A fascinating study revealed that when low-income schools added more learning time to their school days in order to incorporate arts programs, the students achieved a well-rounded education, which aided them in fostering abilities to communicate and express ideas, accomplish their goals, and engage in positive social behaviors. When students develop this well roundedness in the classroom, they are better able to navigate the challenges of the world around them. The arts, which I like to view as creative forms of storytelling, undoubtedly promote empathy on their own. However, when the arts are integrated into education, students not only understand themselves better, but they are also better able to communicate with their peers better. Through these developments, they learn to appreciate the world around them in a new and refreshing way. One of the study’s findings was: “Creating and learning through the arts offer children and adolescents access to an invaluable endeavor: a means to connect emotionally with others and deepen their understanding of the human condition.” Harnessing a sense of awareness for our own intrinsic natures is a life skill that should not be overlooked. This sense of awareness allows students to not only recognize problems in the social world around them, but to actually feel compelled to do something about them. Bringing this back to the classroom, intrinsic awareness can help students recognize where they struggle and where they thrive, and be able to communicate with their teachers and peers with more sensitivity.

via Making Time for the Arts by Carly Ginsberg.