Peer & Peer Partner Days

Peer Partner Days are daylong workshops to which teachers in a specific arts discipline invite a non-arts classroom teacher partner to attend. Mornings focus on specific skills and concepts of the arts discipline. Afternoons are dedicated to collaborative planning of peer partners to develop a testable arts integrated lesson or unit. In addition to increasing awareness and building value for arts pedagogy, these sessions highlight arts educators as instructional leaders in their schools.

Peer Days were originally designed at the request of arts specialists. The purpose of these daylong sessions is to develop standards-based curricular units or fields of study integrating a specific art form.

Each pair of teachers is encouraged to invite one parent to participate. Peer Partner Days are highly valued because they provide arts specialists and classroom teachers time to plan and work together. Peer Partner Days are typically held in an arts facility. This allows the partner teams to explore the facility and develop effective ways to engage with the cultural resources within their own communities.

Examples of Peer & Peer Partner Days

Peer Days provide opportunities for teachers from a related arts discipline to come together for professional development, and to share successes, practices and initiatives in their schools while forging a collegial network. HOT Schools focuses on a different peer group each year. Library Media Essentialists will share strategies around how uniquely positioned they are to create collaborations between and among arts and non-arts classroom teachers to advance arts integration and literacy in their schools. This Peer Day was held in the Scherer Library of Musical Theater at the Goodspeed Opera House.

The morning’s focus will be on specific skills and concepts in the arts discipline, and the afternoon will be dedicated to collaborative planning between peer partners to develop a testable arts-integrated lesson or unit. In addition to increasing awareness and building value for arts pedagogy, this session highlights arts educators as instructional leaders in their schools and helps schools to advance along the HOT Continuum from Access to Connection/Correlation to Integration.

HOT Schools Quote

"I will hold more discussions with non-arts classroom teachers to work together in creating experiences for the whole child, rather than individual parts."

Moriah Wynkoop, Gaffney Elementary School

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