Author: Kearns, Lola H.; Diston, Mary Taylor; and Roehner, Bernice Gottschalk

Publication Year: 1980

Media Type: Report

Summary:

The Arts in Special Education Project of Pennsylvania, a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, provides assistance to educators in the development of appropriate quality arts programming for handicapped students. Activities of the Project include arts in-service workshops for teachers, administrators and parents; arts workshops, participatory arts festivals and professional performances for handicapped students; services and materials for arts curriculum development; and, a statewide communications network.

Abstract:

The Arts in Special Education Project of Pennsylvania, a program of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, provides assistance to educators in the development of appropriate quality arts programming for handicapped students. Activities of the Project include arts in-service workshops for teachers, administrators and parents; arts workshops, participatory arts festivals and professional performances for handicapped students; services and materials for arts curriculum development; and, a statewide communications network.

The Project is based on the belief that the arts are valuable in the education of all students - that a comprehensive arts program nurtures and develops the perceptual, intuitive, imaginative, sensory, physical, expressive and cognitive capacities of each child, handicapped and non-handicapped alike. The arts transcend handicapping conditions by their pervasive role in shaping students' thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Current research, evaluation and legislation support that premise.

It is further believed that a polished product or performance, while aesthetically appealing and desirable, is not the major goal of an arts education program. Rather, learning through the arts is based on an experienced process which involves students in the actions of perceiving, responding, understanding, creating, evaluating and developing skills.

This publication is yet another attempt to provide insights for the planning and implementation of arts programs for the handicapped. The readings presented herein were written by the Project's arts consultants and staff after much deliberation over what kinds of information would be most helpful to educators. It is hoped that these readings will reinforce and expand the Project's direct services to its participating educators and introduce a philosophical, conceptual and practical base for others.

Collectively, the readings present a wide variety of information intended to address questions and concerns of special education personnel, art and music specialists, physical education teachers, parents and others interested in advancing the education of handicapped students. The editors have extracted some key statements from each article for the reader's perusal and have provided wide margins for personal notes and ideas.

We invite you to share in the vast experience of these authors, and to provide the special students in your charge arts experiences that will strengthen and guide them toward the achievement of their greatest potential. (p. 1)

CONTENTS
Introduction by Lola H. Kearns and Mary Taylor Ditson.
Overview.
What is an arts program? by Bernice Gottschalk Roehner.
Handicapping conditions and their effect on the child's ability to create by Carole Kunkle-Miller.

Art:
     Art in special education by Sherry Lyons.
     Art and the IEP by Susan Aach.
     Visual arts experiences for socially maladjusted/emotionally disturbed children by
     Beryl Chernin.
     Art and group dynamics in the classroom by Ronald E. Hays.
     Art: Many options for creative activity by Charles Battaglini and Ned Wert.

Dance:
     Group development and socialization through movement by Emily Samuelson.
     Developmental movement as a tool for teaching the handicapped by Bonnie
     Carpenter.
     Cognitive development and movement by Lillian Thierry.
     Creative dance/Movement: in search of goals by Jeryl Quinn.
     Movement: some ideas for getting started by Sheila Bridges.
     Creative dance/Movement in special education: a case in point by Elise Billock
     Tropea.

Drama:
     Drama/Expressive play in the special education classroom by Edward Lilley.

Dramatics:
     Center stage in the education of the deaf by Richard Nowell.
     Theatre movement for the blind and visually impaired: two summer sessions by
     Forest Freighner.
     Mime in education: a developmental process by Lola Kearns in association with
     David and Carol Geyer, Imagimime.

Music:
     Music: an integrative approach to learning for the severely and profoundly retarded
     by Phyllis Boone.
     Music and the child with specific learning disabilities by Cynthia Briggs.
     The musical characteristics of mildly and moderately retarded children by Kenneth
     Bruscia.
     Music and the physically disabled child by Gwenn Snyder Karr.
     The emotionally disturbed child and music by Peter Simpkins.
     Opportunities for growth: Music in the education of sensory impaired students by
     Mary Taylor Ditson.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Diversity, Accessibility