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Reflections on the Arts & the Nature of Education
by Steve Schuch


"I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength. It is more important to pave the way for children to want to know than to put them on a diet of facts they are not ready to assimilate."

           -Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder


assemblyNearly forty years ago Rachel Carson expressed a vision of how we might raise children with a sense of wonder. Other writers and educators before and since have had similar visions. Only recently, however, have these views started to gain currency in our mainstream schools. Some changes are being seen in what is taught. Other profound changes are afoot in how things are taught and how we understand learning itself.

When many of us were growing up, education tended to revolve around memorization and regurgitation of facts. This approach made it easy to quantify the results, even when classes were overcrowded and teachers were overworked. Test scores appeared mathematically precise, even if we were not sure what the numbers meant. Unfortunately, this approach did not always “pave the way for children to want to know” more, or cross the bridge from knowing a few “facts” to grasping the meaning of the larger picture. In many classes there was no larger picture, or at least none that teachers talked about.

All this is changing. One larger picture now is that there is only one planet Earth and everything is related. Many teachers are working hard to create more wholistic, integrated curriculum and develop critical thinking skills. A unit on acid rain, for example, can easily draw on math, science, geography, government, language skills, and the arts. Students can be expected to go beyond definitions and causes, to develop higher level problem solving skills.

As a musician and author who works with children, I’m encouraged to see this happening. Educators and parents alike are realizing how music, stories, or a field trip can touch us in ways that rote memorization does not. Think about times that music or storytelling has deepened an experience for you or a group you’ve been with. It might be on a retreat or at camp, with your family during holiday times, perhaps a bedtime ritual, or sitting around a campfire under the stars. There are many ways the arts enrich our own lives, as well as our children’s classrooms.

On one level, songs or stories about oceans, weather, whales, etc., can be a fine way to liven up these topics and get some of the facts and terminology to stick in our minds. Such songs are easy to write with kids and are probably the most common “educational” songs one hears. Many of these are informational in nature; they inform us, sometimes humorously, sometimes pointedly.

Another level, however, is trying to get inside people’s imagination and feelings with more relational songs. One of the great strengths of the arts is their ability to reach inside us and develop an “emotional vocabulary” to go with our verbal vocabulary. A good example is as song like “Puff the Magic Dragon.” For two generations this song has succeeded at getting people to care what happens to an endangered dragon and his (or possibly her) friend Jackie. How many of us have wanted to write alternate final verses to that song? What is it that makes us care how that story ends?

canoeIn a sense, one goal of education is to inspire people to care enough how the world story is going that they want to “write verses” in their own lives. Information alone doesn’t do this. There needs to be a story, a relation of the facts to each other and to the heart. When people worry about teenagers’ apathy, or voter apathy, I think about Rachel Carson’s sense of wonder, an “antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years... the alienation from the sources of our strength.”

As a child, I was lucky to be surrounded with lots of music, singing and stories. A favorite book my parents would read at bed time was about a redwood tree. Dragons and reptiles were also very popular. Hearing these stories gave a wealth of vivid pictures to my mind’s eye, so that later in life, when I studied music and biology, there was already a core, a trunk to which I could attach specific facts. Once the trunk is there, it’s easy to attach branches and send out exploratory roots. It’s no accident that as an adult, I’ve planted trees in Peace Corps and written songs and poetry about trees. Also about reptiles and dragons.

One of Rachel Carson’s deep insights was that information, meaning, and understanding are not the same. Many educators (and newscasters, parents and politicians) are only beginning to think about the implications this distinction has for how we live and learn. In an age of overabundant information, we struggle for understanding. In an age of “virtual,” we forget the older meanings of the words “knowledge” and “to know.” We have more facts (more often factoids) barreling down the “Information Superhighway” than at any other time in history. Yet wisdom and meaning are in shorter supply than ever.


Wisdom, Beauty and Meaning
From tribal cultures and the ancient Greeks to Thomas Jefferson and John Dewey, thoughtful people have recognized the need for a well rounded education. That education included the arts. Why? The goal wasn’t just to get children into a certain college or career track; the goal was to have wise and awake citizens, connected to each other, connected to the earth.

Historically the arts have given us language to express the very core of our humanity. Our hopes and fears, our celebrations and mournings, our dreams and visions... these are the stuff of cave painters, playwrights and musicians across the ages. These are how we connect to each other. These are how we connect to the earth and our place in the universe.

Today, beyond churning out students with certified test scores, what cultural touchstones do we give our children? What are the overarching stories, symbols and rituals that help us cohere as a society? What kinds of citizens do we wish to have?

People who speak different languages frequently observe how certain words and phrases aren’t readily translated from one language to another. In some cases, the words and underlying thoughts themselves are unique to a certain culture. Now imagine if that language and culture were to die out. With their passing, the very ability to think certain kinds of thoughts passes away as well.

The arts are languages too, each with their own unique vocabularies. Through them, we are able to express thoughts and feelings beyond the realm of our normal vocabulary and syntax. For Bach, music was his language and his palette. If you wish to see him thinking, listen to his Chaconne or The Art of the Fugue. There is incredible mathematical structure underlying these works, and a richness in their “emotional vocabulary” as well. After listening to Bach’s pieces dozens or even hundreds of times, people still return for there is so much more yet to hear.

Without the arts, we become mute and deaf to an entire range of expression that is our birthright. Without the language of the arts, certain possibilities cease to exist because they are no longer even imagined, much the way modern physics wouldn’t exist without the language of calculus and higher mathematics to give voice to its concepts.

The challenges we face in this century will require all the creativity and wisdom we can muster. Global warming, changing politics and economies, learning to bring seemingly limitless appetites into balance with finite ecosystems... all these will require awake and thoughtful citizens. They will require diverse languages and rich vocabularies, both to form relevant questions, and to frame meaningful answers.

"Life is a Symphony, not a sound bite. Beauty takes wing in its own time."
-Steve Schuch

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
-Annie Dillard

"In the end, we will conserve what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught."
-Baba Dioum

 

Suggestions for Further Reading
Background
Reflections on the Arts & the Nature of Education by Steve Schuch

The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson
The Kind of Schools We Need by Elliot Eisner
Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony by Lewis Thomas

Activities
Trees of Life Activity Guide

Recordings & Books
Trees of Life & other CD’s by Steve Schuch
A Symphony of Whales by Steve Schuch
Seedstars & Tomato Patches by Steve Schuch

About the Author (view full Artist Biography)
STEVE SCHUCH has delighted audiences of all ages across the U.S. and Europe. Classically trained on violin, he also is an award-winning author, singer/songwriter and storyteller. Venues range from schools and town halls to symphony orchestras and The Kennedy Center.

Haunting violin and whale calls... music and tales of Ireland... a pizzicato interpretation of a Picasso painting... these are just part of Steve’s wide-ranging repertoire. Honors include composer awards, PBS soundtracks and five fiddling championships. Steve’s recordings with The Night Heron Consort are national best sellers. His musical story, A Symphony of Whales, has received five national book awards, and his children’s recording, Trees of Life, the Parents’ Choice Gold Award.

For four years Steve taught a graduate course on integrating music and storytelling into classroom curriculum. A former Audubon naturalist and Peace Corps volunteer, he lives on a farm with his wife and various creatures. Personal interests include white water canoeing, Mexican food and relating to large reptiles.

We also recommend visiting Performances, Workshops for All Ages, Specialized Workshops, Workshops for Educators & Parents, Recordings, Books, and School Assemblies.

 

heron
Ways to Enrich Your Journey
by STEVE SCHUCH

The arts are languages, each with their own unique vocabularies. Through them, we are able to express thoughts and feelings beyond the realm of our normal vocabulary and syntax. For Bach, music was his language and his palette. If you wish to see him thinking, listen to his Chaconne or The Art of the Fugue.

Without the arts, we become mute and deaf to an entire range of expression that is our birthright. Without the language of the arts, certain possibilities cease to exist because they are no longer even imagined, much the way modern physics wouldn’t exist without the language of calculus and higher mathematics to give voice to its concepts.

The challenges we face in this century will require all the creativity and wisdom we can muster. Global warming, changing politics and economies, learning to bring seemingly limitless appetites into balance with finite ecosystems... all these will require awake and thoughtful citizens. They will require diverse languages and rich vocabularies, both to form relevant questions, and to frame meaningful answers.

Where do we go from here? Here are a few ideas to get started. Please add some of your own.

Value the things that can’t easily be quantified. Creativity, imagination, empathy, integrity, a sense of balance and what is “enough”... these are just a few of the qualities that are fostered by the arts, qualities that enrich a child for an entire lifetime. If you could encourage one or two things in your schools that might not show up on standardized test scores, but that ultimately matter in the test of life, what would they be?

Ask people in your community what they see as “antidotes against the boredom and disenchantments of later years... the alienation from the sources of our strength.” What are the sources of our strength? What causes alienation?

Encourage inquisitive minds. Value questions at least as much as “answers.” Creating any work of art is a constantly evolving series of questions leading to the finished piece. Real science works the same way, too. As the pace of change in our world increases, learning to ask good questions will be more relevant than an inert list of memorized answers.

Resist sound bites... go for a Symphony. Lincoln and Douglas debated eloquently for hours, without notes and teleprompters. Humpback whales commit complex 30 minute songs to memory. Once people told Beowulf by heart, listened to entire symphonies and recited Shakespeare. Let the arts reclaim more of our young people’s minds than just a sound bite or jingle. Give the arts the time they deserve.

Create meaning by giving a context to what we do. Context makes information real in a way that makes sense. Rather than randomly teaching “facts” about one thing, then another, connect them together thematically, with songs, art projects, stories and related activities (see Keepers of the Earth).

For an ocean unit, try combining songs about whales with several ocean and water songs, some recordings of actual whale songs, and a whale pod simulation game. Include a story about a specific whale or pod or an encounter between whales and humans. Make big murals. Plan a whale watch trip, beach clean-up, or letter writing project, then do it!

Use the arts as part of a wholistic educational approach. People learn differently, have many individual ways of understanding, and of showing their understanding (see Gardner’s Frames of Mind). Appeal to multiple senses and intelligences. Include movement, tactile senses, singing, storytelling, creative writing, listening, acting and visual art. Diversify assessment and evaluation procedures.

Don’t allow standardized testing to drive your entire curriculum. Instead, first create meaningful curriculum and learning environments, then ask how the results should be assessed. Testing should be the caboose, not the train engine. Be prepared to make this point to anxious parents, voters, or students who have been led to believe otherwise. Resist cutting the arts and enrichment activities in order to focus on “core” subjects. Increasing the quality and diversity of enrichment activities will do much more good in the long run.

Encourage and support principals and teachers who incorporate the arts into their schools and classrooms. The arts should be part of core subjects, not just something extra at the end of the day or week.

Create a “Live Arts Week” during which students (and faculty) pledge to give up (or limit) their TV watching and replace it with live arts instead. Bring quality performers or artists-in-residence to your school; look for ways to celebrate your teachers’ and students’ own art work.

Value the Arts just as much as sports programs, chess club, and Odyssey of the Mind. When done well, all of these teach resourcefulness, persistence, and concentration... more skills for a lifetime. For some kids, their involvement in chorus, jazz band or a school play may be the reason they stay in school and graduate, just as for some kids it’s their connection with a favorite coach or sport.

Start a favorite book and CD “Review List” at your schools, where teachers (and students) can post short reviews of the favorites things they’re presently reading and listening to. If we expect students to be excited about reading, so should we. A current “Review List” is a good way for everyone to discover new books and music. A bulletin board or part of a school paper works well. Perhaps the school media center can display a special section of monthly favorites.

Value active, direct experiences over “virtual” ones. When people listen to a live storyteller, or study a real frog or leaf, they are actively forming multiple levels of sense memories and pictures in their own heads. This does far more to develop minds with depth and subtlety than passively viewing someone else’s images on a TV or computer screen.

Limit TV watching. Few inventions of modern life do more to weaken the imagination and destroy a sense of context than does television (see Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death). Most of the issues and challenges we face can’t be adequately grasped or solved with TV’s sound bite mentality and pacifying imagery.

Attend a live concert or play.

Attend an art class, photography class or creative writing workshop. Try literally seeing things from different perspectives, angles and distances. One of the great gifts of the arts is this: whether or not one becomes a “professional” artist, the time spent practicing with a pencil or camera will
forever change the mind’s ability to see things, just as the hours spent practicing the violin forever changes how a person hears things.

Listen to a CD without interruption at least one night a week. The key thing here is to really listen to the music as opposed to having it on in the background. Headphones may help. Where does the music take you? What pictures does it put in your mind?

Deepen your own love and connection with the natural world. Get outside. Use all your senses. Look for more than what’s expected. Remember, as one ornithologist pointed out, “when the field guide and the bird disagree, believe the bird!”

Keep your sense of wonder alive. Get mud in your sneakers. Raise a small garden for yourself, and possibly a smaller one for the rabbits and relations. Read a book aloud to someone you love, a couple chapters a night. Go for a night hike without a flashlight. Talk to the owls and woodcocks. Keep a journal. Keep singing and let me know what happens!

     
Night Heron Music • 72 Meeting Hill Road, Hillsborough, NH 03244 • USA
• ph (603) 464-4321 •
e-mail info@nightheron.com

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