Arts in Education (extra credit)

I was unable to attend the conference, but I did read an article from the Dana Foundation.

"Training in the Arts, Reading, and Brain Imaging"

Brian Wandell, Ph.D., Robert F. Dougherty, Ph.D., Michal Ben-Shachar, Ph.D., Gayle K. Deutsch, Ph.D., and Jessica Tsang

Stanford University


This article discusses the research and experiments conducted by the authors, investigating possible correlations between exposure and development of skills in the arts and the development of reading--specifically phonology (the sounds of words) which is closely linked to reading ability. They implemented new DTI software to map the brain's development to track the physical changes and compared the data to feedback from the parents of the children being observed. The results found there was a correlation between developing skills in the arts--Music especially-- and reading. They also found preliminary evidence linking visual arts to math improvement.

Maybe this is because I am both a musical person, as well as an avid reader (who has battled dyslexia), but I kind of read this article thinking, "Of course it correlates!" It's awesome that they were able to actually observe and record data supporting what I've long held to be true. When I was young and struggling to decode letters and words as they jumped and squirmed on the page, I was also finding solace in singing. My mother likes to say I was singing as soon as talking. I say, for all that practice, you think I'd be better at it by now. But the truth is, I would spend hours standing next to the paino as my mother exhausted our book of childrens songs, and I would sing every word along with her. I'm certain that singing the memorized words helped me somehow pin them down on the page as my eyes followed along. This (as well as a dozen other multi-sensory compensatory strategies have allowed me to develop the passion I have for reading and writing (which I am translating into a desire to teach reading and writing). And there's a very high likelihood that music will be present in my classrooms for various projects. Just sayin'.