Arts education affects students’ social-emotional development—for good or ill, concludes a new report by the Consortium for Chicago School Research and the nonprofit Ingenuity.
The groups analyzed 60 years of research on arts education and conducted interviews with Chicago students, parents, and arts educators.
They found arts instruction provides opportunities for strong student-teacher interactions. However, the report found arts instruction must explicitly focus on building creativity, self-expression, and discipline. Those that didn’t could lead students to develop a negative view of art or their creative abilities.
