The creativity crisis: a study of art education in the Boston Public High Schools

• Main Author: Mruk, Brendan J.
• Language: en_US
• Published: Boston University 2015
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/12537

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at [e-mail]. Thank you. === The Creativity Crisis described by Rachel Goslins (2011) is meant to serve as a waming to society about the way schooling nmtures creative thinking. This study provides evidence that addresses the cunent state of the arts in some urban area school systems across the United States. The focus of this study is the Boston Public School System, mainly at the high school level. This school system was ideal for the study because it afforded the oppmtunity to see both causes and effects of cunent policies as they are currently applied or disregarded within a diversely populated urban setting. This study examined the written educational policies pertaining to art education on federal, state, and city levels. An examination, such as this one, can serve to establish an tmderstanding of the goals established by policy makers. Surveys and interviews of high school level faculty members from the Boston Public Schools were used to gauge adherence to art education policies. Both policy and its implementation were weighed against evidence from the literature that spoke to the importance of art education in developing a well-rounded student (Catterall, 2012). This study was not meant to highlight the shortcomings of the Boston Public Schools; rather, it aimed to shine a light on the current successes and areas of oppmtunity in arts education that, if given more support, could flourish.