The Importance of Art 1

The Importance of Art in Education

Kalinda Harris
Student at Brigham Young University Idaho

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Abstract
The United States of America is losing innovation and a creative drive at least
due in part to a lack of flexibility and creativity in the classroom. An increase in art
education could lead to an increase in American scientific performance.

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Creativity scores have been steadily decreasing since the 1990s. This coincides with the
shift in American schools towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education.
This is worrying because more and more jobs are being taken over by computers (Frey, C. B., &
Osborne, M. A. (2013)). Creativity is one of the only things that separates the human mind from
that of a computer. If humans lose their creativity, then they are living in a world where machines
are superior to them.
There has been a decrease in the amount of time spent in art class because teachers argue
that cannot adequately prepare students for required standardized tests if they have to teach art as
well. However, they can both be taught at the same time.
In the human brain, although the main functions of the brain that are associated with
logical thinking are all in the left hemisphere of the brain, there is a lot of communication with
the creative right side of the brain, there is a lot of communication between the two hemispheres,
particularly when trying to solve a new problem. It is important that students be allowed to use
creative thinking when in school because, particularly in early childhood, the brain prunes
unused connections. If children are not allowed to be creative in schools, they may have a
hampered ability to think creatively when they are older.
In the world outside of the classroom, science is much more fluid, flexible, and much less
straightforward, and requires use of the less logical, more creative half of the brain. In the real
world, science is not a linear process that follows a logical progression. In the real world,
scientists from different fields make different isolated discoveries. It then takes a creative mind
to put these separate occurrences together to form a scientific theory or discovery.
The right side of the brain performs calculations. If calculation is not enough, however,
the left side of the brain is what is responsible for bringing loosely connected ideas together or
finding a different meaning behind something (Bronson, P., & Merryman, A. (2014)).
It took this type of thinking and appeal to the creative side of the brain for Albert Einstein
to come up with the Theory of General Relativity, and Charles Darwin to come up with the
Theory of Evolution. Both of these renowned scientists also went against what was taught to

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them in school. If American students are taught not to question their teachers and are not allowed
to think creatively, there may not be any more Darwins or Einsteins in our future because their
ability to think creatively has been hampered due to disuse.
Being taught not to question academic authority also has another detrimental side effect.
When students lose their curiosity and stop questioning, they also lose interest in learning
(Bronson, P., & Merryman, A. (2014)).
Engaging both sides of students brains will not only help them understand the
information more fully as shown in a study conducted with American graduate and
undergraduate students. The students were asked to write haikus describing different
neurological disorders. Not only did the students score higher on that assignment than on any of
their other assignments, the students also reported an intense satisfaction of their understanding
of the material (Brown, S. A. (2015)).
Understanding diseases on a more emotional level will allow doctors to be more
understanding and humane with their patients. Having a doctor who is able to communicate
emotionally with a patient who may not understand what is happening to them could increase
patient-doctor relations.
Learning and expressing science through poetry didnt only increase inner understanding.
It also improved test scores. In a study done with middle school students in Northern California,
there was a 13% increase in scores after the poetry method was implemented (Brown, S. A.
(2015)).
Despite the increased focus on STEM subjects, the United States of America is falling
behind other developed countries on international science and math tests. Maybe the United
States of America should try a different approach to teaching in order to gain back some ground.

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Resources:
Bronson, P., & Merryman, A. (2014). Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis74665
Brown, S. A. (2015). Creative expression of science through poetry and other media can enrich medical
and science education. Frontiers in neurology, 6.
Frey, C. B., & Osborne, M. A. (2013). The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to
computerisation. Retrieved September, 7, 2013.