Throughout my experience at the BGC, I have learned how valuable the arts are to the learning process. Children are innately curious and integrating the arts fosters that curiosity which leads to discovery. The author of our arts integration text put it well, “Arts integration is founded on the premise that the arts are central to learning because arts involvement (looking at, listening to, and making art) triggers motivation rooted in curiosity,” (Cornett, 2015). In my final week, I had the students work independently to create a piece of artwork out of a simple squiggle. The students went above and beyond my expectations and created beautiful works of art. Then they surpassed my expectations once again and were able to critique each other's art and make connections that I didn’t even see!
Ultimately, arts integration is a way for students to create knowledge while being themselves.