TEACHERS TAKE ON THE MUSEUM

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1 TEACHERS TAKE ON THE MUSEUM A look in into the Extended School Partnership program at the MCASD INTRODUCTION > The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego s Extended School Partnership (ESP) program empowers 6-12th grade teachers to use the Museum as an extension of the classroom. By welcoming teachers into the galleries, the Museum seeks to develop the classroom teacher s ability to teach from original works of art and to inspire students to take interest in museums and become actively involved in the museum community. The ESP Program consists of professional development for the teacher, student visits to MCASD, and a culminating showcase of student work at the Museum. During the academic year, the ESP program hosted four showcases with three different schools King Chavez High School, High Tech High Chula Vista, and High Tech High Media Arts. The Museum collaborated with five different teachers who taught subjects ranging from art and biology, to math and humanities. Overall the Museum served more than 400 students. During spring 2012, MCASD partnered with High Tech High Media Arts. Three partner teachers from the math, humanities, and art disciplines connected their curriculum to two Museum exhibitions Iconic: Gifts from the Kondon-Giesberger Collection and Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. High School Intern Ines Diot interviewed students and teachers about their experience with the ESP Program and created a photo essay about the partnership. PROCESS > Teachers explore Iconic with an MCASD Gallery Educator. The ESP Program begins with professional development for the teachers. Each teacher attended an exhibition training session, collaborated with Museum Education staff to determine the direction of their curriculum and develop gallery teaching methodologies, and finally worked with MCASD to plan the culminating showcase. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 1

2 Students first watch Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. Students visited MCASD on multiple occasions to explore the exhibitions. During the Humanities and Art students first visit to the Museum, they viewed and discussed the nine-screen film installation Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves with MCASD Gallery Educators and considered research on the question What is Work? Students watch Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. During the second visit the students viewed the full 50-minute Ten Thousand Waves film installation and began thinking about myths and storytelling with their Humanities teacher. At the Museum, students also worked with their Art teacher to begin planning the culminating showcase. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 2

3 High Tech High Media Arts Math Teacher Candice Director teaches her students in MCASD galleries. Students participate in an Artlab activity lead by Gallery Educators. During the math students first visit, they explored the Iconic exhibition with their math teacher, who taught in the galleries and introduced math concepts related to the minimalist art on view. Students also worked with MCASD Gallery Educators to explore line, color, and shape by creating their own minimalist canvases through the Museum s ArtLab tour experience. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 3

4 In the classroom the teachers continued their exploration into the topics introduced at the Museum. Math students created their own minimalist art using math concepts and the art from the Iconic exhibition as inspiration. As they started creating their artwork they invited in Museum staff into their classroom to critique their proposals. The Humanities and Art teachers continued their discussions on work and had the students create three-screen documentaries inspired by Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves, which addressed the many different kinds of workers in society. Students are given a behind the scene tour of Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. Students set up their portraits for the art portion of their exhibition. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 4

5 Two days before the High Tech High Media Arts Showcase at MCASD, a group of students came with their teacher to install the Humanities and Art work at the Museum. They were also given a behind the scenes tour of the technology behind Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. Students install their minimalist art. THE SHOWCASE > The night of the exhibition students give tours to parents and community members. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 5

6 The students show their three-screen documentaries at the showcase. The night of the Showcase the students took ownership of the event and greeted more than 250 guests, gave tours of their Showcase, and presented their work in a professional and public space. The math showcase inspired by Iconic. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 6

7 The teachers were very satisfied with the outcome of their ESP Showcase. They believed that the experience was highly successful and the students gained a lot of satisfaction from working with the Museum. The ESP program strengthened the educators relationships with the Museum and encouraged them to incorporate Museum exhibitions into their curriculum. The teachers also believed that the exhibition was successful because of the real world aspect of the project. By giving students the opportunity to display their work outside the classroom in a professional setting there was more incentive and a better payoff which encouraged the students to do the best of their ability and take it seriously, said High Tech High Media Arts math teacher Candice Director. High school Intern, Ines Diot interviewing student about the partnership. The program also aided students in developing interests in museums and museum work. Many students took interest in MCASD after the exhibition and approached the Museum about joining their teen program. One student in particular had never been to the Museum before the program and instantly fell in love with it. The Saturday following his first school visit to MCASD, he revisited to re-view Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves. After the exhibition he expressed curiosity towards the teen program and interning at MCASD. If you are a teacher and would like more information about the Extended School Partnership (ESP) Program, contact MCASD s Education Department at x151 or education@mcasd.org. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO 7

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