The Role Of Arts In Enhancing Critical Thinking In Education

Abstract

The role that arts play in education is of much more than creative expression and aesthetic development. Cognitive skills and, increasingly, arts studies stress the importance of arts in enhancing thinking, including critical thinking skills. The study reveals how arts-based learning plays a crucial role in the development of higher order thinking skills through a review of current literature and application of qualitative methodologies, case studies and interviews with educators. In this paper, I argue that arts integration should be priority among advocates of holistic education, and as such, policy should begin to give more emphasis on arts integration as a productive way of accomplishing holistic education.