The foci on 21st century skills and educational accountability have developed significantly in recent years. The demands of the global market and rapid technological developments have quickly evolved, and new approaches to teaching and learning in K-12 public education are being developed in order for United States students to remain competitive among their counterparts in other nations. Current education policy in the United States places a strong emphasis on student proficiency in the areas of reading and mathematics in an effort to produce a workforce capable of participating in the global market.
However, this intense focus on the reading and mathematics content areas may not be the most efficient or appropriate way to produce capable students (Clinchy, 2007). A comprehensive pedagogical approach that is developed with foresight and considers the anticipated needs of the future may support students’ acquisition of a 21st
century skill set (Jacobs, 2010; Pink; 2005). Rubin (2011) posits that these skills mirror the demands of the workplace; they include problem solving, innovation, adaptation, collaboration, motivation, productivity, and leadership. Many of these skills can be taught through a variety of non-tested content areas in ways that tested content areas cannot offer (Eisner, 1998; Graham et al. 2002; Rubin, 2011; St. Gerard, 2011). In public schools, arts education, music education, and physical education possess untapped potential for active learning that supports student learning in reading
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and mathematics, the very content areas in which current policy requires students to obtain minimum levels of proficiency (Ferrero, 2011; Graham, 2002).
Arts education is a content area in K-12 education which encompasses music, visual art, dance, and theater. State and national standards have been developed to frame the learning associated with arts education. Visual arts and music are arts education courses commonly offered in comprehensive K-12 public school settings. Public magnet schools for the arts often offer a range of more specific arts courses as their school is developed around fostering arts skills at a higher level of rigor. This may include courses devoted solely to various forms of cultural dance, varieties of ceramics, various styles of printmaking, or diverse genres of music. This review of the literature and corresponding study will focus on the state of elementary art, music, and physical education in public western Pennsylvania schools where such a variety of arts- based courses are not readily offered and students are offered a much more general arts curriculum.
Physical education is commonly present in public schools. In Pennsylvania, physical education is mandated; public schools are obligated to offer physical education to students each year in elementary schools. At the secondary level, physical education must be provided to students as part of both their middle school and high school program (Pennsylvania State Board of Education, 2002). Physical education offers students active learning engagement in sports, recreation, health, and fitness. In many western Pennsylvania schools, the physical education curriculum does include dance; however, in some schools dance is instead considered a component of the arts. As mentioned with the arts magnet schools, highly specialized physical education courses are rarely offered in public elementary schools and students are typically offered a physical education curriculum designed to provide learning experiences that offer
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exposure in various sports, lifelong fitness, and health (National Association for Sports and Physical Education, 2005).
In an informal survey of ten public elementary schools in western Pennsylvania, all schools offered music, art and physical education classes taught by content area specialists for all of their students. Typical western Pennsylvania elementary schools employ at least one art teacher, one music teacher, and one physical education teacher. This contextual data as it pertains to western Pennsylvania elementary schools is important because it supports the claim that these three content areas are frequently and simultaneously offered in public elementary schools. Because these three content areas are offered in most public elementary schools, it is logical to question whether these content area teachers’ expertise is underutilized in promoting school improvement as measured through current school accountability indicators. Knowledge of the attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of teachers is essential to understanding if and how content area teachers expertise is being maximized to promote multidimensional learning in and through reading and mathematics; art, music or physical education; and communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking (Barell, 2003, 2008; Feller, Gibbs-Griffith, D’Acquisto, Khourey- Bowers & Croley, 2007; Marlett & Gordon, 2004; Russell & Zembylas, 2007; Schmoker, 2011). There is natural content area potential to teach a variety of skills and concepts through and across disciplines in schools (Fellar & Gibbs-Griffith, 2007; Mathison & Freeman, 1998; Munson, 2011; Schmoker, 2011). Art, music and physical education content areas are of specific interest as integration entry points because of their potential for promoting active learning experiences when students are engaged through application and relevance (Barell, 2008; Jacobs, 2010; Marlett & Gordon, 2004; Strand, 2006). This engagement holds potential to maintain students’ interest as skills and concepts from other content areas are introduced and reinforced.
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Interdisciplinary or integrated learning refers to learning experiences designed to teach concepts through the relevant overlap between and among content areas (Russell & Zembylas, 2007). Interdisciplinary learning in art, music and physical education serves an even greater purpose if learning can be presented with the intention of preparing students to prosper within the global context they will experience (Jacobs, 2010; Russell & Zembylas, 2007).
The extent to which students engage in learning experiences that include interdisciplinary, 21st century responsive teaching often depends on state policy, local curriculum, and teacher beliefs and attitudes (Munson, 2011; Russell & Zembylas, 2007). Individual art, music and physical education teachers’ instructional approach and curricular delivery determine what students are or are not learning (Jones, 2007). Art, music and physical education teachers’ feelings toward integrated teaching practice affects student learning (Jones, 2007; Russell & Zembylas, 2007. As Schmoker (2011) notes, “The actual curriculum an average child learns, in the same course and in the same school, varies tremendously from teacher to teacher; what you learn depends on what teacher you have” (p. 13).
The following literature review will examine: a.) the historical functions and evolution of the non-core content areas, specifically art, music and physical education, in K-12 public schools in the United States; b.) nature of interdisciplinary and integrated teaching and learning, and c.) the potential benefit of K-12 public education models that value interdisciplinary teaching and learning as a way of instilling 21st century skills. Several authors of the texts included as references in this dissertation were personally contacted during the review of the literature to provide dynamic clarification, shed light on tensions in the field, or to discuss emergent components of the conceptual framework. This discourse, cited as personal communication
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throughout the literature review, was important as it helped to situate this multiple case study within the existing research.