Burton.+Judith

//Learning in and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer.// Judith Burton, Robert Horowitz, Hal Abeles. Studies in Art Education, Vol.41 No 3 (Spring, 2000) pp.228-257. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine if cognitive skill developed through the arts-such as higher order thinking-have an effect on learning and thinking in general, as well as on other subject matter domains. It did not assume one particular effect such as transfer but rather that arts learning consists of a constellation of complex ways of thinking and responding that become unified within the activity of creating art, and that some of these ways of thinking generalize to other subject domains. The investigation was not only about knowing more about cognitive capacities and dispositions implicated in arts learning, and their effects on other subjects, the investigators were also interested in understanding more about how the contextual, pedagogical, and social aspects of learning influenced outcomes. The study sought to examine a diverse sample of programs and practices across a range of 12 different types of schools involving over 2000 children in grades 4,5,7, and 8. The research methods were described in the body of the article and included research methods from quantitative and qualitative traditions. Data collection was intermingled between both traditions. The researchers sought to obtain results that could have general implication for understanding arts learning within public schools. Research conclusions include: Speculation that learning in the arts and in other subjects consists of a dialectic involving the cumulative effects of participating disciplines.
 * 1) A set of cognitive competencies such as: elaboration and creative thinking, fluency, originality, focused perception, and imagination group to form constellations in pedagogical contexts which demand the ability to take multiple perspectives, layer relationships, and construct and express meaning in unified forms of representation. These higher order competencies are accompanied by an array of dispositions such as: risk taking, task persistence, ownership of learning, and perceptions of accomplishment in school subjects such as reading and mathematics.
 * 2) Students whose cognitive competencies and dispositions scored within “high arts group” were found to be in schools where the climate of learning included: supportive administrators, knowledgeable and collaborative teachers invested in their own professional development, and a flexible art curriculum, which included opportunities for arts integration.
 * 3) Study did not offer clear evidence of transfer but it did suggest a relationship between learning in the arts and other disciplines.
 * 4) The relationship between arts learning and learning in other disciplines is not so unidirectional as other studies have implied but is more dynamic and interactive. The authors suggest that learning in the arts and in other subjects each contribute in their distinctive ways to a constellation of higher order cognitive capacities and dispositions-or ways of thinking-by activating them within broad and flexible pedagogical contexts.
 * 5) Children exposed to strong and varied arts experiences over periods of time, both in and out of school, are more confident and willinging to explore and take risks, exert ownership over and pride in their work, and show compassion and empathy towards peers, families, and sommunities (Darby and Catterall, 1994;Luftig, 1994)
 * 6) Children in arts rich schools also tend to enjoy demonstrating their learning to others and, in general, have a higher academic self-concept than children whose arts learning experiences have been of a shorter duration and less rich in provision. They see themselves good at reading, mathematics and school in general.