Google “integrating the arts into the classroom curriculum” and the first few entries cite research on integrating the arts into the curriculum for “gifted and talented” students. In her article “Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum for Gifted Students” Joan Franklin Smutny cites studies that have shown that “the arts can significantly advance gifted […]
Google “integrating the arts into the classroom curriculum” and the first few entries cite research on integrating the arts into the curriculum for “gifted and talented” students. In her article “Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum for Gifted Students” Joan Franklin Smutny cites studies that have shown that “the arts can significantly advance gifted students’ academic and creative abilities and cognitive functioning…[and that] when integrating the arts into the curriculum, teachers can design experiences that are tied to the unique needs, interests, and abilities of gifted students and challenge them to perform more complex and sophisticated tasks” (Smutny, 2002). If the visual and performing arts “significantly advance” the academic, cognitive and creative abilities of gifted students, then it can be implied that the arts would also enhance the academic, cognitive and creative abilities of the median, struggling, disengaged and disadvantaged students by tying into their unique needs, interests and abilities, as well.
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