Learning must capture both the hearts and minds of it learners. Education is not void of emotion but is rich with all the elements of the human experience.

Excluding the humanity in education results in a content driven, product oriented learner that fails to find the wonder in the world. The joy of learning comes not from the end result but from the many paths taken to reach that end. Questioning, exploring, analyzing, and even failing are all facets of learning. When we question, there is curiosity. When we explore, there is excitement. When we analyze, we find connections. When we fail, we see alternatives. True learning makes us both think and feel. It embraces serendipity and rejects rigidity. It welcomes change and is energized by it challenges.

Learning thrives in an environment that is free. Without this freedom, dialogue is discouraged.

Without this freedom, ideas die. Without this freedom, imagination is frozen. Without this freedom, creativity is crushed. Innovation thrives and flourishes in freedom. Freedom allows all voices to be heard, all perspectives to be shared, and all conflicts to be aired. Learners feel the thrill of becoming actors in the world and not passive observers of the world.

Throughout my years as an educator, I have attempted to reach both the hearts and minds of my learners. The heart houses the dreams that are beginning to take shape, the fears being confronted, the passions starting to surface. The mind tends to the tasks of finding causes, making links, seeking solutions. Neither can be ignored. With every encounter I have had with students, be it in classroom, hallway, chat room, or a theatre rehearsal, I bring my own two precious teaching tools—my heart and my mind.

The greatest resource that educators can tap into in order to inspire those hearts and minds is through the integration of the arts. Theatre, Music, Dance, Art and all disciplines that encourage imagination and creativity enhance not only the learning experience but foster an examination of the human spirit. The Arts go beyond finding self expression. They encompass learning about the world and all its peoples. There are no boundaries with an open mind. An open mind sees with the eyes of another person, another time, another culture, another way of doing.

With a firm belief in the power of the arts in education, I hope to help create programming that not only meets the required Core Knowledge standards but also that supports the most vital of elements—reaching the hearts and minds of learners through the power of the Arts.