Seeking Causes For The Marginalisation Of The Arts In American Education

This paper seeks to investigate the causes for the marginalisation of the arts in American public education. Despite growing evidence that there is a sound basis for the centrality of the arts in the education of all children, art educators are still struggling to prove the value of their field. The development of art education in a historical context will be reviewed to prove the evolution of the outsider status of the arts. The central role of the development of the field of psychology in theories of education and its strong emphasis on language will be discussed. What is the cause for the benign neglect of the arts in the efforts of most educational reformers? Is art in United States viewed as socially irrelevant? This paper will also examine the importance of the arts in education and possible avenues to further their implementation.