Another parent, Susan, adds to this discussion about how the curriculum has changed for her children. Susan, who has a middle school aged son, feels that the curriculum today lacks a holistic approach. As she points out,
my son’s days at school are crammed with lessons and content focused on testing scores and not on how he is doing in school. He doesn’t have much time for down time, lunch or even recess and I am not happy about this! The school’s …show more content…
One such content, then, has been the arts program and students exposure to it. Two important findings emerged as a result of my interviews. On the one hand, some parents expressed that their children were not being provided sufficient opportunities to engage in the arts. On the other hand, some parents believed their children were receiving opportunities to engage with art programs at school. For example, Nora shared that she believes that her daughters are receiving “a moderate amount” of exposure in the arts. She expressed concerned with the bureaucratic policies in education today, that prioritizes some things and ignores others. As she tells us, “They [schools] do what they can with the limited time allotted because the focus is certainly the core curriculum and not the arts.” Both Gabriel and Susan add that they too feel that their children are receiving “a moderate amount” of art education. Vino, meanwhile, makes the declarative statement “none at all” when he was asked. From the above parent perspectives we see, then, that for some students experience with the arts has become …show more content…
Some parents shared concerns about the lack of experiential learning and socialization in schools. Nora is concerned that current school bureaucracies are not allowing parents and administrators to participate in the process of serving students. Interestingly, Nora did not mention her desire for her daughters to attend college. Rather, she desired for her daughters to develop a love for learning. Susan, a white parent, did not emphasize college as well, rather she cared more for education that would allow her son to enjoy and learn. Indeed, Susan hopes education can provide her son with the skills to do what he loves.. For example, she states, “my vision and expectation for my child’s education is to challenged, be curious, encouraged to be creative and pushed to see learning that interest him.” For these parents education was not emphasized for its financial benefits, instead, these parents discussed a more holistic approach for love of