Teaching Artist Field Development

The Connecticut Office of the Arts has been at the forefront of a national movement designed to cultivate a field of teaching artists for over 35 years. The HOT Schools Program professionally develops teaching artists in the HOT APPROACH to arts-integrated teaching practice so they may provide exceptional artistic experiences and authentically integrated curriculum to reinforce the role and power of the arts in a well-rounded education.

Teaching Artists have the opportunity to enrich their body of work through networking with peers and collaborative opportunities in schools, arts organizations and other venues to become integral partners in the HOT APPROACH. The Program has developed a Teaching Artist Professional Development Triad of experiences that begins with observation, leads to mentored experiential learning and concludes with coaching for understanding, documentation and assessment of the impact of the work of teaching artists. This is an ongoing process requiring research, commitment to learning, and collaborative effort with classroom teacher partners. Teaching Artist Mentorships echo the HOT Schools Program's commitment to unique professional development in, about and through the arts. This experiential learning opportunity deepens and strengthens the skill set and role of teaching artists.

Examples of Teacher Artist Collaboration Leadershops

The Connecticut Office of the Arts HOT Schools Program has designed and offered professional development and mentor opportunities for teaching artists over time, designed to strengthen arts learning opportunities for teachers, teaching artists and students across the state, and which support HOT Schools Teacher Artist Collaborations (TACs). TACs are a core strategy in the program’s commitment to sparking curiosity, igniting a sense of wonder and empowering students so they feel invested in their learning and in their school, and encouraging them to embark on a journey of life-long learning. We know that the work of Teaching Artists in collaboration with arts and non-arts classroom teachers is critical to making this happen, and we know the need for experienced teaching artists to do this work is expanding as a building body of research identifies positive school-wide effects of arts integration.

The Teaching Artist Mentorship field development opportunity has been designed as part of a long-term plan to strengthen the core of COA’s Directory of Teaching Artists expert in arts integration - an area of significant and growing interest for K-12 educators.

TIER I:

Teaching artists observe an experienced Mentor Teaching Artist in the classroom from the planning process through a 5 day collaboration with a classroom teacher. The Mentee teaching artists observe:

Opening rituals as introductions and as a thread providing continuity between visits
Teacher/artist team approach to teaching
Classroom management styles
Identifying and advantaging the ‘teachable moment’
Common vocabulary between the arts discipline and other core content
Common Core and National Core Arts Standards addressed and woven between and among the arts discipline and other core content
Strategies to engage reticent participants among students
Extended learning opportunities that the teacher will provide between visits
Building assessments into each visit to understand the collaboration’s impact on teaching and learning
The value of reflection

Each day of observation is followed by a formal debrief during which time the mentor and mentee decode the experience and explore ways in which it relates to the mentee's own practice as a teaching artist. Mentees begin to design frameworks for their own TAC. They do not design a TAC in a vacuum; each TAC is a site specific, content specific collaboration based on the needs of each classroom teacher. Therefore, they design a framework that allows them to bring the elements of their art and artistry to an in-depth planning process with a teacher or teacher team. The collaboration is then truly a collaboration and an authentic process of teaching and learning.

TIER II:

Mentees are placed in a 6-day TAC with an experienced HOT school classroom teacher who has participated in planning and implementing multiple HOT TACs in his or her classroom.

Framework:

Artist conducts a 6-day residency in one or two classrooms at a participating school including 1 Planning day at the school with the teacher(s) and 5 Implementation days in the classroom(s)
A coach who is a former HOT school classroom teacher observes the artist at work and helps to guide the planning process and provides feedback during multiple debrief sessions.

TIER III:

Mentees work for 1 day with an experienced teaching artist to understand strategies for evaluation and documentation to be able to tell the story of the collaboration by planning ahead to collect applicable anecdotal and quantitative evidence.

This two day retreat featured Eric Booth, “the father of teaching artistry”, HOT Schools Program staff and a collaborative planning day with HOT Schools teacher teams. Eric Booth’s presentation addressed the field of teaching artistry and its ”growth spurt”. Artists were invited to find out what the trends are, what's rising and falling and why, and how you may be able to catch some of that new energy. This Field Development opportunity provided professional development, the chance to observe TAC planning in action with teacher teams, and networking.

Connecticut Office of the Arts Teaching Artist Application

The Connecticut Office of the Arts is accepting applications for its Directory of Teaching Artists. Teaching artists are individual practicing artists who specialize in teaching both in the classroom and in the community. The Directory of Teaching Artists is a reliable resource of high-quality Connecticut teaching artists who have been juried for excellence in their art form and readiness and capacity to work in schools and community settings.

Program Guidelines
Deadline: Rolling

HOT Schools Quote

“I work with artists, arts educators, and organizations around the country, and the work in Connecticut’s HOT schools is among the best done anywhere. Their approach, expertise, and team of skilled practitioners provide leadership that is ready to transform the learning in many more schools, within the state and across the states.”