Learning through the arts on other hand is about integrating the arts curriculum with other subjects.  One example that always comes to mind for me is the painting Guernica by Picaso. Painting was a medium which helped the author tell a story (literacy) about a significant event (social studies – history). In this way, the arts can provide authors a deeper and more personal way to demonstrate learning across multiple subjects.   

One thing I feel educators should not forget that the arts is that is an essential component to dive deeper and make meaningful connections and not just a tool to enhance a lesson. An important method to this is when designing the unit or using curriculum to integrate an art form in your final product of learning (through backwards design). I feel that when an art form is just thrown into a lesson it is being underutilized in the grand scheme.  

When program planning for integrating drama with one or more subjects a major consideration to remember is to ensure lesson plans include direct connections to curriculum. As stated in the Kennedy- Center  article, “Without making a distinction, opportunities can be missed, programs can lack clarity, or the arts can seem like something too unwieldy to incorporate. Making a distinction among the approaches can help narrow or focus objectives as well as help educators select the most appropriate approach based on their objectives”. I think another consideration is to keep lessons clear and concise. Sometimes we can complicate lessons by having too many cross-curricular connections and expectations. 

As teachers, when program planning we have to ensure that when integrating Drama or Dance into other subjects that the curriculum expectations align. As mentioned in the Ontario Arts Curriculum, making connections within and between various contexts between the arts and other subjects. The Kennedy Centre also mentioned that “without making a distinction, opportunities can be missed, program can lack clarity, or the arts can seem like something unwieldy to incorporate”. Overall, in order to avoid making these mistakes, teachers have to carefully plan out their lessons.

Some program planning considerations when integrating dance with another subject are: 1. Have you created an environment where students will feel comfortable to engage in expressive participation? The learning won’t work well if students feel too uncomfortable to really try. 2. Have you scaffolded the artistic knowledge and skills required for learning through the arts? It’s important that you don’t just teach the students something and then say, “great, now show me that in a dance”. Artistic skills need to be taught and scaffolded as any other skills do. And 3. Does this cross-curricular connection make sense? Sometimes teachers might feel the need to make something cross-curricular just for the sake of it being cross-curricular, but the connection here should be genuine and should aid the learning process.

When program planning it is important to remember the difference between learning in the arts and learning through the arts. When engaging in cross-curricular the educator must ensure that it makes sense, that it can be adapted to every learner and that there are a multiple of ways to visibly demonstrated or display their learning. 

As stated in the article, What is Arts Integration? Teachers should use the arts as a vehicle for learning. Through professional development, teachers can learn about the arts standards and thus how to make connections between and to the arts curriculum and other subjects. Therefore, we would be teaching through the arts to teach other subjects. 

 Whereas, learning through the arts involves students being exposed to integrated learning. They are able to develop other skills and relate art to various other curriculum expectations in any subject. These cross-curricular connections allow students to extend their learning and assess how dance can be connected to literacy or science and everyday life.