When school budgets get on the chopping block, districts start looking at which programs to cut. Unfortunately, the arts are usually first in line. Instead of eliminating artistic expression, educators should encourage creativity. Children who exercise the creative side of their brain develope life skills that will help them succeed in a number situations later in life. Creative education includes music, art, theater, and journalism. Although most parents secretly prefer that their children not pursue any of these paths for a living, no parent should discourage them all together, and neither should the schools.
Music has been linked to improved spacial skills. Those who know little about the actual performance or creating of music probably don’t know just how mathmatical it is. There must be something to it because Beethoven was deaf. Any good educator should know there had to be some formula he could follow to create his masterpieces. In many ways, creative writing follows mathematical principals. Much like a proof in geometry, or an algebraic formula, all ideas have to be proven and balanced. Add to that the deep exploration of the mind and how it can best express itself, and a student begins to develop a well balanced brain.
Art does more than inspire. It is sometimes the blueprint for a great civic or civil idea. Have you ever seen a building that reminded you of a great work of art? There is some level of function within the artistic creation. It’s not just a wasted hour of day dreaming. It requires skill and technique; just like a great surgeon. So does theater. To master what motivates others and ourselves is to really master living, and certainly educators think that’s worth teaching.