Draft 2

Ashley Baustert

2/07/2013

Ms. Keaton

Exploratory Proposal

Dear Ms. Keaton,

The following is my proposal for the Argumentative Paper. I will begin my proposal by presenting three resources from the class that I have chosen to look at in more detail.  I will then analyze, summarize, connect to, and pick a theme from each source.  I will then present you with a possible research topic that I have picked based off of the resources and explain why I have picked that topic.  Finally I will pose a question for which I will base my research off of.

All of my resources that I have chosen to discuss in this proposal circle around a common theme.  That theme is creativity.  While all discuss creativity in schools, they are very different in their approaches.  One talks about how creativity is a staple in schools where another questions rather creativity is needed to function in school.  My last resource takes a completely different turn by saying that teachers need to be creative in their approach to teaching to make their students successful.  The reason I chose these resources is because it gives different views on how creativity is seen in schools. 

For my first resource I have chosen an article that was discussed in class.  In the article “Creativity in schools: Every story needs a picture” Anthony Browne talks about how he went to schools and saw how creativity was being taken out of schools. He tells us he went to a school where the students were two years further ahead in their reading then most schools. When he was there he saw that in fact they were further ahead than most schools but they were lacking creativity. As he walked around the classrooms and school he noticed that the pictures on the walls were of subjects like math languages and sciences not art work. Art was not anywhere to be found in the school. He says “The Children were indeed bright, articulate and enthusiastic, and knee to play the shapes game, a drawing game that I always play in schools” he goes on to tell us how the game is played. That you start with the first person without thinking about it draws an abstract shape and then passes the paper to the next person where they transform the shape into something recognizable. Children seem to like this game and are very good at it. Anthony Browne went to play this game at the one school and saw that the children were drawing “Proper Shapes”. After he worked with them they started to play like all the other schools he has visited. (Browne)

I think that this is a great article about creativity not being in this one school as much as they were in most schools. I can see how they were two years ahead of most schools, but they were indeed lacking creativity and a lot of it. I believe that this article has made me think that if they take related arts or creativity out schools at they could be higher in readings but they would not have any creativity.

I think that this article could have had more examples of schools and how they might not be two years ahead in reading but that they are using more creativity then the schools that are two years ahead. I think it would be helpful to make a comparison on the two different schools. By doing this Anthony Browne could have used another school he had been to and what the walls looked like there, like he did in the article for the school that is two years ahead of the other school.

I think that since I have read this article I would like to know if related arts are helping or hurting the kids in schools. This article is great to start my research and thinking on how this is really a big deal in schools. This article lets us know that creativity maybe is leaving schools but maybe it is not a good idea.

My next resource is a video on the art programs in schools and how there are two sides when it comes to keeping those programs.  The video called Ted Talks “Do schools kill creativity” Sir Ken Robinson tells us how arts are at the bottom on the education list. According to Robinson there are two sides on this topic, “good or bad”.  The “good” point of view is that education systems are focusing more the core part of education which does not include arts as a primary part of education.  The “bad” point of view is that by taking arts programs out of schools is a mistake because it is taking creativity away from students.  Creativity is a big topic today in the education world.  Some schools are taking it out to help higher the grades in their schools. He says that education is the same all of the world no matter where you are. That math and language are at the top and arts are at the bottom. Robinson could have said why creativity is at the bottom and not on the same level as math and language. Robinson lets people know that creativity is not being taken to the same level as math and languages.(Robinson)

 This video makes you want to think if this is really happening to students and schools everywhere. Robinson could have gone into more detail on creativity and how it could be moved up on the education list. Also he could have told us more about how creativity is a great thing to have. He talks about some but could have gone into better detail.

My last resource is another article.  This article discusses teacher’s styles of teaching how creativity affects them.  In the article “My 54 year love affair with the SAT” Kaplan says “my challenge as a teacher was to give students the tools they needed to get the job done. I had to keep students interested, keep them learning, keep them laughing, and above all build their confidence that they succeed.” He did this by telling jokes, arguing, teasing, and listening to his students. He took his creativity and found ways to help his students learn the information for the SAT. He was very creative and took this in how he taught his students. He would tell them if they got a question right they could get a prize. This is very creative and helps students learn. I could see how creativity in learning for the SAT is not any different than learning any skill in school. This might be something to look into for helping students to learn better. (Kaplan)

This article is great.  There is nothing he left out on how being creative can help you learn even for the SAT. Kaplan could take what he has learned and done with his students to the education system and see if it works for the schools. If he had done this he could have told us how it went and if the education system liked what they saw.   Maybe Kaplan could have talked more on how he used his creativity to help students want to learn and do good on test and in school. If he did talk more about how to use creativity in teaching maybe the education system would look more into not only having creativity in related arts but having creativity in core classes also. This could bring grades up or it could bring grades down. It would have to be tested. 

Based off of what I learned from the above resources I have picked a topic that I would like to explore further for this project.  My research will be based off of the pros and cons related to having arts programs in schools.  When I was in school, my favorite part of the day was when we left our classroom and got to go to music, art, Spanish, or PE.  I have always been a visual and creative person so naturally I was drawn to these classes and the activities that took place in them.  Another reason I would like to research this topic more is because of the articles and video I used above.  They really got me thinking about how important or not important related arts can be in schools.  Lastly, my sister just earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and I have talked to her about this topic in the past.  She completed her student teaching in a school where the related arts programs have been cut back to increase classroom teaching time.  I would like to interview her as well as other teaching professionals to get their opinions on this subject.  I plan on getting my research through the web, articles, videos, books, personal interviews and any other resources from this class that I can use.  The question that I choose to base my research off of is this, “Should related arts programs be kept in schools?”

I hope this proposal explains to you what I have decided to research for my final Argumentative Paper and will meet the requirements of this assignment.

Thank you,
Ashley Baustert

Work Citied Page

Browne, Anthony. The Guardian. Web. 29 June 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/30/creativity-schools-childrens-laureate

Kaplan, Stanley. “My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT.” Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing The Educational Experience. Ed. Linda Adler--‐Kasser. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 265--‐272. Print.

Robinson, Sir Ken. "Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?" YouTube. YouTube, 06 Jan. 2007. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.