"Through the Arts, an Experience in Lifetime Enrichment"
Elizabeth Bernard Pettit - Founder,  Education In Dance


"Education, itself, should be an art. The arts themselves are given such a minor role in our society that they are unable to make the intellectual and emotional contributions of which they are supremely capable." So said a talented and insightful teacher of mine, Dr. Harold Taylor - much of whose work reflected the early studies of Piaget and Gardner.

All children can listen to Bach and Ellington, attend a modern dance concert, look at a painting by Monet and touch a sculpture by Henry Moore. All our young children can read and listen to poetry and can create some of their own. A second language can be introduced early in each child's life, since we know that the early childhood years are the perfect time to begin. Children should be taught to speak and write our own beautiful language with the creative skills that are called for.

The arts fit easily and successfully into all areas of educational planning and each child should have the right to be exposed to quality arts at the earliest possible age. The arts are not frills and extras, nor are they primarily suited for special children and populations. The arts belong in every life. They provide us with vast pleasure. They give us a stronger self-image. They open new windows on the world. They teach and enrich all at once and we become engaged and enchanted for a lifetime.


Bibliography: Burton, J. (1994). The Arts in School Reform. Thoughts on Art Education, Teachers College Record 95. 477-493.

Egan,K. (1988). Imagination and Education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of Mind; Theories of Multiple Intelligence. New York: Basic Books.

Greene, M. (2001). Variations on a Blue Guitar; The Lincoln Center Institute on Aesthetic Education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Piaget, J. (1970). Science and the Psychology of the Child (D. Coltman, trans.) New York: Orion.

Stinson, Sue (1988). Dance for Young Children. New York: Teachers College Press.

Education In Dance and The Related Arts 
Elizabeth Bernard Pettit, Founder 
Dr. Jo Gjertson Frederiksen, Director 

27 Barker Avenue, 426
White Plains, NY 10601
917.593.0964
[email protected]
[email protected]
                         
 New York City Department of Education     VENDOR ID: EDU 043000     CONTRACT #: Q1129BA

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