child development and arts education

Child Development and Arts Education

Child Development Research

Child Development ResearchResearch Question:What are recommended best practices in arts education that acknowledge students cognitive, social, and emotional needs and abilities at different stages?

Child Development ResearchStructure of reportA series of literature reviews, divided by discipline and grade bandExecutive summary notes cross-disciplinary threads of research and recommendations

Key findingsChild Development Research

Child Development ResearchEarly ChildhoodMore research available for this grade band than any otherArts experiences are a primary means of communication at this stage


Early ChildhoodPhysicalLimited motor ability as primary concernFocus on gross motor skills: balance and coordination in dance, for exampleDrawing, painting, and other art-making is primarily a kinesthetic experience at this stage. Educators should focus on using basic tools and instruments that students can manipulate themselves.


Early ChildhoodCognitiveShort attention spans; need for variety in activitiesNeed for routinesLearn through exploration and discovery


Early Childhood: CognitiveImportance of balancing structured experience and open exploration: Dance: repetition of basic concepts, but allowing freedom for students to invent their own movementsMusic: Guided as well as improvisational workTheatre: structured call- and-response activities as well as less-structured fantasy playVisual art: Emphasize exploration and creative manipulation of materials


Early ChildhoodSocial/EmotionalLearners at this stage very social and talkativeAt early stage, parents and teachers are the most important individuals in a students life; by ages 5-7 friendships are increasing social importance as wellArts experiences as primarily social experiences (example: re-telling pictorial accounts to peers and adults). May begin fostering cooperative and communication skills by working in small groups, or participating in full-class activities in theatre or dance instruction.

*Child Development Research

Early ChildhoodPhysicalCognitiveSocial/EmotionalLimited motor abilityShort attention spanSocial importance of arts experiencesArts learning is kinestheticNeed for routineCooperation and communication skills developingLearning through exploration and discovery

*Child Development ResearchHow will writers develop standards under the framework of create, perform, and respond for students who might not yet be able to create with any specific intent in creating?

Early ChildhoodPhysicalCognitiveSocial/EmotionalLimited motor abilityShort attention spanSocial importance of arts experiencesArts learning is kinestheticNeed for routineCooperation and communication skills developingLearning through exploration and discovery


Elementary: PhysicalFine motor coordination increasesStudents increasingly interested in precision and technique in artistic endeavors


Elementary: CognitiveArts instruction can connect with other subject areas, as students intellectual curiosity widens. Students are able and eager to refine skills; recommended practices for music included introducing practice strategies involving repetition and mastery of basic skillsCurricular content becomes more complex; theatre instruction can expand to enhance student understanding of story structure, cause and effect, and the ability to write with detailReflection and critical thinking activities can be introduced, including guided observations of works of artIn addition, the research continued to reinforce the value of open-ended exploration and improvisational play


Elementary: Social/EmotionalStudents have a deepening interest of their own role in relation to the world, and an increasing sense of independenceRecommended best practices reflect an understanding of the importance of social bonds to elementary students: Dance: include collaborative activities in duets, trios, and small groupsTheatre activities can address social skills, focusing on conflict resolution and empathy, for example. Students levels of confidence in their own abilities may decrease at this stage


ElementaryPhysicalCognitiveSocial/EmotionalFine motor coordination increasesIntellectually curiousDeveloping sense of self in relation to the worldBroader range of tools and processes can be utilizedEager to refine skillsSocial bonds more importantReflection/critical thinkingConfidence in abilities decreasingNeed for open-ended exploration

*Child Development ResearchHow can the standards acknowledge social/emotional needs (i.e., developing sense of self)?

ElementaryPhysicalCognitiveSocial/EmotionalFine motor coordination increasesIntellectually curiousDeveloping sense of self in relation to the worldBroader range of tools and processes can be utilizedEager to refine skillsSocial bonds more importantReflection/critical thinkingConfidence in abilities decreasingNeed for open-ended exploration

*Middle SchoolStage at which students are making decisions about whether to continue with arts study in the futureResearch heavily emphasizes social/emotional needs at this stageChild Development Research


Middle: CognitiveStudents are more interested than ever in precision and accuracy in their workStudents are intellectually curious; the research points to the need for students to have the opportunity to incorporate ideas of personal interest into their work.


Middle: Social/EmotionalStudents are increasingly self-focused; arts can provide an outlet to explore ideas and themes of personal significanceDance: Students can create their own dances with peersMusic: students are ready to compose their own original musicTheatre: activities should allow students to evaluate their own ideas, needs, and beliefs in relation to othersVisual art: Create opportunities for visual choice-making; students must feel that their work represents their own original point of view.


Middle SchoolCognitiveSocial/EmotionalInterest in precision and accuracySelf-focusedIntellectually curiousLess likely to take risks; need for safe space in arts experiences

*Child Development ResearchHow can the standards promote creative risk-taking?

Middle SchoolCognitiveSocial/EmotionalInterest in precision and accuracySelf-focusedIntellectually curiousLess likely to take risks; need for safe space in arts experiences


High School and College: CognitiveThe research focuses to a large extent on students abilities to think critically about their own work and the work of others, make informed and deliberate decisions in their work, and draw connections between disparate ideas or areas of study. Dance: emphasis on viewing and analyzing dance performances regularlyMusic: Comparing ones own work to an ideal/professional model; compose ones own original works whenever possibleTheatre: Importance of involving students in decision-making processes at every level of theatre productionVisual art: Developing habits and skills including envisioning, engaging and persisting, and developing craft.


High School and College: Social/Emotional Research emphasizes the importance of creating authentic arts experiences for students: Choosing areas of specializationDeveloping own point of viewFeeling that they are part of a community of artists


High School and CollegeCognitiveSocial/EmotionalThinking criticallyViewing self as part of community of artistsDeliberate choice-making; Creating original worksRefining ones own point of view; Developing areas of specialization in the arts

*Child Development ResearchHow can the standards emphasize the importance of creating a sense of community?

High School and CollegeCognitiveSocial/EmotionalThinking criticallyViewing self as part of community of artistsDeliberate choice-making; Creating original worksRefining ones own point of view; Developing areas of specialization in the arts

Child Development ResearchAt every grade level and in every discipline, the research emphasizes the role of the arts in helping students to: Make sense of their worldMake connections between disparate ideasMake connections between self and others

The recommended best practices at every level, for every discipline recommended the need for balance between structure and open-ended exploration in arts instruction.

Child Development ResearchDoes the need for assessment and measurement of the standards force us to emphasize cognitive development over social and emotional development?

Contact Information:

Amy Charleroy, Associate Director, Arts at the Core, Office of Academic Initiatives: [email protected]

Nancy Rubino, Senior Director, Office of Academic Initiatives: [email protected]


In recent years, there has been great interest among educators in the links between arts-based learning and human development. Research initiatives of the past decade have linked arts participation to cognitive growth and academic skills, including the strengthening of long-term memory and reading ability (Gazzaniga et al, 2008), creative thinking skills, and writing fluency (Deasy et al, 2002). Arts participation has additionally been linked to positive social outcomes, including overall engagement in school (Deasy et al, 2002), increased graduation rates (Israel, 2009), and increased community engagement and pro-social activities (Catterall, 2009). In an effort to strengthen research efforts linking arts to overall health and well-being across the lifespan, the National Endowment for the Arts established an interagency task force on the arts and human development in the fall of 2011 (Hanna et al, 2011), ensuring that such research continues to inform and strengthen arts educational practice nationwide.

Although the body of research is growing that links arts participation to ever-widening developmental gains, there appear to be fewer resources available that explain the ways in which the latest research in cognitive, social, and emotional development in children and young adults may inform the instructional practices of arts educators.

Structure of report: a series of literature reviews, divided by discipline, and then within the disciplines, divided by age/grade band level. Compiled by specialists in each of the disciplines. We aimed to use research performed and compiled within the last 15 years, acknowledging that that research might naturally draw on or reinforce earlier work.

Naturally, researchers in each discipline did not have an equal pool of resources to draw upon; the amounts of information available on child development and the arts varies greatly by discipline, as well as by grade band. Nevertheless, the following reviews aim to present the most complete picture possible as to the currently accepted best practices in arts education as they relate to research on child development.

The Executive Summary contains charts like this one, of recommended best practices in each discipline, separated by age level. These practices speak directly to the developmental needs and abilities of students at different stages, and might be a helpful touchstone document in the standards writing process. Key Findings/overview of research

Im going to go over some of the main themes of the findings of the research, coupled with recommendations of practices that align with those findings. This is a very general overview of the ideas that we saw most often; the full report is much more comprehensive, but difficult to summarize because of the range of information.

Note: some types of recommendations consistent between grade bands, so youll be faced with scaling the same concept up or down, but there are other leaps between grade bands, where developmental needs shift, so youll need to figure out how to apply the same general framework over these shifting abilities and priorities. EARLY CHILDHOOD:

As youd expect, there is a wealth of information available on this age level, which is useful because youll be drafting early childhood standards for the first time. It is widely accepted that arts experiences bolster development in multiple areas, and arts-based explorations are often seamlessly integrated into educational experiences for preschool and early elementary learners. In early childhood, arts experiences present students with a primary means of communicating their understandings of themselves and their world.

Early Childhood: Physical

Early childhood learners are mastering gross motor skills, but fine motor coordination (including skills like writing) are still a bit beyond their grasp. Students of this age level are whole-body learners who need to learn through active exploration, involving lots of physical activity. The recommendations for instruction at this level focused on this fact of limited motor ability as a primary concern.

Dance instruction at this level typically involves high energy movement, an introduction to basic dance skills, focuses on gross motor skills including balance and coordination. At later stages, students can begin to invent their own movements.

Drawing, painting, and other art-making at this age should be viewed as a record of what is primarily a kinesthetic experience, as students explore the marks they can make with art materials.

Arts educators are advised to focus on using tools that students can easily operate with limited motor ability, including large paintbrushes and crayons that are easy to grip, and basic musical instruments that students can manipulate themselves.

Early Childhood: Cognitive

The research in all disciplines indicates that early childhood learners have very short attention spans and need routines involving a variety of activities to sustain their interest.

They are striving to understand the world around them, and need experiences that allow for learning through exploration and discovery.

Early Childhood: Cognitive

There was an interesting balance in the early childhood recommendations, where the need for structured experiences was emphasized, along with the need for open-ended exploration. Acknowledging that at this stage, arts experiences are not undertaken in the service of creating something complete, they are modes of expression and experimentation and creative play.

This balance of a structured classroom environment that also allows for open-ended, exploratory work was emphasized in the literature related to instruction in all four arts disciplines. Dance instruction for this age should include repetition of basic concepts, but still allow freedom for students to invent their own movements; similarly, music instruction may allow for guided as well as unguided improvisational work, as spontaneous music making (inventing songs, etc.) is typical of students at this age. Theatre instruction may involve structured call-and-response activities as well as time for less-structured fantasy play, and art experiences should emphasize exploration and creative manipulation of materials, as opposed to more structured assignments with a goal or subject dictated to students by the teacher.

Note: emphasis on improvisation and open exploration underlines the fact that in the early childhood stage, artmaking experiences are about experimentation and exploration, not about having a planned intent to create something. No personal emphasis on product, especially at the earlier stages.

Early Childhood: Social/Emotional

In the earliest stages of this age range, parents and teachers are often the most important individuals in a students life, but by ages 5-7, friendships within students own peer group gain increasing social importance as well. Learners at this stage are very social and talkative, and arts experiences are often primarily social experiences. In the visual arts, students are often very interested in re-telling pictorial accounts to peers and adults, especially as their images become more representational. Students are beginning to explore the relationship between themselves and the world around them, and may begin working in small groups or participating in full-class activities in theatre or dance instruction, fostering their cooperative skills and communication abilities.

Elementary: PhysicalThe literature reviews indicate that as fine motor coordination increases, elementary-aged students may be increasingly interested in precision and technique in their artistic endeavors. Dance instruction may introduce more sophisticated techniques, involving diagonals, curves, twists, asymmetry, while music instruction can take advantage of students improving vocal accuracy. Elementary students may use a broader range of visual art tools, including finer pencils and paintbrushes, which make use of their fully-developing fine motor coordination.

Elementary: Cognitive

Increasing skills; emphasis on elements and principles and in refining abilities in a way that we didnt see earlier; Elementary:

Confidence decrease: so while they are increasingly interested in pursuing technical skill and accuracy, as we saw on the last slide, they are increasingly less confident in their ability to do so. Importance of arts rooms as safe spaces for trying new things. Moving into middle school, its important to remember that this is the stage where many students arts education ends. Their required arts education may be wrapping up, unless they have high school arts requirements, so this is where they are making decisions about whether to continue studying the arts in the future.

The research, as you might expect, places a much greater emphasis on social/emotional development of middle schoolers than any other area of development.

If students have been studying the arts consistently throughout elementary school, they are now refining basic skills and learning more specialized techniques.

this idea addresses not only cognitive growth, but also the social and emotional needs of students, and was reinforced throughout the research of all disciplines.

If we consider that its increasingly important to students that arts activities resonate with students own lives and interests, the music research especially emphasized the divide that starts to happen around late elementary and middle school, between what students perceive as school music and the music that they are interested in. so its important not only to allow them to express their own original ideas, but for the examples and activities that we share to have some relevance to their world outside of school, or they will lose interest. There is less available research at the high school and college level; especially college. Also, the recommendations of arts-based practices assume a certain level of experience on the part of students.

High School and College: Cognitive

The theme here is the idea that at the high school and especially college level, educators should be enabling students to have full control over the creative process, from generating ideas to seeing them through to reflecting on their work and the work of others. There should be as few constraints placed on their work, as few outside rules imposed on their process as possible.

Not just about technique, but about broader ideas. Putting it all together. High School and College: Social/EmotionalAs youll notice, the recommendations overlap between categories here. Overall similarities: (read from chart)

Given the levels of similarity between recommendations associated with different arts disciplines, it would make sense for practitioners in any area to look at the examples of the recommendations in other disciplines for cues that might inform their own practice.

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child development and arts education

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child development researchhow

students cognitive

students life

gross motor skills

open exploration

social experiences example

dance instruction

primary means of communication