Art can be implemented in a multicultural curriculum as an essential tool. How does art function as an educational tool? Art making is a new way of thinking, to have an exploratory mind. Learners take things out of context and put it in a new context. Educators cannot simply explain to their students how the world around them is in black and white (that the memorization of text is the initial goal in their education). As students undergo the creative process, they begin to develop their own understanding of their surroundings by strengthening their observation skills. Educators encourage their pupils to take risks, make mistakes, and problem solve by experimenting and frequently asking questions. What happens when I draw this line? What colors shall I apply? Are there any shapes to add? Should I add another material? What is my purpose? How does this reflect the world and I?
The teachings and the process of creating art can be broken down into categories.
Elliot Eisner identifies eight different aims for art education such as: creative problem solving, arts education as preparation for the world of work, using the arts to promote academic performance, and integrated arts. Creative problem solving encourages students to think outside the box and approach problems in a nontraditional manner. Arts education as preparation for the world of work is the idea that the arts develop skills, attitudes, help students how to collaborate, communicate, and plan in a workplace. Using the arts to promote academic performance is enhancing one’s performance in traditionally valued disciplines such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Researchers recognize rewarding connections between students’ academic achievements and the art classes they attend. Integrated-arts are the educational experience by viewing a subject through an artistic lens and include a multidisciplinary approach to education that helps students to leverage understanding across disciplines (97). By even applying a few of Eisner’s aims to multicultural education, the results of well-rounded students in cognitive and social development will be discovered.
There is a call for help regarding the education in the urban community of East Oakland. Known as the largest part of Oakland, East Oakland is dominated by African American, Latino, and Southeast Asian communities consumed with high crime, violence, and drug activity. The socioeconomics have been in decline as families fall out of their jobs and suffer poverty. According to the Oakland Unified test scores, students from 2nd through 5th grade scored less than 71 (below the elementary level) on the CAT/6 and CST in 2007. For example, the CST results of the 5th grade scored: 35.0 in Oakland Unified English Language Arts, 44.0 in CA English Language Arts, 41.0 in Oakland Unified Math, and 49 in CA Math in 2007 (Oakland Unified Test Scores). The portrait of the elementary schools in East Oakland is yearning for attention and restructure. There is a need for change in their education system. The role of art in a multicultural education is the plan of action.
Why begin with elementary schools? Youth is the ultimate target because children absorb the most information in their adolescence. If children do not develop a good foundation of knowledge in literary, mathematical, and creative skills in the prime of their youth, how will these children carry on as young adults while they progress to higher levels of education? How is success guaranteed in the future, if a child has stumbled on every subject from the past? The urgency to help the future of America is educating the youth with art as an active tool in a multicultural education; a seed needs to be well nourished in order for the seed to bloom beautifully.
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