I’m the Director of Arts Education for our school district and have some questions/thoughts about PBL and arts integration. Our district is utilizing PBL primarily at the high school level, but are moving into middle and elementary. As I explore PBL it looks as if the arts are often an essential piece. However, sometimes the posted lessons will say that the lesson is interdisciplinary in the arts and other subjects and sometimes not. I’m curious about this? How would this be decided?

For example - how could students be expected to design quilt squares without some exploration of the elements of visual art and the princiiples of design? I also see alot of multi-media presentations and spoken or oral presentations, some that are arts integrated, some not. If a project outcome includes a piece of artwork - is this AI (that would be best practices in arts education) or is it simply a “tack-on”? In PBL are the arts, dance, drama, music and visual arts, treated as unique subjects with their own distinct body of skills and knowledge?

I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!

Besides being in a school environment where interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, it really depends on the teacher(s) if they want to work with another subject(s).  Some teachers might find it ambitious, some teachers might think it’s a no-brainer.

Non-art teachers use art in their projects to engage students by allowing them to express their ideas.  You’re right, the best case scenario is to be integrated with an art teacher in school.  Teachers could also bring in local artists into the classroom.  Whether or not the content goes in-depth into art depends on the teacher(s) involved.

Yes, you could have a dance project, drama project, visual arts project, etc.  However, a lot of art/multimedia teachers like integrating with other subjects because it give context and purpose for the art/software product.  This allows the art/multimedia teacher to focus on technique, design principles, etc.

Alfred Solis - 06 September 2011 01:52 PM

Besides being in a school environment where interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, it really depends on the teacher(s) if they want to work with another subject(s).  Some teachers might find it ambitious, some teachers might think it’s a no-brainer.

Non-art teachers use art in their projects to engage students by allowing them to express their ideas.  You’re right, the best case scenario is to be integrated with an art teacher in school.  Teachers could also bring in local artists into the classroom.  Whether or not the content goes in-depth into art depends on the teacher(s) involved.

Yes, you could have a dance project, drama project, visual arts project, etc.  However, a lot of art/multimedia teachers like integrating with other subjects because it give context and purpose for the art/software product.  This allows the art/multimedia teacher to focus on technique, design principles, etc.

Hi Alfred -

Thanks for your quick reply! We met briefly when you were in Danville, KY a couple of years ago. I may need to continue to bat this around a bit. KY is re-starting arts accountability - but not through testing, through measurinng best practices. One best practice in arts education is AI and meaning ful AI includes addressing the standards in both an academic and arts discipline(s) and assessing student learning in both. I’m looking for the connections between AI and PBL so that teachers don’t feel the added responsibility of one more thing!

It seems odd to me that it’s OK to use arts expression as a project, but not necessarily help those students discover the skills and concepts that will make them truly successful with that project. In PBL can teachers learning parallel student learning? This might be an answer for the teacher who doesn’t have indepth knowledge about a subject - to learn alongside students as the project progresses and the use of the art form is explored. While our arts teachers will consult on projects collaboration is tough due to lack of flexibility in class schedules.

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

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