Owen 1

Kylor Owen

Prof. Mary French

English Comp 1

04/20/2017

Analyzing the Importance of Art Education

Introduction

Prior research done this semester lead me to wonder what other peoples thoughts were

on the importance of implementing art into education. This lead me to develop a survey

consisting of ten art based questions that show others attitude toward art being implemented into

education and what they believe art can be used for. In this report, I will be discussing not only

how I came up with the questions that made up my survey but also how the answers opened my

mind to other viewpoints besides my own.

Methodology

This survey was given to ten students that have attended at least one semester of college.

Their ages ranged from 18-29. These students were picked at random and were then given a

paper version of the survey with the instruction to answer each question as honest as possible.

Every one of the students given this survey has a different intended major. I even went as far as

to include the gender of the survey recipient, to see if this had to play in with the answers that

were received. The questions range from Likert scale, true or false and even multiple choice.

Some ways that I developed the questions that were on the survey involved previous

research that I had conducted earlier in the semester. For example, question six and eight were

drafted from the ideas presented in an article about art meeting curriculum, where it was

described how art can be used to teach subjects that would otherwise be unrelatable (Giardina,
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70-74). On the other hand, question five came from the ideas in an article that involved education

through art and how it made self-expression easier for children (Barchana-Lorand, 172-174). I

also developed question 10 from a journal in which they were speaking about how children were

acting out due to a recent trauma and they began to use art to help these children heal in a

positive way (Durham, 22). The other questions that were included on the survey were simply to

see how aware people were of art and how often they implemented art into their own lives.

Results

For question one, on a scale of 1-10 ten being the most important one being the least

important how important is art to education, the average response was 8.5. For the second

question, how much do you appreciate an artists piece of work, 30% responded B. art is alright

while the other 70% answered C. I love art. For question three, art includes which of the

following, 100% answered E. All of the above. When asked question four, would you attend an

art class in your free time, 60% answered yes, 30% answered maybe and 10% answered no. For

question five, art creates a more open and free environment for students to express themselves,

100% of responders answered true. When the survey takers were asked question six, do you

think art lessons can help you in any other school work, 70% yes and 30% responded sometimes.

For question seven, do you believe that certain people are better artists then others, 60%

answered yes, 20% answered no and 20% answered I dont know. For question eight, art should

be a required course in college curriculum, 60% answered yes and 40% answered no. When

asked question nine, how often do you visit art museums in your free time, the recipients

responded 40% B. Sometimes (once a month) and 60% responded C. Not very often (once

every couple of months). For the final question, I asked the survey takers if they believe art is a

way to relieve stress and 60% answered B. for some people and 40% answered A. Yes.
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Below you will see the results laid out in a graph to help you better understand.

Questionere Results
1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10

A B C D E

Analysis & Discussion

This survey was mostly given out to test the knowledge of how much art truly is involved

in our day to day lives. I also wanted to see how other people viewed art in terms of the

importance that it can bring to the table. Most of the recipients seemed to have a good amount of

knowledge on the subject matter. While some still seem to believe that art is not important and is

only used as a hobby. Something surprising that it showed is that every single person who took

the survey believed that art is a great way to express yourself and open your mind up. I was not

expecting to have one hundred percent on this question. Now out of all the questions that I asked

it truly all boiled down to one, should art be involved in education to make different subjects

easier to understand. Over half of the recipients thought that art can be used as a hobby but it also

useful to help the education process be easier.

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Now, some results that I did find a tad bit surprising involved the questions where I

asked, how often do you visit art museums in your free time. I asked this question because I

wanted to see how often people take the time out to truly sit an appreciate art in their own time.

The average response was once every couple of months. The reason that I found this result

surprising is because my second question asks, how much do you appreciate another artists work,

and over half responded that they loved art. If these students love art why do they not take the

time to go and incorporate the art that has been made through the centuries? Great results were

found from giving this survey and I truly enjoyed reading over everyones answers.

Conclusion

I am so glad that this is a part of the assignments that we were given for English

Composition 1. This helped me not to view art only from my standpoint but also through the

eyes of others. Being that I am an art major, of course I am going to love art! But being able to

see students from other majors appreciate art just as much as I do was really astounding. I hope

that these results were clear and concise to help to better understand the survey that I gave to

these students. Below I will include the survey just for you viewing pleasure and so you can

reference if needed.
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Appendix: Sample Questioner

1. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being very important 1 being not important, how important is art to
education?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. How much do you appreciate an artists piece of work?

A. I dont care for art.
B. Art is alright.
C. I love art!

3. Art includes which of the following?

A. Creative Writing
B. Dance
C. Music
D. Drawing/Painting
E. All the above

4. Would you attend an art class in your free time?

A. Yes
B. Maybe
C. No

5. Art creates a more open and free environment for students to express themselves.
A. True
B. I dont know
C. False

6. Do you think art lessons can help you in any other school work?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I dont know
D. Sometimes

7. Do you believe that certain people are better artists than others?
A. Yes
B. I dont know
C. No

8. Art should be a required course in college curriculum.

A. True
B. I dont know
C. False

9. How often do you visit art museums in your free time?

A. Very often (once every couple of weeks)
B. Sometimes (Once a month)
C. Not very often (once every couple of months)
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D. Never

10. Do you believe art is a way to relieve stress?

A. Yes
B. For some people
C. No not at all

Work Cited

Barchana-Lorand, Dorit Art Conquers All? Herbert Reads Education Through Art Artistic

Freedom and Freedom in Education (2015) Pages 172-174

Durham, Heidi How Art Can Help Children Overcome Trauma School Leadership in the Wake

of a Natural Disaster: Healing through Creative Expression (2004): Volume 36, issue 15,

page 22. Web.

Giardina, Nicola Educational Leadership When Curriculum Meets Art (2016) Pages 70-74

ww.ascd.org