The following article appears in the Spring, 2006 edition of Leading Change. To read the entire issue that is dedicated to High School Reform, go to: www.cenmi.org and click on the Leading Change icon.

Arts Education Is Fundamental to Success in the Age of Globalization

by Ana Luisa Cardona, Arts Consultant, Michigan Department of Education, Office of School Improvement

Creative education is not only important because it inspires technical skills and cultural values passed on since Plato’s time. Creative education is now fundamental to success in a world driven by new economics where the competitive advantage belongs to those with the ability to innovate in a fast-paced, digital, global environment.

The State Board of Education has acknowledged the critical role of creativity and innovation through the Michigan Merit Core Curriculum, which requires that all students take at least one-credit in the fine and performing arts.

The 21st Century Applied Learning Core Skills references arts education courses as additional electives through which the 21st Century skills can be further developed and enhanced. This is largely because dance, music, theatre, visual, and media arts courses are the only courses where creativity and innovation can be consistently identified as specific learning expectations for students in kindergarten through high school.*

Creativity is the ability to bring something new or original into being. High school students choreographing a dance, improvising dialogue in theatre class, scat singing in jazz choir, designing a ceramic tile, or enhancing a photograph using the latest software experience the creative act from initial idea generation, through experimentation and revision to final presentation or performance, in ways that are powerfully engaging and relevant to them.

The creative process concludes with analysis and evaluation. Students engaged in arts education learn to evaluate their artistic products. They learn to consider, with other members of their creative teams, alternate ways of making their work more engaging, exciting, expressive, or pleasing.

Creative skills are important in a world economy no longer driven by manufacturing. The new economy requires creative people who can design and produce new ideas, films, services, and products that stand out against a field of some 40,000 product choices. The global community requires problem-solvers who can develop new medicines, patents, and solutions to on-going health and environmental issues.

Michigan’s State Board of Education has responded to both the research and the public’s repeated expressions of support for arts education by adopting high school graduation requirements that prepare students to be active participants and contributors to our 21st Century.

For more information, contact: Ana Luisa Cardona, Consultant for Arts Education, Office of School Improvement, Michigan Department of Education, P.O. Box 30008, Lansing, MI 48909, (517) 335-3678, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

*There are five Michigan arts education content standards that are addressed in grades K–12 across the four arts disciplines at varying developmental levels, media, and forms. These are: Create, Perform, Analyze in Context, Analyze and Make Connections, and Evaluate. Visit www.michigan.gov/artsed for more information.