Leveraging the Arts for High Impact Learning: BERK12 Countywide Professional Development Day at Tanglewood’s Linde Center for Music and Learning

On Tuesday, November 4th at the Linde Center there was a meeting for educators and arts organizations to discuss the integration of furthering art in the classroom. The day was broken up into four sections with an introduction and overview of the day, two workshop blocks, and closing remarks. As someone who is pursuing a career in museum education it was amazing to talk to educators about what they personally want to see, what they are dealing with in the classroom, and what local art organizations can do to help them. The day revolved around how work in the arts can relate back to the Portrait of a Graduate that includes skills that students should have when graduating high school.

MCLA Professor Lisa Donovan giving opening remarks

What stood out that I had not realized or learned in my classes was that many elementary school children had their early childhood development years during the pandemic and have trouble with classroom culture but can more easily express themselves through art and using art as an outlet. Teachers have found it difficult to show this to their administration who were mostly focused on test scores however. Another tidbit that stuck out to me was one teacher said that the things that students are going to remember most are when they were being creative, and that is something that isn’t taken seriously enough by school

administrators.

Tableau activity

The first workshop that I attended was “Using Theatre to Explore Shared Experiences and Develop Empathy” hosted by Barrington Stage Company. The instructors presented about the program at Barrington Stage Company called “The Playwright Mentoring Program” where teens participate in a multi-week program where they create an original play based on their experiences as a form of therapy. Many of the kids who attend this program are dealing with trauma and this is a way for them to work through it by shifting the narrative. The instructors brought us through a few of the games they play with their students like a good check-in at the beginning of the workshop and check-out at the end to meet the teens where they are at. The check back out at the end of the day can also provide teachers to see what has changed. We then played a few theater games like "Stand By Me" where participants will ask others to stand near them if they have experienced the same thing as them. The final exercise was in improv and worked off of the Playwright Mentoring Program in asking for a volunteer to share a personal story about a struggle that was then acted out. The participant who told the story said that it was very therapeutic to see what they have experience acted out for them. Barrington Stage's Playwright Mentoring Program is a great use of the medium of theater that can be inspiration for anyone who loves the art form.

The second workshop I attended was “Behind the Scenes at MASS MoCA” that was looking at a new school tour that is being developed for the museum. It will take students to the nitty gritty of creating exhibitions and performances at MASS MoCA by introducing them to the many different career opportunities in museums such as art fabricators, curators, and public programs coordinators. There are opportunities for people of all sorts of talents to find a place working in the field of museums. Students will be able to work collectively as a class to create a mock proposal for an exhibition or performance piece for the museum based around an interest or cause that they care deeply about. This would be a multi-week experience where students would have an initial visit to the museum for brainstorming and then hopefully return a few weeks later to work out more ideas with a museum educator. What struck out to me the most about MASS MoCA’s presentation was how they included statewide learning standards, use and evaluation of visual thinking strategies, universal design for learning, and social and emotional learning. Evaluating art especially discussions around art is hard to evaluate, but MASS MoCA presented this expertly with four long term goals and how they would accomplish them and how they would evaluate success of the tour. I was really happy to see that students will be able to see truly all of the different paths there are in the museum field, as it is something that isn't taught enough even in higher education.

This was such an amazing program not only for teachers, but for anyone who is interested in art education and the state of the field at the moment. I was so lucky that I was able to attend and meet so many interesting teachers and arts educators.