Works Cited
Miller, Lauren.
"Theatre Arts Programs: Impact of Cognitive Development in Elementary
School Students." Online Submission (2011). ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2013
In
this article, Miller focuses on the research question: how do elementary school
theatre arts programs impact the cognitive development skills in children? And
what scientific evidence suggests that participating in theatre arts will
improve student’s development academically in turn impacting students test
scores? To answer this, Miller states that theater arts have been thought to
influence the cognitive process through “the underlying mechanism of attention”.
She explains that understanding students with an innate interest in the arts
have a correlation with their interest or motivation of producing art is vital
for parents and educators to understand.
Also, she includes the idea that it is vital that schools provide
opportunities for children to develop their imaginative skills to better understand
the world around them in their own terms and in terms of the classroom, or on
the stage. There are many studies mentioned involving elementary school
students and their involvement in theatre, one of which involved students who
attended a drama program two hours a week in the classroom. These students
worked with professional artists on acting skills, physical and vocal gains.
After ten weeks the students were given a standard comprehension test given by
the state, and the overall scores drastically improved, especially in those
that focused on the students’ ability to identify factual information from
written text. The author then conducted her own study by producing the musical
Peter Pan with children and recording the specific findings from this
experiment.
While
I am presented with significant research and studies in this article, Miller
spends more time in the beginning of the article focusing on the explanation of
cognitive development of children and the history of arts in public school.
This information is important in her article because it helps the reader better
understand how the child is developing during these years. This way it is
better seen how specific tasks of performance can enhance the parts of their
brains that are maturing. Also, with the history of arts in school, the reader
can see the steady decline over the years. This explains Miller’s idea that the
research later described is important for educators to see. The rest of the
article is research and studies that support Miller’s ideas as well as a study
she conducted herself.
This
article will help me have better information to share with my readers. Miller
has very valid arguments of how the involvement in theatre is good for the academic
success of elementary school students. I plan to specifically pull out which
task benefits which ability for the student, as well as use statistic displayed
by the author. I especially like that
she included specific students and how their attitudes and motivation changed,
which is where I can include my personal experiences as well.
·
“Brian has had trouble in school in his
academics and behavior in the past…..As soon as he was cast, Brian showed a
great commitment outside of his normal character to the play and his part. He
was on time to rehearsals, focused during his scenes and promptly learned all
his lines.” (32)
·
“The effect of the lack of theatre arts
programs not only is hindering our students’ appreciation and understanding of
this important artistic aspect of our society but it could be causing a unique
learning experience to be missed.” (7)
·
“The experience I had in theatre arts
during elementary school shaped my ability to perform well academically in
school and gave me the skills of concentration and dedication to learn
something new.” (5)
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