The Arts in Education: Teacher Perception and Classroom Integration

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the arts (visual arts, music, dance, and theater) in educational settings. It also sought to identify current teachers’ perceptions of the arts as a teaching methodology. Arts in education is an expanding field of research and practice distinguished from arts education due to its investigation of learning through arts experiences. Arts experiences in classrooms can occur through a variety of mediums such as visual arts, music, dance, theater, and more. Specifically, this study examined how teachers perceive using various art forms and activities in the classroom to help students learn and communicate what they know, how frequently on average teachers use various art forms and activities in their classrooms, teacher attitudes and potential concerns about the arts in education, and why teachers would use the arts and what would make them use them more.