Professional Development in the Arts
IDEA Program from the Peace Center
for the Performing Arts
Since 2004, Stone has
been a community partner with The Peace Center
through an innovative teacher training program,
Intensive Development in Education through the Arts
(IDEA). The mission of IDEA is to positively impact
student achievement and the community by providing
teachers intensive professional development training
in arts integration across the curriculum.
As a result of
participating in four years of focused training,
IDEA teachers are becoming confident at facilitating
active, collaborative, arts-based learning.
These creative strategies
engage students in learning, helping them make deep
and personal connections to events in history,
concepts in math, characters in a story, processes
in science... truly extending into all areas of the
curriculum.
Stone Academy has
received a grant from The Peace Center, in the
amount of $16,000, to fund our team’s fifth year in
the IDEA Program. To learn more about IDEA, visit
http://www.peacecenter.org/idea.asp,
where you can find out more about the Stone Team and
the training events we’ll be attending this year.
"The mission of this program is to positively impact student
achievement and the community by providing teachers intensive
development training in arts integration across the curriculum."
Visit the
Peace Center's Idea Website |
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Stone teachers have spent many hours learning new and effective
ways of integrating the arts in every curricular area. In
2004, the Peace Center began the Idea Project. That
stands for Intensive Development in Education through the Arts.
It is a collaborative Educational Partnership between The Peace
Center for the Performing arts and five Greenville Elementary
schools. Stone, along with Heritage and Skyland, entered
the program in its initial year. IDEA is a
three-year program and Stone faculty members have
participated since the beginning.
Participating schools in 2005-06 other than Stone are
Heritage, Hollis, Sara Collins, and Skyland
Goals: IDEA will....
-
provide the ongoing support that teachers need
to develop confidence and fluency in integrating the arts across
the curriculum.
-
empower teachers to provide children with
opportunities to develop critical thinking, communication, and
social skills that will help students become lifelong learners
and productive members of society.
-
provide expanded pathways to learning by
utilizing students' unique abilities through diverse educational
experiences.
-
ultimately enable students to demonstrate their
understanding of essential knowledge and skills, by actively
solving problems and producing quality work.
-
act as a catalyst to raise community awareness
and involvement in the arts and its role in education.
In year one, teachers learn what arts
integration is by experiencing examples with professional
teaching artists, practicing strategies on their own, reflecting
on the process and making adjustments to their approach.
Artists from the Kennedy Center work with participants in all
arts areas (dance, drama, visual art, music, and creative
writing). At each workshop, teachers learn the basic
elements of one artform and at least two clearly developed lesson
ideas for connecting that artform to their curriculum.
Below: Kennedy Center teachers visit Stone classrooms
to demonstrate arts teaching core curriculum.
Marci Daft arranges students in a circle in a writing
exercise. |
Students enact a tableau, under the coaching of Sean
Layne. |
Sean Layne demonstrates an exercise in getting ready to
learn. |
Sean Layne works with 2 student groups doing rapid
tableau. |
In year two, teachers who have had one year of
general training will delve into one specific artform and learn
multiple strategies for that artform. The program will be
adapted to meet individual needs. Kennedy Center teachers
will continue to work with teachers in their classrooms.
In year three, teachers
self-select a topic of study. Emphasis may be on
Action Research and Documentation of Impact on student acheivement. |
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Teachers are Artists, too. Teachers are encouraged to
learn about and participate in arts activities to model for
their students. Sandy Lynne conducted a poetry workshop
for all faculty on the first day back at school. George
Champlin, Guidance Counselor, won the faculty "Written in Stone"
contest for his poem, "Butterflies."
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Butterflies
by George
Champlin
I am taken back to childhood as I
wander through the trails.
My daughter chases butterflies
ahead of me.
I am lost in thought as I see her
dance through the fields.
Will she remember these things
like I do?
Or will they float away like
butterflies? |
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