Education Reform in and through the Arts

Vada E. Butcher, Dean Emerita, College of Fine Arts, Howard University

One of the most challenging tasks facing the world today is that of forging mutual understanding and respect among ethnic enclaves. Currently, there exist conflicts between tribes in Nigeria, between Muslims and Hindus in India, and between Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats in what used to be Yugoslavia—which has escalate into brutal warfare and the horror of "ethnic cleansing." Such conflicts may result from long-standing feuds, from the need to assert ethnic identity after generations of repression, or from successive waves of immigration and aggression that often occur in the never-ending competition for a better quality of life. When we look at the cultural climate in the United States in terms of its ethnically mixed society, we discover something of a microcosm of much of the strife that is confronting the world.

Over a 500-year-period, the population of the United States was built from a mixture of indigenous groups and people coming primarily from Western Europe, West Africa, Mexico, and Asia. Although founded on the principles of social equality, for most of its history, the country has been dominated by the European ethos. Only since the middle of the twentieth century has this dominance been challenged by other sectors of the population, including African Americans, Chicanos, and Native Americans. Other previously ignored sectors of society such as the aged, women, and the physically challenged, have joined in the demand for equity. These demands cannot be ignored.

The most recent demographic studies indicate that there are more adult females than there are adult males; and that by the year 2000, senior citizens will outnumber those under the age of eighteen; and that by the middle of the twenty-first century, so-called minorities will make up the greater portion of our urban population. If we are to avoid the kind of social unrest faced by so much of the world today, then we must ensure that our public education system provides learning experiences that will prepare students to live comfortably and productively among those whose worldview is different from their own. Curricula can no longer be limited to that of the Greco-Roman tradition, with only passing references to other civilizations. Instead, there must be acknowledgment of the validity of other cultures and other concepts of knowledge. The public education enterprise must be structured as dialogues between ethnic groups that are equally concerned with the common good of humankind. Studies of cultural diversity should be modeled after the processes of intellectual diversity. This approach will reveal the common concerns of all the peoples of the world and the basic similarities of all citizens of the United States. By approaching education in this way, our society will avoid the dangers of being divided into competitive ethnic compartments.

Although some have voiced valid concerns that attention to issues of ethnic diversity might dilute the quality of the curriculum and lead to superficial study, this need not be the case. Courses in ethnic studies should not be merely the simple accumulation of facts, but the expansion of cultural horizons through critical engagement of different points of view. Standards of excellence can be ensured by requiring students to engage in serious comparative scholarship, the intellectual analysis of cultural phenomena, and the use of the finest products of human intellect and imagination as exemplars. Equity need not preclude excellence. On the contrary, educational enterprise that ignores the history, the highest thought, and the creativity of a sizable segment of the national population can be truly excellent.

But the hard truth is that, despite the diversity and excellence of a curriculum, television and other media have become mass educators, often contradicting what is taught in schools. For example, a young Indian boy who has watched six hours of "cowboys and Indians" on television may very well question just what kinds of opportunities are truly available to him. To leave these images of the popular entertainment media unanswered is to risk creating fragmented and isolated population sectors. A most effective way of increasing the impact of what is taught in schools and counteracting negative images in the media is through arts education. Students should be exposed to the intellectual and physical demands of aesthetic study. They should be aware of the differences between art and entertainment and the role of art as a reflection of human existence. The arts play a unique role in documenting the psychological and emotional trauma suffered by all minorities as they attempt to shape their worldview to accommodate that of the dominant culture. Faced with the necessity of preserving a sense of self-worth while often coping with an alien language, manners, and codes of conduct, minorities cultivate a kind of multiple identity. Pan-African activist W.E.B. DuBois called this a "double consciousness," that is, the sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others. References to this uneasy dualism, which permeates every facet of minority life, are numerous in the literary, visual, and performing arts.

Minorities also share an enervating and sometimes terrifying sense of isolation from mainstream society, which often causes them to question the reality of their existence. It is no accident that African-American artists frequently use their work to describe themselves as invisible and without consequence in the world. But herein lies the most compelling case for the study of ethnic arts education. Imagine the insight and understanding such ethnic arts study brings to a student's own sense of self as well as others' understanding of that student.

The cultivation of literacy in the arts may actually preserve life itself by promoting understanding among ethnic groups whose daily existence seems to be on the precarious edges of violent confrontation. To be successful, arts education courses reflecting the unique characteristics of our society must, at the very outset, recognize the complexity of our cultural diversity—what James Lynch describes as the "pluralisms within our pluralism." For instance, although native West Africans and their descendants coalesced long ago in their struggle against slavery, the 371 Native-American tribes still existing in this nation today continue to maintain cultural distinctions despite intertribal borrowing and the recent pan-Indian movement. The term Hispanic is distressingly inadequate in identifying our Spanish-speaking population, which includes Americans of unmixed Spanish descent, stateside and island Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Chicanos, who themselves differentiate between Texas, New Mexico, and California groups. The recent and continuing arrival of Asian immigrants not only increases the intricacy of our pluralism but predicts the fluidity of our ethnic profile for years to come.

Our demographic diversity is equaled only by the complexity of the arts as academic disciplines and as documentation of cultural history. Students should be made aware of the importance of indigenous folk art, urban folk art, media art, and fine art as reflections of human existence. And every arts education course should emphasize the necessity of applying appropriate criteria to the evaluation of the arts of ethnic cultures. For example, Puerto Rican plenas, Tejano corridos, Kiowa peyote songs, and African-American blues each have their own standards of excellence, and the performances of these genres cannot be judged by common criteria.

The skill understanding art as a reflection of culture can begin early in a student's education. For instance, the mastery of West African polyrhythms, the performance of Puerto Rican game songs, and the fabrication of Hopi kachina dolls are well within the grasp of elementary school students, who can easily understand both the structure of these works and their functions in society. At the secondary level, the production of artworks that reflect our nation's cultural diversity should be the culmination of critical analysis and intellectual exploration of their role in the societies they represent. For example, it is possible to trace the complete history of Blacks in the United States through their music, and a comparable study of the arts of other ethnic groups can be equally rewarding. Indeed, some milestones of our cultural history may be completely understood only through the legacies of our artists. The Chicano murals that adorn the exterior walls of many of our urban structures, the desperate Native-American ghost dance, and the bittersweet musings of the Harlem Renaissance poets are examples of these legacies. Students who are taught to see, hear, and understand the wondrous cultural works of their own and other ethnic groups cannot help but rejoice in the good fortune that has made them a part of this marvelous tapestry called the United States of America.

With so much at stake, teachers of the arts are indeed indispensable and crucial as a part of education reform. Educators must seek increased support for ethnic arts study from their communities. Vigorous championship of ethnic arts education should be taken to the various policy and decision makers, ranging from boards of education and university trustees to legislators and foundations that influence public education by the disciplines they choose to fund. The message is clear. There is only so much the sciences can tell us about cultural diversity in the United States. While they can measure economic impact and population trends, only the arts can reveal the spirit and soul of a nation committed to social equity. Only the arts can celebrate the nation's triumphs and mourn its failures in pursuit of this ideal. And only the arts can interpret its dreams for the future unity of its peoples.

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