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Nicholas Bartlett
UWRT 1103
Laura Knudson
9 October 2015
The Problem with Educational Segregation
As a student who was always logical and calculated, someone who excelled in
math and science, but not in the arts, I have always been criticized for a lack of
creativity. Is it true that students who do poorly in traditional art programs are not
creative? What about the naturally artistic person? The stereotypical artist performs
poorly in traditional math programs, right? And the jock, well, society has no educational
expectations for them. Often, these labels are given to students at a very young age
through elementary, middle, and high school. Equally as often, these labels prove
incredibly inaccurate and, in my opinion, prevent children from reaching a well-rounded
state.
First, I will tackle the situation which sits close to my heart, then I will attempt to
relate it to the greater context. Art is an important aspect of our racial identity. It has its
own place in attempting to describe many things which are incomprehensible with
numbers, facts, and figures. I deeply believe that in order to be a functional human in
any of todays vastly differing societies, one must experience art in one form or another.
This is a difficult fact to impress upon many young people today who struggle to see
why art can be more important than some tweet by a celebrity who will be forgotten 6
months from today. Combining that fact with a disinterest spurred by multiple poor
grades in a seemingly useless class can leave a fairly bitter taste in the mouths of
millennial youth regarding art.
I was certainly trapped in a very similar rut until very late in my high school
education. Throughout my career until that point as a student I never once was made to
feel creative. Often, it would be just the opposite. I was typically labeled as a non-

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creative and neglected by the teachers who should instead be embracing all of their
students.
But what is creativity? Some people, those who traditionally control the artistic
education of the youth, confine creativity to those who perform, or who create. Many of
the art programs, which are dying in the face of reduced budgets, could see a
resurgence of success if they focused on a more progressive approach catering to a
broader definition. The curriculum would be more inclusive for both the traditional
creative types along with those who can creatively problem solve. Some students will
not be able to paint: fact. Some students will struggle to master an instrument: fact. But
these students may not be a lost cause. They may simply require a different approach
to teaching the program.
The traditional creative will be very quick to pick up all of the necessary skills and
concepts which are vital to success in an old-fashioned art program. Students who tend
to be drawn towards STEM, Science Technology Engineering and Math, careers are
very good at the latter while lacking at the first. I believe that it is imperative to the
betterment of our society that we embrace creative diversity in our education. A STEM
student simply views each of the art assignment challenges as opportunities to solve
problems. Many can and do eventually become quite capable, but they are certainly the
exception. The main problem most teachers have is that students who have to go
through a problem solving process on their own to become capable. Sadly, this process
can be quite lengthy leading educators to leave them behind before it can be
completed.
For example, I took Art 1 during my junior year of High School. This was a
personal challenge to see what skills and thinking abilities I could gain from an art class.
Obviously, for me it was challenging. I never embraced the artistic process. Instead, I

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always enjoyed the problem solving process. It is very much engrained inside my
psyche. To me, the natural artistic procedure is very melancholic. It took me much
longer and a considerable increase in effort over other students to complete the same
assignments because I was taking a systematic and calculated approach. With some
hard work, my methods produced quite acceptable results. Luckily, my teacher for that
particular class was exceptionally accepting of different learning and artistic styles. If I
had had a more closed-minded instructor I am certain that my personal educational
mission with that class would have been a complete flop.
The problem does not lie solely on the shoulders of the art professors within our
society. The problem is a systematic generational discrimination. Certainly, this is not as
important as the fight against racial or gender based discrimination or the recent issues
with sexual orientation. But, if society were to really analyze issues such as the former, I
think they would find a number of these segregational issues which occur subtly
throughout our culture. Not only are students who excel in math and science often never
given the recognition or opportunity to become wonderfully creative people, but just the
opposite happens. Many advancements in teaching has aided creative students in
alternative learning for mathematics and other logic based courses. Again there is a
societal connotation, which is almost universally held, that artistic students cant do
math.
Both statements about STEM students and artistic ones are accurate in the
context of traditional educational programs. Unfortunately, many of these cultural myths
hold up in the household also. In many American homes, children are just as
categorized as they are at school. He is the smart one or She is the artist in the
family are some typical examples of statements which most parents might utter to other

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parents at a birthday party or other gathering. When a child is constantly bombarded

with a label like that, are they likely to do anything besides conform to it? Especially
when that label was given to them by their parents, typically a much respected person
by the child.
While I was given the label of geek and the smart one because of my natural
ability to complete challenging math problems and grasp difficult scientific concepts, my
brother had the choice of competing with his older brother for that title or, more easily,
just gaining recognition through another avenue. Since an early age, he was formed into
the athlete in the family. According to traditional (yes, I know I use this word a lot, but I
am developing a negative connotation) lore regarding athletes and jocks, they often
have very little intelligence. In much of todays culture, we see the education of students
being sacrificed for their athletic success. Many students make the personal choice not
to do that, but, often, if they did choose athletics over school, society would not be
surprised or alarmed because he/she is a jock so they cant be expected to have
intelligence in addition to their athletic prowess.
This categorizing of our children, no doubt, has a tremendous effect on the
people they will eventually become. With a strict set of expectations to meet the
stereotype which has been constructed for hundreds of years by our ancestors long
ago, when we fail to live up, shaming by parents or educators will make sure that we fit
into the little game. This results in distinct groups of developed adults who have a wide
range of talents as a group, but individually are single faceted and incapable.
Throughout my, albeit limited, life experience it has become apparent to me that
we, as a society are far from finished in any sort of battle for the equality of opportunity.
It seems that after every success, another stone is turned over revealing more issues.

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This does indeed beg the question: What would a culture and society with perfect
equality look like? Ill have to let the dystopian fiction authors handle that one.