How to build a successful collaboration among visiting artists, arts specialists, and academic teachers that integrates theme-based projects with Regents requirements and NYS standards

A curriculum methodology will be presented that integrates theme-based learning by combining three different elements: a masterpiece (Alvin Ailey’s Revelations), an arts organization (City Center), and a school (Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts).  By adapting the Understanding by Design format, we will demonstrate in an interactive workshop how to create an interdisciplinary project.  Our work builds upon the big ideas expressed in the art and articulated through the core curriculum. Students/participants transform the knowledge learned into an original creative project which is assessed using rubrics that are linked to NYS standards and Regents exams.

Thursday 2:15-3:45

Conference Strand: Curriculum/Assessment

Educators: will come away with a clear understanding of how to apply integrated arts to their own school and classroom; arts specialists and academic teachers will know how to plan, implement, and assess with visiting artists interdisciplinary units that connect the core curriculum to aesthetic experience.

Artists: will understand the process of planning and collaborating with educators in which they gain the skills required to adapt their artistry to the demands of classroom practice.  They will know how to link their objectives to those of the NYS curriculum, standards and Regents exams. 

Organizational Administrators: will understand the impact of the triangulation methodology that uses masterpieces to identify universal themes and create authentic projects.  By connecting the big ideas to the personal experience of the students and the NYS standards for core curriculum subjects, administrators can build audience for their organization and support learning goals in education. They will learn how to document their process for sustainabiltiy and dissemination purposes.

Educational Administrators: will receive a step-by-step procedure that demonstrates how students and teachers can combine the skills and knowledge required on various Regents exams with the habits of mind and professional practice embedded in arts residencies that interweave the arts and academics. They will learn how to gather compelling evidence to demonstrate learning and growth.

Community/Parents: will experience the joys of participation in community-building projects that unite staff, students, visiting artists and arts organizations. They will understand the value of the arts in the development of their children and community.

Evaluators: We provide comprehensive planning and evaluation methods and tools so that practitioners can assess learning.

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Maureen Kenney has served as the Director of Arts Education for Manhattan High Schools and panelist for NYSCA.  A classroom teacher for 19 years, she has been the director of several grant based projects: Arts Access at Martin Luther King, Jr. HS (NYSCA), Fluency First at Lehman College (NEH), Parents as Arts Partners at Park West HS (Center for Arts Education), and Summer Arts Institute (NYC Dept. of Ed.). She authored and received the SAR grant for 2006-07 for Manhattan Bridges HS with El Museo del Barrio. Maureen has presented at numerous professional conferences from CommonGround to Budapest.