The Arts and Inclusive Learning - Session One of the VSA arts Institute

VSA arts Institute
One-Day series:

Arts and Inclusive Learning

is a one-day intensive session that is part of the VSA arts Institute. This interactive institute focuses on designing and delivering arts learning experiences that reach students of all abilities. Throughout the day you will gain an understanding of the foundations of inclusive education and arts-based learning, discuss theories and methods for teaching in inclusive environments, and engage in hands-on techniques that ensure progress for all students.

The Value of the Arts in Education

The arts (visual art, music, dance, media, and theater) are a natural part of how we learn. Quality arts programs have been shown to engage students in active learning, including students for whom traditional classroom instruction is not the most beneficial.

Through discipline-based and arts-integrated instruction, the arts are a powerful tool for learning. The arts are also naturally adaptable to different learning styles and abilities, because creative problem solving is an essential skill for students of all abilities.

Making Learning Active: The arts engage students in deep inquiry and the learning process. Through creative art making, choice making/problem solving, and reflection, students learn by doing, both independently and in groups.

Reaching Different Intelligences: The arts connect to a variety of ways that people learn, and provide many flexible options for learning and understanding. Arts learning experiences engage musical, spatial, kinesthetic, and interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, as well as language-based and logical-mathematical intelligences.

Differentiating Instruction: Many of the strategies used for including students with disabilities in the classroom are reflected in the artistic process itself. The arts allow a variety of responses and interpretation to a given question or challenge, encourage learning through experimentation, and highlight a learner’s abilities and strengths—all hallmarks of effective differentiated instruction.

In the arts, unique ways of expressing oneself and experimental ways of executing that expression are highly valued. For individuals with disabilities the arts are the perfect arena in which to excel and exhibit their greatest abilities. This appreciation of individual expression provides an excellent opportunity for peer acceptance and approval. It gives the learner a new understanding of his or her own strengths, insights, and talents.

Deborah Stuart and Deb Brzoska
VSA arts Institute instructors

Inclusive Teaching Practices

When developing strategies for an inclusive classroom environment, it is important to put the learning needs of the student first. This requires open communication among teachers and other support professionals, family members and caregivers, and the student.

Flexibility and responsiveness are also integral to inclusive practice. When modifying a classroom activity, educators should aim for maximum student independence and minimum intervention needed for full student participation. This balance requires observation and adjustments based on feedback.

Arts programs may be adapted through a number of strategies: spending additional time exploring the arts activity materials, breaking an activity down into smaller steps or tasks, grouping students of different abilities together to work on accomplishing a goal, or providing whatever physical assistance is needed. Any intervention needs to be done with the consent of the student and should allow for his or her own choices and creative exploration.

For more information on the “Arts and Inclusive Learning” workshop, contact Mary Liniger, director of education services, at mliniger@vsarts.org.

VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to support arts programming in schools and communities. VSA arts showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access to the arts for people with disabilities. Each year millions of people participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates and in 55 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 800-933-8721 • www.vsarts.org