What happens when teachers adopt creative strategies in their classrooms?
天美麻花星空高清mv Arts Management Professor Lisa Donovan鈥檚 new book, answers this question, offering educators a road map for adopting arts integration in their classrooms, using the arts as formative assessment as well as sharing case studies that show how thinking like a curator can open new doors of understanding for students.
Co-written with Sarah Anderberg and published by Teachers College Press in October, the book builds on Donovan鈥檚 long-time work with arts integration in the classroom, from public school teachers to arts educators at museums. She鈥檚 worked with teachers across the country, from California to Maine, on protocol, strategy, and assessment around adapting the creative process for students as well as finding evidence of its benefit.
鈥淧eople sometimes struggle with assessing arts-based work, but the fact is, there鈥檚
evidence throughout the creative process,鈥� said Donovan. 鈥淚t鈥檚 deep, layered, and
rigorous work. The way to show that is really through assessment, collection, and
sharing of evidence.鈥�
Donovan co-directs the Berkshire Regional Arts Integration Network (BRAINworks), a grant-funded collaboration between 天美麻花星空高清mv and North Adams Public Schools, which offers professional development to Berkshire educators with a focus on arts integration. She also regularly adopts these strategies in her teaching at 天美麻花星空高清mv, working with students on assessment strategies as they design education and community arts workshops, practice grant writing, and work on arts or design community engagement plans based on case studies of cultural organizations. 鈥淭his process has made me more of an intentional educator,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t feels incredible,鈥� that the book is out after years of work, she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always making the case for the arts in education, so in my mind, the next right piece is assessment鈥攕o you can show that arts integration work leads to deep learning. That鈥檚 where real change can happen.鈥�
The assessment process allows educators and administrators to map out their steps and use benchmarks to measure the evidence of their students鈥� connection to the material. Thinking like a curator allows teachers to step back and view the process in a holistic way. 鈥淎s a curator, every choice you make, you鈥檙e selecting and categorizing and foregrounding everything, from the assignments you give to the evidence you collect to the materials you鈥檒l use to tell the story of learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f teachers start to think of themselves as curators, it really invites them to claim their expertise as educators. They realize how much they鈥檙e steering and facilitating.鈥�
Being able to help teachers identify what evidence to look for, create their own 鈥渓earning story鈥� documenting their process, and write down key moments in their students鈥� interactions 鈥渋s a very exciting, hands-on process,鈥� Donovan said. 鈥淲hen you think about yourself as a curator, map your process, it creates a feedback loop鈥攜ou build reflection and create a situation where you are constantly learning. That鈥檚 the beauty of being a teacher.鈥�
