In the classic text by McLuhan we are introduced to the idea that the medium with which we chose to communicate limits what can be communicated. In the same way your method of transportation limits where you can travel and how long it takes to get there, your method of communication limits what you can say and how long it takes to communicate the idea.
Children require performing arts education is that it teaches different kids of communication skills.
Ken Robinson argues that the arts are just as important as math and English because the arts speak to aspects of a child’s being that are “otherwise left untouched.”
Truth.
I will add that arts education is important because it teaches aspects of communication that are otherwise neglected.
Not every aspect of being a human being can be expressed in mathematics or a spoken/written language.
There are aspects of our being, of our imagination that can only be expressed or developed through the language of imagination. Through the language of acting, singing, dance, music; through these art forms one learns to explore the language of imagination.
Well, that’s great, Louis, but so what?
Good question!
When we look at the “real world” — that world that we will pretend exists outside of the arts — we see any number of places where the language imagination is critical.
Here are two examples:
Medicine
The language of science and imagination come together regularly in the field of medicine. In discovering a new cure for a deadly disease, in discovering a new procedure that gives comfort or saves lives; in the creation of new methods of treatments — all great break throughs in medicine represent a discovery that begin within the language of imagination before they were translated and expanded upon within the language of science. They began as an abstract idea that did not exist but in the imagination.
Inventor/Start-up/Founder
People who invent new technology, write new software or found new companies, all exist within the language of imagination. When one first conceives of something that does not currently exist, this idea is existing fully in imagination. It is through the creation of stories that one brings their idea into the world of physical reality. Whether one is translating the language of imagination into computer code, a mechanical devices or a business plan, one begins in imagination.
What about a stock broker?
What about a physicist?
What about a lawyer?
What about a teacher?
What about a realtor?
What about a military service person?
How many more examples can you think of where the language of imagination is important?
Without a consistant practice in the language of imagination, we are no where as human beings. Arts eduction is not fundamental because it is good for the soul; that’s just lazy liberalism. Arts education is fundamental because it’s core to how we grow as intellectual beings; it’s the key to our future.
Think of it this way. Children entering kindergarten in fall 2023 will graduate from college in 2040 and will retire around 2085/90. Now tell me what the world will be like for these young people. Tell me what careers that will be available. Tell me what the future holds. We are educating young people for a future we cannot imagine and we are educating them to solve problems we cannot fathom. How are they to do this if they’re simply taught to take tests, memorize factoids and follow rules?
It is only through powerfully dynamic and creative thinking that our young people will take us into the future.
And, that requires imagination.
Louis Stone-Collonge
Performing Arts Guru