Early Childhood Initiatives & Art-Based Learning: A Rant
Today, I'm researching early childhood initiatives at museums across the country.
The infrastructures of museums, and of museum education departments specifically, is completely new to me. It's been fascinating to enter into a field, and it explore it from the inside out. I assumed that many of the issues facing the nation's education systems and the Humanities were the same issues that museums would be dealing with. And while this is true on some levels, it is also proving to be more complex and distinct.
One of the similarities is the push back against art-based learning, or creative learning. We've seen a major shift towards STEM education in the past few years, as the United States attempts to bolster those fields and become more competitive on the global market. This has meant that many school districts across the country have cut funding to extracurriculars and any subjects that could be deemed unnecessary. These cuts have effected everything from gym to art.
And while I do believe that STEM education is important in our ever-growing technology-based culture, I do believe that this technology can only be useful when individuals have the creative and critical thinking skills to innovate. Without creativity, there is no creation. And without creation, can technology continue to grow?
It's an interesting paradox, and I don't think we've seen the extent to which this has impacted our culture yet. (I would argue that the first STEM generation, in terms of this emphasis through education, hasn't even reached the college level yet.)
With that being said, museums have become an incredible avenue for addressing this lack in traditional education systems. Museums are innately creative in their act of collecting and exhibiting that which our society deems novel or artistic. Many museum education departments have begun to foster their gallery spaces as creative spaces where children can interact with art and create. This is amazing, and exciting. Though there continues to be tension among administration and other departments, I would argue that education is constantly gaining traction. (With more success at certain institutions: see Denver Art Museum.)
Some museums, like DAM, have emphasized tactile or kinesthetic creation. This means that these institutions are continuing to create activities where students are using their hands to make a physical object--or, what we would understand to be a more traditional "arts and crafts" type of project. Other institutions, like the Cleveland Museum of Art, have also begun to incorporate technology into their creative learning spaces. Gallery One is an interactive space that uses digital pedagogy to engage students in the museum's collection. This is done primarily through touchscreens or the museum's app, ArtLens. In this way, CMA embodies a STEAM (or, STEM + Art) approach to education.
I can see both approaches as being beneficial to students, especially young children. Most museums now offer programs for children as young as 3 months. Some even offer preschools, with a focus on art-based curriculums (see John Michael Kohler Arts Center).
And, this is where I think the issues of art-based education in the museum differ slightly from the concerns of the Humanities: museums aren't just concerned about teaching children or young adults. Many museums are also invested in the family unit as a whole. In other words, museums are invested in families just as much as they are in their youngest or oldest visitors.
At these museums, families engage in unique bonding experiences. They interact with one another in a public, creative space where they can encourage one another to learn and explore. The activities in these spaces are often open-ended. Therefore, these spaces and their activities are innately adaptable, and can be applied to different learning styles and different personalities so that each member of the family can engage in their own way. Furthermore, these bonding experiences can come home with them--and can be shared over the dinner table, or through play. Learning becomes a transitional experience. And the entire family has the opportunity to participate.
I think this is one of the most admirable shifts in focus. At-home learning can have a dramatic impact on a child. Fostering a love of learning and for family through art and creativity could not only help a child grow as an individual person, but also as a member of the community. Research has show that children who learn creative thinking skills and who are taught to love the Arts have been known to be more active members of their community as adults. They're more invested.
Consequently, I would argue that STEAM is much more important than STEM. Because, without a focus on developing empathy in the individual and in the family unit, we cannot contribute meaningful to the national or global community. (Alright, we probably could--but I think we'd be better at it if we started to emphasize the Arts and creativity a little more.)
