PARTNERS IN EDUCATION ANNUAL MEETING Conquering the Missing Link: Arts Integration in Secondary Schools Deborah Brzoska, Susana Browne, Patricia Relph, Rae Takemoto February 5, 2015 10:30 AM 12:30 PM
The Missing Link: Middle and High School Arts Integration Ever tried to lure middle or high school teachers to your professional development workshops? In spite of the challenges, partnership teams in Hawaii and Arkansas are having remarkable success. In this interactive workshop, Deb Brzoska opens with an example of high school arts integration, followed by Pat Gross who shares a multi-year arts integration project with Fayetteville Arkansas area high school teachers. Susana Browne and Rae Takemoto from Hawaii lead participants in a highly participatory Design Thinking process that is taking high school teachers in Hawaii by storm. Prepare for an active session. Agenda 20 Welcome and opening moves F 451 Deb 20 Report from Arkansas Pat 60 Design Thinking Exercise Susanna, Rae 20 Teams share out, Q/A All 1
Walton Arts Center: ARTeacher Fellows Professional Development 2014-2015 Fellowship Goals: Support teachers to transform their practice through arts integration. Build a Professional Learning Team focused on common goals. Create expert Fellows ready to share practices in arts integration. Returning Fellowship Goals: Support Returning (year 2) Fellows in their continued pursuit and refinement of above goals. Facilitate mentorship roles for new Fellows. Document the power of learning through the arts. Expand current efforts for research and scholarship. Work as advocates for arts integration strategies (AIS). Share AIS with other educators on the school, district, and state levels. Advanced Fellows Support Advanced (year 3) Fellows in their continued pursuit and refinement of above goals. Facilitate mentorship roles for Returning Fellows and new Fellows. Document the power of learning through the arts. Expand current efforts for research and scholarship. Work as advocates for arts integration strategies (AIS). Share AIS with other educators. 2
1. What incentives did you provide that encouraged secondary teachers to attend PD in arts integration? The Fellowship program provides first year Fellows a stipend of $1,200 OR three hours of graduate credit from the University of Arkansas. All ARTeacher Fellows receive over 40 hours of quality professional development in arts integration at no cost to them or their school. All ARTeacher Fellows participate in this professional learning community to share their developing practice in arts integration throughout the year. All Fellows are eligible for funding for one Field Class (to a performing arts center or visual arts museum) in the arts. There is additional support available for any Fellow who delivers an Arts Integration presentation to educators upon request. In addition each fellow receives practical support and mentoring from each participating organizational from partner and their networks. (Arkansas 1991 Partnership NWAESC & Walton Arts Center and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.) 2. What did you learn about the kind of professional development that works with secondary teachers? Secondary Teachers appreciate experiential learning in arts integration. They value role modeling in classrooms with secondary aged students. They value sharing their practice with other educators, and learning from other Fellows about successes and challenges in the classroom. It s remarkable that most First year fellows are skeptical about the usefulness of arts integration strategies. However, they quickly see the benefits and embrace learning about new practices. 3
3. What challenges did you face? Resourcing and scheduling high quality of professional development that includes experiences in arts integration, role modeling with students, planning time for implementation in the classroom and feedback for presentations is complicated. Fellows struggle to prioritize and make time to practice arts integration in their classrooms. Even though administers are required to support each Fellows application, their commitment sometimes lags second year; administers decline to release teachers for PD days off campus, and decline support for substitute teachers, etc. Some school districts limit field classes for Fellows students. 4. What do you suggest to arts organizations and school districts that wish to engage secondary teachers in arts integration professional development? o Advocate for Arts Integration. o Identify key change agents and funders. o Foster and facilitate relationships with leadership education and arts organizations o Task your educators to participate in Professional Learning Communities within their schools and to be an advocate for arts integration. o Have educators share student achievements thorough arts integration strategies in school, community, district, state and national events. 4
Introduction to Design Thinking Presented by Hawaii 1995 Team Design thinking is a human centered approach to problem solving that promotes the skills and mindsets of creative confidence, collaboration, and an optimistic attitude towards challenges. 1. Begin with a question or problem 2. Gather information and gain empathy for the situation through interviews with stakeholders. 3. Define the problem through synthesis 4. Ideate- brainstorm possible solutions; the more and the crazier, the better. 5. Prototype create something that might help to either define or solve the problem. 6. Test the prototype and come up with more. 7. Share the idea through storytelling, drama, dance, or visual arts 5
Question: How can your team provide effective arts integrated professional development for secondary teachers? Use the following pages to take notes on the rapid process from empathy to ideation to prototyping to communicating your ideas on how to solve the above challenge. 6
Your mission: Activate Creative Confidence Start by gaining empathy Interview Questions Interview Notes Highlight Insights 7
Ideate I: Generate ideas on your own. Rapid brainstorming of solutions. Go for quantity! 8
II: Ideate: Generate possible ideas to test. Group brainstorming. Choose one to prototype. 9
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Rapid Prototype/Test/Iterate Design your group prototype Communicate your idea through story, dance, drama, song, or visual display. 11