Wisdom Lost: Artistic Literacy as a 21st-Century Skill

WISDOM LOST
Artistic Literacy as a 21st Century Skill

COPYRIGHT 2009
CHARLES E. COMBS

Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
(T.S. Eliot, The Rock—1934)

Eliot’s lament suggests that we miss out on life’s full potential when we are consumed with merely making a living; that we miss creative insights when we settle for simply comprehending how things work; and we lose our ability to see patterns and make connections when we focus only on identifying, measuring, and memorizing the minutiae.

It is my concern that in our technologically dominated “information society” we are falling into the trap of just settling for transmitting information at the expense of developing knowledge and wisdom—to say nothing of nurturing creativity and innovative thinking that will allow us to shape our future. In the name of accountability, I fear that we are only tallying or quantifying (let’s not call it assessing) the amount of information students have managed to remember or recognize.  Unfortunately, that’s just the lowest rung on the ladder of learning.  

In the trek from kindergarten to college, the climb to “wisdom” is neither easy nor quick; it consists of numerous rigorous steps over many years. For the traditionally accepted disciplines such as English, Math or Science, the importance of sequential, cumulative learning is not a question; however, for the arts the offerings often consist only of “enrichment” or extra-curricular activities rather than sequential core curricular experiences, since the arts are all too often not perceived as important life and learning skills.  On the other hand, if we provide our students with the opportunity to study the Arts in a comprehensive context, they may learn how artists throughout history have seen and commented on their cultural milieu, as well as how they have anticipated and shaped the futures of their societies.  Students may see how various artists have couched their thoughts and feelings in visual, musical or verbal images and metaphors, and (through practice) they may attain fluency in the language of the arts—an important additional language in our intercultural society. Through the process of engaging the arts, students may develop “Artistic Literacy”––the ability to encode and decode (“read” and “write”) aesthetic wisdom that is expressed and received in symbolic and metaphoric forms that are unique to the arts. 

Importantly, Artistic Literacy is not limited only to appreciating and practicing the arts; it is a vital life skill for citizens of our 21st Century world—a world bombarded by advertising, images, music, video games, and internet sites.  Beyond providing access to the rich storehouse of images from our history of Art, Architecture, Theatre, Music, and Dance, Artistic Literacy allows us to read, write, and understand the symbols and metaphors in which so many current messages are encoded—messages that run the gamut of human activity from advertising, to politics, to religion. In doing this, the language of the arts helps to break down cultural barriers to knowledge and allows us to cross personal and cultural boarders leading to better understanding of others. Thus, Artistic Literacy, far from being a frill, is a necessary life and learning skill (or “language”) for all the citizens of our increasingly complex global village.

In addition, participation in the arts encourages creative thinking (the highest level “thinking skill” according to Bloom’s revised taxonomy of educational objectives). Significantly, creative thinking and problem solving are essential skills as our Commonwealth seeks to develop the “Creative Economy,” an idea based on the importance of wisdom—of high level thinking skills that allow us to envision and create the future.  Therefore, in order to ensure that our students will have full access to our multiple ways of learning, seeing, knowing and communicating, it is crucial that test creators, curriculum designers and policy makers give equal consideration to the arts as core subjects, along with the humanities, social sciences, math, technology and science.

If we don’t provide our students with core arts experiences because we choose to focus instead on meeting traditionally established curricular goals and assessing student learning only by measuring conventional content knowledge, then Artistic Literacy will be “Wisdom Lost”—and an opportunity lost for our Commonwealth.

BIO

Charles Combs is a consultant in higher education and volunteer in the Massachusetts arts community.  Prior to retirement, he was Chair of Liberal Arts at Berklee College of Music and Director of Theatre at Plymouth State University (NH).  He also edited the Children’s Theatre Review, the Youth Theatre Journal, and the New England Theatre Journal.