Monday, June 28, 2010

Essential Questions

Teaching artists work in a variety of environments. One of my favorite ways to work is in authentic partnership with classroom teachers. As artists, we pose and try to answer essential questions all the time--it's our bread and butter. To classroom teachers, our perspective on this kind of inquiry-based approach can be incredibly useful. We are sounding boards and cheerleaders, and we have a distinct set of instructional skills that Classroom Teachers can adopt. When I am working in close partnership with a teacher, I feel like the impact of our work increases exponentially. We make each other better teachers. The students are the winners.

The essential question I am asking myself this week is "How can we as professional Teaching Artists better help Classroom Teachers use art to achieve their teaching goals?"

I think the possibilities are infinite, because art-making involves every skill and understanding under the sun, right?

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