Preparing Teachers to Teach in the Arts: Examining Teachers’ Transformative Change and Sustainability of Arts Impact Model

• In Event: Transforming Arts Education: Meaningful Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Professional Development in and Through the Arts

Abstract

This descriptive study evaluated the impact of a state-wide art-based teacher training program called Arts Impact. Teacher participants (n=120) who had completed the training program within a 2-10 year period were surveyed, using a mixed item questionnaire, regarding their continued use of the strategies learned in the context of transformational change in professional development in the arts. Teachers reported changes in beliefs and personal practice related to the arts, regularly used teaching strategies learned, integrated the arts in other subject areas, and used embedded assessments in ongoing projects that related to state standards for arts education as a result of their Arts Impact training. Teachers pointed to the importance of school leadership support in sustaining effective arts-integration programs.

Authors

• Amy McBride, Tacoma Arts Commission

• Rebecca McBride Bustamante, Sam Houston State University