Volume 22 Number 2 January 21, 2021

Arts Integration And 21st Century Skills: A Study of Learners and Teachers

Loretta Corbisiero-Drakos
Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, U.S.A.

Laura K. Reeder
Boston University, U.S.A.

Laura Ricciardi
Metis Associates, U.S.A.

Joy Zacharia
Metis Associates, U.S.A.

Susanne Harnett
Metis Associates, U.S.A.

Citation: Corbisiero-Drakos, L., Reeder, L., Ricciardi, L., Zacharia, J., & Harnett, S. (2021). Arts integration and 21st century skills: A study of learners and teachers. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 22(2). Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea22n2

Abstract

Arts integration and 21st century skills are increasingly relevant to addressing complex student needs in contemporary education. The Creative Classroom Collaboratives: Creativity, Confidence, & Competence (C32) study found that comprehensive arts integration approaches and peer-to-peer professional collaborations between teachers, teaching artists, and cultural partners such as museums, theaters, and arts councils had a positive relationship to students’ achievement and 21st century skill development. By reinforcing criteria that make up the core 21st century skills of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, arts integration methods were associated with increases in student learning in a cluster randomized control trial of a study of fourth- and fifth-grade students in two school districts with low socioeconomic status on Long Island, New York. This study includes implications for arts integration in schools, peer professional development and teaching practices, and dynamic partnerships with arts and cultural partners.

Visual Abstract

This article is available in PDF format.


Mission

The International Journal of Education & the Arts currently serves as an open access platform for scholarly dialogue. Our commitment is to the highest forms of scholarship invested in the significances of the arts in education and the education within the arts. Read more about our mission…

Editors

IJEA holds strong commitment to research in interdisciplinary arts education. Our editors are respected scholars from different arts fields working together to achieve our high standard. Read more about editors…