Community Arts Academy: Service-Learning for Urban Art Teachers

• In Event: Transforming City Schools Through Art: Approaches to Meaningful K-12 Learning

Abstract

Teaching is like juggling--it requires handling multiple, difficult feats with a large repertoire of knowledge and skills (Tredway, 1999). Urban education requires teachers to have habits of mind that support achievement, such as recognizing contributions of urban youth and having positive expectations for all students. We know teachers play a critical role in the success of students in urban environments, yet often feel ill-prepared for the challenges they may face (Jacob, 2007; Quinn & Kahne, 2001). Some teachers enter certification programs having little experience with minority students and urban school environments (Jacob, 2007; Tredway, 1999). Yet, pre-service teaching programs often focus on traditional pedagogical practices and do not address teaching art in urban settings. Thus, in order to better prepare students to teach art in urban settings, we created the Community Arts Academy, giving them opportunities to critically reflect on teaching and learning in an urban neighborhood and providing authentic experiences with a diverse student population.
This chapter examines lessons we have learned through the Community Arts Academy, a collaborative, service-learning program providing teacher preparation and professional development in an urban community setting near the University of Memphis. We begin with an overview of our conceptual framework, which situates service-learning within a frame of resilience theory. Next, we describe our neighborhood program including its context and our approach to curriculum, which was executed through instructional play. Finally, to discuss what we have learned, we highlight the stories of Jillian, a first year teacher/graduate student, and Kendal, an undergraduate art education majori.
Service-learning is a way for students to apply academic skills to real-life situations in their own communities (Payne, 2000; Taylor, 2002). It provides experiences that meet community needs, supports school and community collaboration, and allows learning to be extended beyond the classroom. Sometimes service-learning is approached as a social action that stresses the need for collaborative self-transformation and creating a more just society (Hutzel, 2007; Pearson, 1999). The Community Art Academy is an example of a just such a program. Another example of an asset-based approach to art education is an art and literacy program for children in a homeless shelter, profiled by Heise & MacGillivray (2010), which focused on individual strengths, and was guided by children’s self-identified assets of resourcefulness, creativity, and perseverance.

Authors

• Bryna Bobick, The University of Memphis

• Donalyn Heise, The University of Memphis