Visual Art in a Private School:
nurturing imagination

by Michele Neil.
Reprinted from Art Business, a newsletter... Vol. 1, No. 5 (Oct. 1995). Michele Neil is a visual artist and art teacher. At the time this article was written, Ms. Neil was an art teacher at Quinte Country School, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
Every child is born with an insatiable appetite to explore. Children are empowered to create. We must respect and encourage this natural curiosity and creativity. If these natural qualities are not nurtured from our early years they are difficult to acquire on demand. Such qualities or 'skills' as imagination, curiosity, and tolerance are required to effectively meet challenges now and in the future.

Creative and innovative people are the ones who do more than just survive in our highly competitive and changing economy. Creative people are always looking for and seeing potential. They are more likely to maintain a sense of self, as well as a high level of productivity. They will also succeed financially in the face of downsizing, cut backs and technological change.

Artists are not necessarily innovative or even creative people. They too can get locked into a certain way of seeing things. The creativity I'm talking about exists beneath the final artistic product. It is the art process, and it is invaluable. The final art product is the result of a person's ability to think creatively, solve problems, and use their imagination and creative judgment.

As an art teacher in a small private school in Prince Edward County, Ontario, I have been able to observe the impact that our art program has had on the behaviour and academic development of children.

It is alarming to see creativity stifled in so many young people. It appears in many of our new students, as young as the age of six. Whether trauma in the early years of development, social influences or the public school system are to blame, I will not address at this time. Our goal is to revitalise and encourage the child's desire to explore.

The skills children acquire in the art class progressively influence their academic work. Teachers of other subjects have noted increases in the students' abilities to sustain interest in their work and to concentrate. The students become less apprehensive about exploring and communicating, visually and verbally.

Art work can stir feelings which a child may not recognise in another setting. In the art class, they are encouraged to speak about how things affect them. The child becomes more capable of relating his experiences, thoughts, feelings and perceptions. And, as he learns that there are many ways of doing the same thing, he begins to appreciate individuality.

Children's artwork can give insights into their emotional states and can be useful in exposing learning hindrances. Art is a rewarding outlet for suppressed energies. Emotions are turned into creative channels, protecting a child from emotional overload. Playing it out is a natural self-healing process.

One particular student of mine hated anything new because he had experienced much failure in his studies. He approached my art class with the same disdain. However, within a few months, art became his favourite subject and he was asking his parents for art materials to use at home.

Children with a history of behavioural problems did not act up in our private school environment. However, once these 'difficult' children were returned to public schooling they resumed their old behavioural patterns. It should be noted that the students receive close attention at our school. In my class there are 7 students to one teacher (in the public schools, this ratio is much higher). As well, these children developed a keen interest in art as a result of exposure to it while they were attending the private school. Drawing for example, became an after school activity. This pleased their parents for this kind of mental work quieted the child and the natural high that the art process creates was satisfying to the child.

If a child is allowed to experiment in art, he is more inclined to do so in the science laboratory in his adult career. The art process encourages divergent thinking as opposed to thoughts focused on a single 'correct' answer. Art enhances the ability to foresee results of one's actions by developing the vital skill of mental imagery. In art, a child will make countless decisions in arranging, pasting, subject matter, colour, medium and materials.

When faced with budget cuts, some schools look first to the arts. Reducing art classes, according to cognitive psychologists, will not produce the long term results intended by educators. Psychologist Howard Gardner believes that the arts are every bit as cognitive and potent as the verbal and logical forms of thinking typically focused on in the public school system. Children have diverse ways of learning and schools must teach students not only through the linguistic and mathematical methods but by other intelligences such as: the visual/spatial; body/kinesthetic; musical/rhythmic; intrapersonal and interpersonal.

The arts should be part of a basic education. The most effective learning is participatory and whole-brained and the arts are precisely that in Eric Oddleifson's view. He is the President of the Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, Washington, DC.