Wide awake to the world: The arts and urban schools - Conflicts and contributions of an after-school program

While the benefits of arts involvement ale increasingly clear, policies and practices consistent with this recognition are not proceeding apace. Nearl y half the schools in the United States have no full-time arts teachers and emphases on "standards" have led to the elimination of the arts in many ur ban schools. This case study of a multi-year after-school arts program in urban public s chools explores challenges and tensions that emerged during the program's i mplementation. Focusing on understanding the place and purpose of an arts p rogram in a specific community, we employed a grounded theory approach and used multiple data-gathering methods, ranging from observations and intervi ews to surveys. We found that in serving hundreds of students, employing dozens of staff, a nd aiming to meet several complex goals, this arts program faced technical challenges that undermined its effectiveness. The arts program also suffere d fi om unaddressed conflicts regarding norms and values. Artists attempted to provide students opportunities for creative exploration, while school s taff emphasized control, order, and academic goals. We discuss these tensio ns and the ways they undermined the arts program.