The arts alone give direct access to experience. To eliminate them from education--or worse, to tolerate them as cultural ornaments--is antieducational obscurantism. It is foisted on us by the pedants and snobs of Hellenistic Greece who considered artistic performance fit only for slaves... -- Landmarks of Tomorrow: A Report on the New 'Post-Modern' World (1959)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Arts provide a direct way to experience life, and removing them from education reduces learning to shallow, decorative appreciation.
- In plain terms
- Arts let us experience life directly; without them education becomes shallow.
- What can you take from it?
- Include arts in education to deepen real understanding.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does removing arts change the purpose of education?
- What benefits arise from treating arts as essential rather than ornamental?
Another view
Not all educational contexts have resources to fully support extensive arts programs.
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