Calm, Focused, and Balanced: Creative Classrooms and a Campus in Growth

• In Event: Room to Grow: Examining How Schools Can Cultivate Successful Culturally Relevant Arts Initiatives

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
In this paper, we explore the realities of transitioning an elementary school campus from a traditional learning model to integration of the arts throughout the curriculum. As a key component of the CULTIVAR grant implementation, focuses on supporting the classroom teachers, the administrators, and the staff at one individual school as they move toward becoming fully arts integrated. Understanding the potential power of one-time Arts experiences (Bowen & Kisida, 2023), the team agreed upon a five-year plan expanding from once a year, once a semester, or one specialized classroom into a model in which every student engages in creative learning throughout the school day.

Perspectives or Theoretical Framework
The paper uses the framework of arts integration as defined by the Kennedy Center’s (Silverstein & Layne, 2010). The paper also uses Sean Layne’s pivotal work in Acting right: The classroom management strategies that build and strengthen student skills in collaborative work (Layne, 2017) to examine the professional development strategies needed to support teachers as they reimagine their classroom instruction and student engagement.

Methods, Techniques, and Modes of Inquiry.
We investigate the professional development plan, focusing specifically upon cultural relevance, and our two distinct strands of professional learning: Arts Integration and Arts Inclusion. We describe program growth, from the initial work with one campus, to the inclusion of three teachers from other elementary campuses in the district. The modes of inquiry for this paper are both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data from teachers, administrators, and students.

Data Sources, Evidence, Objectives, and Materials
Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected from teachers, administrators, and students for two years which examined the effectiveness of implementing arts integration in one school. This data provided a meaningful look into the successes and challenges that schools experience when moving from a traditional school model to an arts integration one. Additionally, the professional development plan that was designed for the school also provided data for the author to examine in light of the time and commitment it takes to implement such a plan.

Scholarly Significance
This paper addresses the challenges arising from state and local educational requirements and the importance of both campus and district level administration support. This idea is then connected to the many layers of teacher buy-in once implementation uncovers the variance between philosophical agreement and a willingness to work through what teachers believe about how children learn. The paper concludes by considering ways in which we may begin thinking about the impact of art integration on teaching philosophy and practice and rediscovering just how much courage is required when teachers model risk taking in order to free themselves, and their students, to creative expression.

Author

• Kimberly Stephenson, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts