Involvement in the arts has wide-ranging benefits for young people

27 September 2013 - A joint study by the University of Sydney's Faculty of Education and Social Work and the Australian Council for the Arts has found that engagement in the arts benefits students not just in the classroom, but also in life. Students who are involved in the arts have higher school motivation, engagement in class, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, researchers discovered. The results, published in the latest issue of the prestigious Journal of Educational Psychology , found students who participate in dance, drama, music, and visual arts showed more positive academic and personal wellbeing outcomes than students who were not as involved in the arts. The comprehensive study, titled The Role of Arts Participation in Students' Academic and Non-Academic Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of School, Home and Community Factors , examined 643 primary and high school students from 15 Australian schools, tracking their academic and personal wellbeing outcomes over two years. Academic outcomes included motivation, homework completion, class participation, enjoyment of school, and educational aspirations, while personal wellbeing measures considered such factors as self-esteem, life satisfaction, and a sense of meaning or purpose. Some of the strongest effects were found for students who spent high amounts of quality time in creative and performing arts subjects at school. Positive effects also resulted from home influences, such as how often parents and their children talked about and participated in the arts.