Ms. Joyce M. Bonomini

Quality Education Must Include the Arts...and Partnerships

Posted by Ms. Joyce M. Bonomini, Mar 13, 2012 2 comments


Ms. Joyce M. Bonomini

Arts education is my passion and I believe a solution to most problems in the world.

I could stop there, but I won’t.

I am fortunate to lead a team of arts educators and administrators that are committed to a vision and definition of arts education that insists on quality, engagement, and partnerships to sustain.

We believe:

  1. Arts and arts education are essential to human development.
  2. Arts are vital to the life of the community.
  3. The measure of our culture lives in the art we value and pass on to our children.
  4. Art is personal; art changes lives.

Through professional leadership, adherence to standards of excellence, responsiveness to our constituents, and uncompromising dedication to principals of inclusion, The Hoffman Institute provides a dynamic resource to all segments of the community for life-long experience, exploration, discovery, and mastery of the performing arts.

Our educational philosophy follows that vision as we believe that the performing arts are integral to human development and essential to the quality of life of a community. Furthermore, quality programming engages the community as a whole in an ongoing dialogue that strengthens the individual, our organization, and the community at large.

Based on this vision and philosophy, I believe that all aspects of arts education need to be available to our youth. Furthermore, I have argued that quality education/learning must include education in and through the arts.

For the past 30 years I have watched, and even participated in, discussions which attempted to define the differences between the various components or areas of arts education, what was the most important ‘type’ of  arts education, and even what ‘true’ arts education was.

As artists and educators, I believed we buried the real value the arts have to learning through our own attempt to prioritize the value of each arts education approach. We forgot that each was a piece of a greater pie.

I view the whole pie of arts education—discipline study, arts in education, aesthetic arts, arts integration, arts infusion, exposure programs, etc.—and celebrate the strength that occurs when all pieces of the pie are equally weighted, working towards the common goal of human development.

By insisting on the whole pie of arts education, including field trips, we are focused on the impact of human development our programs have on the participant. It gives the participant, all of us for that matter the skills, abilities, and opportunities to work through our thoughts, our anger, our hurt, our depression, and our joys, through music, dance, poetry, and theater instead of violence to ourselves and others.

Partnership is an important key to providing the whole pie of arts education. In today’s economy we cannot provide the whole pie of arts education alone nor should we. Partnering can be a nightmare. Even if done correctly it is a lot of work. Partnering takes time, commitment, planning, and should be practiced over time.

I believe that partnerships and partnering:

  • can make our arts education programs stronger
  • can be successful
  • should be long-term and worth all that is put into it

What do you think about quality arts education and/or partnerships?

2 responses for Quality Education Must Include the Arts...and Partnerships

Comments

Joyce Bonomini says
March 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm

Jennifer,

I love your comment
"Building a common definition for quality across a partnership allows everyone to know exactly what excellent piece they need to add, develop and sustain. This frees us from a “do it all” mentality and places us in a “do what you do best” space where we can build and refine sustainable quality."

we have seen the value of building a 'common language' in strengthening a partnership from 'going' to being 'done to' it absolutely strengthens the commitment of all parties. Zeroing in on defining 'quality' is like zeroing in on 'what does success look like' BUT BETTER. I will definately be starting these conversations with my local colleagues.

Keep talking- you are amazing. If you were like me it was only recently that I found like minds. I felt 20 years ago that everyone thought I was from another universe, lol.

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March 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm

I agree that partnership takes time, commitment and practice. Great partnerships are like great personal relationship, they force us to invest at a very personal level --- our core beliefs and passions. Thus, they can be messy and difficult at times. However, when we get real and find the intersection of where our core beliefs and values interect with other educators, then I believe we can collectively achieve quality. Building a common definition for quality across a partnership allows everyone to know exactly what excellent piece they need to add, develop and sustain. This frees us from a "do it all" mentality and places us in a "do what you do best" space where we can build and refine sustainable quality.

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