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Dear colleagues,
Reflecting on this year, it seems appropriate to make space here to acknowledge the challenge and struggle that may be permeating our learning communities, and to center the well-being of yourself and your students. For many, this has been a challenging year, and artists and art educators have risen to the call, knowing that the arts can provide a bright light through difficult times. Still, the choice to prioritize our own well-being as educators is not easy, and in many circumstances, it might not feel like we have much of a choice at all.
We hope that this newsletter provides you with some useful resources around care and connection through the arts if you are seeking them. These resources may also be useful for a revisit before you come back from winter break with students. In the meantime, take some time to be human, rest, and connect with others about things that matter to you in and beyond the world of arts education. You are appreciated, and you are enough.
“Self-care as community care, for me, is the filling up of self so that we can pour into others and not be depleted”
Alex Elle
In this newsletter, we share with you some announcements, resources, and opportunities for training from statewide and national colleagues that may be of interest to you. As our community grows, we will continue to adapt the newsletter to fit the needs of the arts education community. If you have suggestions or feedback for the newsletter, please reach out to Shannon Johnson, Arts Education Specialist at ODE.
Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
ODE Arts Education Updates
Arts Ed Spotlight:
When discussing the topic of care and connection in education, the arts have a undeniable role to play. This report from Ingenuity and the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research highlights opportunities to introduce learning in self-management, interpersonal and relationship skills, and self-expression and identity through the arts. This resource develops a theory of action for the connections between social-emotional competencies, arts education practices, and the instructional moves that provide plentiful opportunities for students to learn and grow in both of these areas. This may be a useful resource for developing thinking around the connections between arts and social-emotional learning in your classroom in this moment. As students transition into and from their break, holding space for and seeking to learn from the range of student experiences can be a powerful opportunity for social emotional learning in the art classroom.
Additional Resources:
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages
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Arts Ed News, Research & Resources
Teaching high quality, inclusive, and culturally relevant content through the arts is essential to increase equitable access to arts education for all students.
Please see below for related news and resources that may be relevant to your practice.
News and Research:
- The Sundance Institute and artist Jesse Cameron Alick developed the report Emerging From the Cave: Reimagining our future in theater and live performance
- EdWeek released a piece to share with teachers in all content areas; How to Keep Art Front and Center in Instruction by Larry Ferlazzo
- The Arts Education Partnership has added a report to their “Arts Count” series: Theatre Counts: How Theatre Education Transforms Students Lives
- View AEP's additional reports in the series: Dance Counts: How Dance Education Helps Students Learn, Grow, and Connect with Community, Music Matters: How Music Education Helps Students Learn, Achieve and Succeed , and Visual Arts Matter: How Visual Arts Education Helps Students Learn, Achieve, and Thrive
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For kids grappling with the pandemic's traumas, art classes can be an oasis NPR Weekend Edition Sunday, December 12, 2021
Resources:
- NDEO’s guest blog recently featured Movement, Play and SEL: A Picture Book Dance by Connie Bergstein Dow, Dance Educator and Author
- Explore the Time in Place exhibit virtually through an effort with the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and Willamette University
- NAfME has free webinars available on their website, including Music Education and SEL During COVID-19: Resiliency and Empathy Now More Than Ever by Scott Edgar and Reflect, Restore, Recharge with Dr. Matthew Arau.
- Check out these 45 Creative Brain Breaks to change up your classroom routines, from the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM
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The Sources of Strength Daily Activities Checklist provides examples of well-being activities that can be shared with students, educators, and families. Learn more about Sources of Strength, an evidence-based, universal suicide prevention program that provides training and resources to empower peer leaders and adult advisors in supporting healthier school cultures. The program is designed to help students identify their own strengths and build on those through self reflection and collaboration with others.
Grants and Youth Opportunities
Poetry Out Loud Program for Youth
When Amanda Gorman spoke at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, people around the nation were exposed to the power of poetry, and saw how much skill and creativity it takes to bring a poem’s words to life. For more than 15 years, Poetry Out Loud has given millions of high school students a similar platform through a national poetry recitation competition. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and Poetry Foundation, Poetry Out Loud is offered in all 50 states, and organized at the local level by the Oregon Arts Commission. Coordinators have access to a free teacher’s guide and an online anthology of classic and contemporary poetry. With more than 1,100 poems in the anthology, students gain an understanding of the breadth of poetry, while having the freedom to discover poems with which they feel a connection. As students participate in Poetry Out Loud, not only do they develop a deeper appreciation for poetry, they also improve their analytical skills while building self-confidence and public speaking skills. Visit OAC Poetry Out Loud to learn more about this program, and to access free materials, including guidelines on how to hold competitions in-person or virtually. To participate in the official 2021-2022 program, contact Amy Gray, Poetry Out Loud Teacher Liaison at amyforpetryoutloud@gmail.com. We hope you will help us grow this national competition and bring the power of poetry to even more students in the coming year.
Contact: Amy Gray (she/her), Poetry Out Loud Teacher Liaison
(503) 530-0398 text accepted amyforpoetryoutloud@gmail.com
www.oregonartscommission.org | www.poetryoutloud.org
Image Description:
Belise Nishimwe from St. Mary’s Academy (Portland, OR) presents at the 2019 national competition in Washington, DC.
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Upcoming Events, Training & Conference Opportunities
All trainings are listed in Pacific Time zone unless otherwise noted.
ODE Hosted Events and Training Opportunities:
Other relevant educator opportunities:
Note: Unless hosted or facilitated by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these events and training opportunities have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant opportunities for arts education professionals to consider.
Well-Rounded Access Program
In October 2020, Oregon received a five-year, $9.8 million grant to expand access to well-rounded education courses in STEAM, arts integration, and the arts. ODE has created a newsletter to inform the community with updates from this grant work. If you would like updates on the Well-Rounded Access Program (WRAP) grant, as well as resources about STEAM and arts integration, sign up for the Well-Rounded Access Program Listserv.
Needs Assessment Findings for the Arts
ODE has recently completed the planning year for the WRAP, including a Needs Assessment that was conducted across the state with engagement partners in arts education administration and leadership, culturally specific organizations, and arts education non-profits. These partners were essential in the process of determining needs across the state, and the WRAP team is grateful for their help in this process.
In the coming weeks, the WRAP team will share key findings from the Needs Assessment and discuss an initial version of the project plan with engagement partners. The full text of the Needs Assessment will be posted on the Well-Rounded Access Program website in the coming days.
Some of the highlights of our research include findings that:
- While there is incredible work across the state from many educators and partners to provide access to arts learning for Oregon students, based on reported courses to the Oregon Department of Education, 59,808 of Oregon's students still lack access to arts courses. A total of 10,286 students in rural areas, 18,520 students in towns, 6,927 students in suburbs, and 24,075 students in cities attend public schools without reported courses in the Arts.
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Of the arts disciplines available to students, Music is the most widely available, followed by Visual Arts and Theater. Dance, Media Arts, and Interdisciplinary Arts are available to 10% of students or less in both urban and rural communities.
- Many groups of students are continuing to be underserved by arts courses, including Latino/a/x students, Native American/Alaska Native students, students experiencing disabilities, and Ever Emergent Bilingual students.
As the WRAP program develops a plan for the duration of the grant, your engagement in the arts education community will no doubt be valuable in addressing these issues. Stay tuned for opportunities to engage with this important work of increasing access to the arts for every student in Oregon.
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Oregon Open Learning
Oregon Open Learning Workshop
The Oregon Open Learning team will host a statewide OER workshop on Tuesday, February 15th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm. Register for the event here and share the opportunity with your colleagues. Contact the Oregon Open Learning Team at OregonOpenLearning@state.or.us with any questions. To receive the Oregon Open Learning monthly newsletter, sign up here.
Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub
The Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub is a new digital resource sharing and collaboration space for arts educators. Educators are able to access resources that are standards aligned, and contribute high quality resources to the group. Check out the Oregon Arts Group and join to stay connected and share with other educators. The digital resource bank is in its early stages, and will continue to grow.
Oregon Open Learning Hub Open Licensing Training
The Oregon Open Learning Hub is a digital resource repository and collaboration space for educators, administrators, and other educational partners to curate, create, and remix open educational resources (OER). Unlike copyrighted resources, OER have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights. OER often have a Creative Commons license or other permission to let you know how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared. Do you want to learn more about open licensing? Check out the free asynchronous Open Licensing Module on Canvas.
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