Drawing out the soul: Contemporary arts integration

Arts integration, viewed holistically, values the arts as a conduit for the development of K-16 students into whole selves – bodies, minds and souls. Building on arguments for the importance of the arts in education made by Maxine Greene, John Dewey and others, this article puts the arts at the centre of learning, as a means of drawing out and restoring the soul to humanize education. We provide examples for ways arts integration is modelled and applied across English and education, art education, and English as a second language (ESL); our work is interdisciplinary and intersectional. This transformational work reveals possibilities for educating active members of a democratic society through the development of imagination, creativity and expression. Integrating a variety of arts, including visual art, photography, storytelling and poetry-writing, among others, can make these developments visible. We see this arts integration work as drawing out the soul.