The Muses Go to School: Inspiring Stories About the Importance of Arts in Education

by Herbert R. Kohl (Editor), Tom Oppenheim (Editor)

Hailed as an “impressive collection of remembrances and commentaries” ( Choice ), The Muses Go to School brings together beloved and renowned artists―including Whoopi Goldberg, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rosie Perez, and Phylicia Rashad―to share their transformative school encounters with the arts that helped them discover their inner humanity and put them on the road to fully realized creative lives. These autobiographical pieces are paired with interpretive essays by distinguished educators to produce a powerful case for positioning the arts at the center of primary and secondary school curriculums. Spanning a range of genres from acting and music to literary and visual arts, these smart and entertaining voices make surprising connections between the arts and the development of intellect, imagination, spirit, emotional intelligence, self–;esteem, and self–;discipline of young people.

Herbert Kohl and Tom Oppenheim have created “a superbly articulate assemblage of intensely personal, interdisciplinary voices” ( Booklist ), revealing that creative arts are a critical element of any education.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2012

About the author

Educator best known for his advocacy of progressive alternative education and as the author of more than thirty books on education. He founded the 1960s Open School movement and is credited with coining the term "open classroom."

Reviews

[Nan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the premise, but the book itself was just okay.

[Peaches · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the blend of artists and educator/scholars in this and especially enjoyed the section for Maxine Greene. I just found it a little too skewed on personal experiences to reference a great deal, but it was still interesting. I have no clue why they didn't name individual sections though, which is really annoying for citing!

[Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and felt like it did a really good job in its organization of stories. This book is composed of 10 sections with two stories for each section. This broke it up into easy readable chunks, and made it a really manageable read. Only a few of the names were recognizable to me, however, they are not really of my generation and widely talked about, so I would not have expected to know them. It was eye opening to read about what these people had to overcome to get to where they are today, and all of these stories provided great insight about the importance of art in education. I especially enjoyed the accounts where kids in poverty found an outlet in the arts. Most of them did not specifically continue in the arts, but it would forever impact who they are as a person. People like Whoopi Goldberg, whose parents didn't limit them, had the opportunity the be creative and flourish.

My capstone research topic revolves around why we need to keep the arts in education and how removing them has detrimental effects. Solely from this one book, I have 20 stories of famous people who were affected positively by the arts. This positivity did not just stop at them though. They saw it affect so many other kids, and were able to influence the younger generation with what they learned. I can use any one of these stories as an anecdote to demonstrate first hand how the arts affect young minds and why it is so important to have that option.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes inspiring stories or is hesitant about the necessity of the arts in education. I went into reading this book with the mindset that the arts were positive, but I left with a whole new perspective about the lasting impact that they have on lives.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completely reaffirmed and reignited my passion for the arts in education. As a child I was lucky enough to be exposed to music, drama, singing and art classes and after reading this book, I realise a lot more credit for my success in other areas of my education and life can be attributed to these early opportunities.
Children need to be exposed to an holistic education, where no one discipline is considered mode valuable than another. Standardised testing creates a toxic environment where the literacy and numeracy curriculum is considered more important for success than The Arts, or Physical Education, or Inquiry. But what's needed is balance. Once you integrate The Arts - in any form, and each of them give children unique skills and benefits - all these wonderful things start happening, and will continue to happen, because music lessons don't just teach you to read notes and dance lessons don't just teach you how to move. These disciplines open our minds and break down walls, and that's when the magic happens.

[Anna Lewis]

***squeeee*** look what I found at the library yesterday.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent confirmation of the importance of the arts in schools.

[Kerfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

These people mean well, but I found the book to be unreadable.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of essays on the importance of the arts in both elementary and high schools, written alternately by artists and educators.