask questions; to take time out; even to ask permission to go home if the student felt he or she was having a bad day. In this way, students were encouraged to take (positive) control of their lives. Classical music was always present, mostly as a background to set a tone for the room, or to match the project being worked on; for example, Beethoven with projects of a more physical nature such as hammering metal; lighter, softer music such as Vivaldi when creating patterns on graph paper (a kind of visual math).
"Problem Solving" Class
The program was called "Problem Solving," for which students received academic credit. As the school year began, each student made a color wheel from the three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). Through exploration, students learned that mixing any two primary colors produced a secondary color (orange, green, violet), and that mixing a primary and a secondary color produced a tertiary color (red-orange, blue-violet, etc.). There followed a discussion of some of the properties of color, such as their association with emotional responses (e.g., blue with being sad; black with anger) and temperature (red, orange, and yellow are thought of as hot or warm colors; blue and green are thought of as cool colors). This simple introduction to color provided an entry point into the various activities involving painting and color.
Painting to music. Students were introduced to painting to classical music. As they listened to the music, they were instructed to visualize what they heard and create an abstract (not representational) painting using color, form, texture, and line to convey that image. As a demonstration of how an artist might interpret music visually, the first sequence from the Walt Disney film "Fantasia" was viewed. Then the students listened to a selection of classical music (such as Grieg's "March of the Trolls") and used only watercolor paint to express what they heard. On the second day, oil crayon was used to enhance the painted areas or to add something new. The third day, pencil line was added for detail and texture. These activities encouraged the students' use of listening and visualization, communicated a valuing of their creative activity, and helped to develop their artistry.
Use of film and video. In the Problem Solving Class, students read short stories, viewed films, practiced note taking and reviewed academic progress on a weekly basis. The majority of their time, however, was spent expressing themselves through a variety of visual art projects. Administrative freedom was allowed so that projects and activities could be adjusted to respond to immediate needs of the students when necessary as, for example when students became frustrated over a ninth grade language arts project requiring reading of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." As a means of helping the students to adjust their attitude toward this bit of school work, two Hollywood films were selected for viewing which, because of their physical action would appeal to the teenage students, and would demonstrate that studying Shakespeare could be an enjoyable experience: "Hamlet," staring Mel Gibson, and "Taming of the Shrew," staring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The early English dialog was approached as if it were a foreign language, and the films were stopped periodically to review the characters words and actions. Because the students could see the characters' actions, the dialog became easier to understand. Using film to discuss historical events and social issues seemed to enhance learning for the E/BD students. For example, the anniversary of the end of World War II in the spring of 1995 was marked by watching and discussing the film "Patton." Since many of these students avoided reading whenever possible, foreign subtitled films were sometimes used to set a purpose for and practice reading. The subtitled film made reading a requirement, but also made it more exciting and understandable because of the simultaneous visual information and the drama.
Visual geometry. Another project involved visual geometry which was introduced through two films by Charles and Ray Eames, producers of contemporary American furniture, graphic designs, exhibits, games, and films. The first film, "Powers of Ten," visually demonstrated this principle of mathematics. The second film, "Kaleidoscope to Jazz Chair," directly relates to the students' assignment. Using an elaborate series of mirrors, the Eames created a giant kaleidoscope in their office. By photographing into the mirrors and rotating the mirrors, the film shows ever-changing geometric patterns. The E/BD students were then asked to create a pattern on graph paper using colored pencils. The students quickly learned that pattern is repetition of a form or forms in pre-determined sequences (order). The point was then generalized to number patterns in mathematics.
Papier mache masks. Another successful project was the making of papier mache masks using folk tales and folk art as a starting point. As a class, the students took turns reading portions of a African or Native American folk tale. Photographs of masks of several cultures (such as New Guinea, Indonesia, Africa) were examined and students identified common characteristics - such as the use of bright, non-realistic colors, and the exaggeration or stylization of the face or anatomy - and how different cultures have different feelings and ideas of beauty. Students then created their own papier mache masks based on a drawing made from a photograph of the head of an animal or bird. After completing the pencil drawing, the students created an armature (skeleton) of the animal from cut-up corrugated cardboard boxes, which was then covered with three or four layers of newspaper strips that had been soaked in wheat paste (flour and water). The final step was to paint the mask with tempera paint in bright expressive colors (not realistic) in keeping with the folk art theme. Respect for and acceptance of diversity was encouraged through this project.
Dealing with prejudice. A project based on the many forms of prejudice (racial, religious, ethnic, economic, gender-bias, or being placed in special education) was introduced by looking at a video such as Malcolm X, Glory, Philadelphia, or Europa, Europa. The assignment was to create a collage based on the video from photographs or pictures found in old magazines, sections of print or words cut or torn from old magazines or newspapers, and oil crayons. The students were also required to take notes on the films as a part of the classroom activities and expectations.
Personal adornment. Jewelry making is a facet of personal adornment focused on in the Problem Solving class. Using plastic clay called Fimo, which can be converted into a hard plastic in an ordinary oven, the students designed and created patterned geometric beads resembling Venetian Trading beads. Designs were done on graph paper, and plexiglas, wooden dowel rods, and combs were used as tools to cut, texture, shape, or model the elastic material.
Jewelry created by craftsmen who are metal smiths (or goldsmiths/silversmiths) is another dimension in the art of adornment. Developing the design is an intellectual form of personal expression. Crafting the piece of jewelry required some sense of form and space, dexterity in using the various tools, and discipline to beautifully craft the piece. The metals used were soft sheet brass and nickel silver. Silver solder is used to fasten metal to metal, using an acetylene torch. Jeweler's saws, a variety of hammers and forms, and files of many sizes and shapes were used to form and finish the metal jewelry. Task focus and persistence was evident as the students seemed hypnotized by their creations as they polished their metal pieces. The jewelry project incorporated elements of history, anthropology, metallurgy, art/design, and craftsmanship, all in an activity in which the students took pleasure. Students examined cultures which have a history of jewelry (European cultures), and those who do not (the Japanese, whose metal smithing art was found on their swords). Adornment in different cultures was discussed, such as the fact that natives of the Fiji Islands find it too hot to wear metal jewelry and as a result wear seeds, feathers, bone, and shells constructed into pieces of jewelry.
Craftsmanship. Creative problem solving requires critical thinking, analysis, and judgment. Having the ability to think independently is the foundation of creativity. Students tended to stay on task because they were personally invested in their creations. While creating their own visions, students learned craftsmanship, which requires a personal commitment to excellence. Calligraphy was also used to develop an attitude of craftsmanship, a sense of composition, and the pride of learning to produce beautiful writing. An initial assignment was for students simply to print their name over and over until they had filled the page, varying the size of their name to make the composition more interesting. Students then filled in each letter (as well as the space between each letter) with color using a felt-tip marker. A second project taught the students to use calligraphy pens to create many different alphabet styles. Transition
The purpose of the Problem Solving Class was to create an E/BD program that would use the arts as the vehicle to achieve educational success. The intent was to capitalize on the artistic strengths and interests of the students in the hope that this would encourage greater enjoyment and involvement in academic and school-related activity. Ultimately, the intent is to include a transition program that could provide internships and post high school educational options, something that is noticeably lacking in programs for students with E/BD. Future work with E/BD students will involve the use of computers to create graphic design work. With the assistance of the "Parents of E/BD Students" group, two Macintosh IIcx computers have been purchased for use in the Problem Solving Class. Four design programs most commonly used by the advertising community have been installed in these computers. Presentations by local individuals with art-related careers will be arranged and field trips for E/BD students in the Problem Solving Class will be organized to visit graphic design studios, printing companies, and advertising agencies. These field trips will become part of the transition program, for E/BD students, designed to show fields of employment that might be new to the students and in which they might show interest and promise. Educational opportunities in these areas (two year technical programs to four year college degrees) and employment opportunities will be considered as part of transition planning for the students.
Implications and Applications While this program did not provide the full, interdisciplinary, arts infusion arrangement described above, it does exemplify use of the visual arts to engage E/BD students in learning. The conclusion is that the arts can be used in significant ways to further the education of students identified as having emotional and behavioral disorders, or any other potentially disabling condition. It must be recognized that the traditional approach taken to education in most schools may, in fact, contribute to the marginalization of these students by not "listening to their voices" or valuing the gifts these students may possess, as their behavior and their abilities reveal the different manner in which they learn, i.e., visual and synthetic learning characteristic of visual-spatial intelligence, rather than the auditory and analytic or sequential mode commonly practiced in schools and the mode in which most school texts and curricula have been written. The direct implication is that if schools truly accommodate the learning differences of children called "special" by teaching to their strengths, which are frequently visual, more inclusive education can be provided, to the benefit of all students. Classroom practices need to change to capitalize on the students' abilities rather than setting apart certain individuals considered the have disabilities. Teacher roles must take on a more collaborative element, as special educators work together with subject matter specialists to design and provide more interdisciplinary teaching which incorporates the arts as both teaching medium and as a means of more authentically assessing student learning. The arts will make the curriculum and activities more appealing to students who thrive on visual stimulation and learning, and the "lack of motivation" often assumed in children with special needs may be replaced with eager involvement in more self-directed learning.
The arts relate to all parts of the school curriculum and can serve to "humanize" the school and the curriculum. They are ways we react to, record, and share our personal impressions and our experience of the world. Rather than demanding a single convergent response, the arts allow - expect - students to come up with different solutions. Through their involvement in creative problem solving, students participate as partners in the learning process, making the arts an effective vehicle to promote emotional and academic success of students with emotional and behavioral disorders.
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