The prevalence of art education in schools’ mandatory curriculums has witnessed substantial growth in recent years. While others staunchly advocate for the inclusion of art and music in secondary education, I assert that there are holes in such a policy as it rules out the diversity of interests among students and rigorous academic training they have to incur.
There are several rationales behind the justification for incorporating art-related education as one of the mandatory courses. Acquisition of artistic knowledge and skills helps students foster creativity and self-expression. A study conducted by the University of Cambridge in 2018 revealed that engaging in artistic activities involves a number of advanced cognitive processes, entailing intuitive analysis, expressivity and embodied cognition, underscoring positive outcomes of studying art on the brain’s plasticity. Furthermore, mandating art education encourages students to adopt a global perspective, expand their horizons over different cultures and heritage. Art is often considered embodiment of one’s culture; therefore, through training sessions that equip participants with drawing techniques associated with specific artistic styles, students may develop a sense of empathy and deepen their understanding of many regional cultures, contributing to the paramount significance of art education in the long-term.
Despite tangible benefits of art education in secondary academic institutions, the aforementioned policy fails to recognize diversity in individual interests and academic pressure. Firstly, students differentiate from each other with different sets of skills and interests associated with specific fields such as science, literature, psychology and so on. Therefore, enforce all students to take part in art education as their mandatory studying sessions can ultimately culminate in counter-intuitive results, notably resentment and dissatisfaction with the school systems. Moreover, be that of secondary education, many children may have already incurred insurmountable academic pressure, striving to attain decent grades in Math, Chemistry and other science-related subjects. For instance, countries like China and Korea where exceptional academic talents thrive, impose tremendous expectations on children to succeed academically, highlighting the inherent impracticality of including additional art courses.
In conclusion, while art and music education may afford students avenues to hone their cognitive abilities and express themselves artistically, its practicality remains debatable. It is imperative for school headquarters and policymakers to consider students’ well-being and their long-term development prior to designing school systems and curriculums.