Nowadays, communication is the key to success. Having skills and abilities to communicate with others undoubtedly puts us at an advantage over the rest of the world. However, managing to communicate or express our feelings and thoughts is more difficult than we think. At Casvi International American School we attach great value to the world of the arts, as there is no doubt that practicing this type of activity will give students the necessary guidelines to develop those skills that will lead them to be successful people in the future.
In order to increase and improve communication skills, “it is very important to practice body expression through extracurricular activities such as dance, or theater,” says our performing arts teacher Mr. Alvaro Amor. At Casvi International American School, through our IB teaching methodology, sitting on an American curriculum, our students learn to communicate through other disciplines. This, without a doubt, will help them in their professional future, since with the practice of the arts they develop their own personality and improve their emotional regulation capacities.
At Casvi International American School we give our students the opportunity to discover their true motivation in the best possible way, and always respecting the health and safety measures imposed. The performing arts have a special component of personal interaction. One of the many skills that our students develop in this type of subjects is teamwork. So they know how to manage interpersonal relationships with their peers within a healthy environment.
Art serves us to express ideas, emotions or a vision of the world through language, music, dance or even painting. During the first years of life, naturally, each student plays, sings, dances and draws. These activities become essential for each person to develop their sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional and brain system. This allows each student to learn how to learn.
But what value do Arts have in the educational process of students? The presence of art in each student’s education is essential. It contributes to the integral and full development of children and young people. Being educated in an environment in which the performing arts have great importance enriches and makes a great cognitive contribution to the development of students’ skills and abilities, such as entrepreneurship, cultural diversity, innovation, creativity or curiosity.
These types of activities also have a number of advantages over students:
- They awaken their imaginative and creative power
- Helps form your personality
- Increases self-confidence
- Promotes respect and tolerance among equals
- It is a means for the dynamic and unifying development of the students.
According to the writer David Rollano, drawing, painting, dance or theater, constitute a process in which the student gathers, interprets and reforms the elements acquired through his experience. Thanks to this, we can know what the student feels, thinks and sees.
At Casvi International American School, our students have a great amount of opportunities to express themselves. From the infancy stage, Casvi students have classes in visual arts and music.
We are aware that our students are passionate about creating. In Lower School, they learn about the basic elements and concepts used in visual media: color and line, form and texture, harmony and contrast, etc.
In Middle School and Upper School, students participate in group music classes (choir or band with instruments), in addition to Plastic, Technical Drawing and Debate.
The importance of oral communication
Our students understand the importance of effective oral communication. Knowing how to express themselves in public and knowing how to debate are essential components of all academic programs and at all stages. Something that helps them a lot to be able to develop these skills is the practice of theater and dance classes. Where they test their self-confidence and body expression.
Encouraging the arts is fundamental in Casvi, both as part of the academic program and through a variety of extracurricular options. Activities such as the Casvi Choir, dance, and theater are fundamental to the International Baccalaureate programs since Casvi International American School is an applicant center for these programs.
UNESCO, as well as many international organizations, is working towards the recognition of the importance of arts education in schools. This importance lies in the formation of sensitive, empathetic and creative human beings who develop an important key element of social interaction. According to psychologist and researcher Howard Gardner, the challenge of arts education is to effectively modulate the values of culture, the means available for education in the arts and the particular developmental profiles of the students to be educated.
Arts education is necessary, not because it will make children more intelligent, but because it allows them to acquire a series of skills and mental routines that are in harmony with human nature and which, in turn, are essential for learning any school subject. This is useful for all students, so it becomes a great way to deal with diversity in the classroom.
