How to Effectively Use Visual Art to Teach Special Needs Students - Annotated Bibliography Example

How to Effectively Use Visual Art to Teach Special Needs al Affiliation: Part A: How to Use Art to Teach Special Needs Children Children with special needs require a lot of attention, patience and dedication, making teaching these children quite challenging. Owing to the fact that children with special needs have visual, oral, motor and/or tactile difficulties, they tend to find physical activities quite challenging. However, ne can effectively use art to increase the possibility of the child’s success while creating a generally pleasurable learning experience. I am a teacher with jurisdiction over a class of 7 children with different special needs. Each of the children has a unique set of learning and/or physical difficulties. Half the number of children have speech and language impairments that make it particularly difficult for them to learn languages, making communication a challenge. All the children have reading and learning disabilities. None of the children have any visual impairment or disability. Half the number of the children have a form of physical disability. However, these disabilities to not significantly hamper learning activities within the class setting. The curriculum is mainly academic oriented. These sections of the curriculum are geared towards helping the students hone their motor and coordination skills. This is mainly owing to the fact that a considerable number of the students are physically challenged in one way or another. There is also a great emphasis on speech and communication improvement. I provide a new and fresh outlook towards educating children with special needs. By introducing art, one can be able to improve a special needs student’s cognitive skills and abilities, while creating a pleasurable learning experience, providing the much needed emotional support. This model of teaching is focused on the process as opposed to the results. This will help the child’s interest in the actual learning process as opposed to completing tasks exactly as required. This concept is far from the one used in the actual academic curriculum. Part B: Literature Review The use of art in helping children with special needs is a relatively new concept of teaching. However, it has been experimented and found to have considerable success rates. There is a considerable amount of literature on the subject, however, this paper will focus on three publications that particularly shed light on the potential advantages in the use of art a teaching tool for special needs students, especially at the high school level. “The Intersection of Arts, Education and Special Education: Exemplary Programs and Approaches” by Beverley Gerber and Lynne Horoschak This article starts by highlighting how visual and performing arts have been successfully used to successfully realize considerable growth and development in education for special needs students. There is however a great disparity in the amount of information that is generated from new research. This opinion is not only true, but also worrying. The number of programs that integrate the use of visual and performing art to enhance special education are quite low. There is a huge disparity between the number of special needs students in the education system, the number of special needs students receiving special education, and the number of special education programs that actually use art as a tool of education. The use of arts in special education evidently has a powerful and positive effect on special needs students. This is enhanced by the fact that special needs children may do not use all of their motor and intellectual capabilities. This seldom leaves them with the ability to concentrate on specific tasks. This energy can be directed to art to enhance the learning process. However, the current special education system within the country focuses largely on teaching the technical subjects such as math and science as opposed to helping children hone their artistic skill owing to their low concentration span. The huge gap between art educators and special educators can be bridged to provide for a more enriching and successful special education program. Information is key in the successful and effective dissemination of education across all levels. This is a concept that the author has engrained in the theoretical framework that they have employed in special education using art. “Disability Studies in Education: Readings in Theory and Method” by Susan Gabel. The area of disability studies is an area that is clouded by numerous unknown variables that make full comprehension of the subject difficult, if not near impossible. However, the author has managed to provide ample scholarly inquiry into the subject by providing the fundamental and factual findings and applications of the theories embedded in special education. One important factor that the author considers is the ontology of disabilities in relation to modern education. In this sense there is a great disparity in the treatment of disabled students within the prevailing education system. Special education that employs the use of art, either visual or performance, eliminates all aspects of ontological invalidation of disabled students by employing techniques and methods that are uniquely developed to help the special needs student enhance and grow their intellectual abilities. This is rapidly realized by avoiding techniques that attempt to help the student conform to social norms as pertains to education, and instead help the student develop their own unique identity by putting to use their strengths so as to mitigate and improve on their weaknesses. A major factor and purpose of education is the civilization of any and all human beings with access to information and resources. The author demonstrates the need to adopt procedures that make the civilization process favorable to students with disabilities. The use of art is uniquely suited to eradicate the negative response that a student with a disability receives from instructors by bridging the intellectual gap between students, thus providing a sanitized and positive education system that considers and enhances every student’s strengths relative to their weaknesses. “Reaching and teaching students with learning disabilities” by Lokerson, J. E., & Joynes, A. C. This article is found in the book, “Reaching and teaching students with special needs through art” by B. L. Gerber, & D. M. Guay. In the article, the authors venture into the possible ways that special educators can utilize to obtain the best results from special needs students. The author specifically pinpoints art as one of the successful and effective avenues of educating special needs students. Mainstream education techniques and methodology have been found to be quite ineffective with students with disability. This is owing to the gap in intellectual levels. As students grow older, and especially in high school, they need to develop techniques through which they can understand the concepts of varying difficulty. Most of these students have to grasp an idea, concept or theory literally as opposed to intellectually, as is common with mainstream education. The aspect of grasping a concept literally is fundamentally rooted in the nature of a student’s disability, making art a very effective tool of education for special needs students. Part C: How to Effectively Use Visual Art to Teach Special Needs Students Special needs students have attributes that are unique to every individual student, varying due to the environmental, social and economic conditions around them. These differences make education a tiresome, even boring experience for such students. It is essential that special educators develop techniques that will aid the student grasp ideas and concepts literally and opposed to intellectually. In utilizing art to educate special needs students, there arises the question of which type of art to be utilized? While visual art is effective, there are many forms of visual art that can be used. There are numerous options; from sketching, drawing, painting and/or creation of collages among many others. The three pieces of literature were essential in creating the fundamental and basic knowledge in the use of art as a tool of education. This was important in helping devise an accurate and precise my wondering. This was important in validating the fact that art is an effective and tested tool of special education. After the completion of my study I would like to develop a schema that highlights which type of visual art and visual art activities are most effective with specific student disabilities in a high school setting. This would be crucial in helping special educators device class programs and curriculum that is best suited to a student’s needs. . References Gabel, S. L. (2009). Disability studies in education : readings in theory and method. New York: P. Lang. Gerber, B. L., & Horoschak, L. (2011). Art Education and Special Education: A Promising Partnership. 2011 NAEA Lowenfeld Awards (pp. 1-19). New York: The International Organization on Arts and Disability. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from https://www.arteducators.org/research/resource-library/2011_NAEA_Lowenfeld_Lecture.pdf Lokerson, J. E., & Joynes, A. C. (2006). Reaching and teaching students with learning disabilities. In B. L. Gerber, & D. M. Guay, Reaching and teaching students with special needs through art. Reston: National Art Education Association. Read More