[Members] Fwd: Arts Education Newsletter

Tue Mar 2 19:45:20 UTC 2010

Issue No. 9	A publication of the Michigan Youth Arts Leadership  
Roundtable	March 2010
In this issue
Addressing Threats to Professional Preparation
The interdependence of higher  and secondary education for art teachers.
Great Debates
ArtServe cosponsors gubernatorial and legislative debates.

MHC Touring Program Grants
New funds available for 2010.

News and Opportunities
Green Papers; MCACA Bus Grants; Theatre Conferences; Imagining America  
News Page
Addressing Threats to Professional Preparation

Originally written for the Spring 2010 edition of Michigan Art  
Education Association's quarterly ArTeacher by William Charland, PhD

During the 2009 MAEA Conference, a group of concerned art educators,  
including representatives of college and university art education  
programs and K-12 art teachers, met to discuss an issue of vital  
importance to our students and our profession - the trend across  
Michigan's school districts to replace trained art educators with  
untrained teachers drawn from the ranks of general education.

Michigan's school districts cannot be faulted for developing  
strategies to stretch their budgets - we are all aware of the dire  
financial situation that cripples our state and threatens our schools.  
What is inexcusable is undercutting core programs, as defined by the  
U.S. Department of Education, to foist untrained generalists on  
unsuspecting children and parents.

While the effects of unqualified and mis-appointed personnel are most  
immediately felt by children in the art classroom, the trend has not  
gone unnoticed more widely. It's likely that every K-12 art teacher  
across the state knows of an instance. Many of our members have been  
personally affected. The MAEA stands squarely against this practice,  
and continues to represent us when related policy issues are discussed  
in Lansing. The Michigan Youth Arts Leadership Roundtable, a coalition  
of 17 arts education organizations in consultation with the Michigan  
Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Michigan Department of  
Education, also recognizes this practice as being detrimental to arts  
education across the board, and in their 2010 Policy Agenda states the  
importance of qualified arts specialists in K-12 schools. "To ensure  
high quality learning experiences in the arts for all students, it is  
important for them to have instruction that is delivered by a Highly  
Qualified educator in that content area."

The implications for art teacher training programs in higher education  
are obvious - when there is no longer a need for trained, certified  
and properly endorsed professionals in the art classroom, there is no  
longer a need for college and university art education programs. And  
while our immediate influence on district decision-makers may be  
limited, we do have the power to get their attention.

I urge my higher-education colleagues to consider the following plans  
of action:
Participate in district meetings where you live. Often, budget and  
personnel decisions are based on the best information available.  
Without the voices of arts advocates, many K-12 school boards and  
administrators are unaware of the implications of their decisions in  
terms of teaching and learning. As a local tax-payer and authority in  
your field, your perspective is necessary.
College and university Art Education Programs must remain on top of  
faculty and resource changes in art classrooms across the districts  
with which they partner. This is made more difficult as district  
resources tighten and art teachers are pink-slipped and/or shifted  
from one school to another. Still, the relationship between higher ed  
and K-12 is interdependent and symbiotic. A threat to either domain is  
a threat to us all.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we must make sure that the  
placement offices that match art education interns with school  
districts and mentor teachers ensure that every mentor-teacher holds  
the LX, LQ or LZ endorsement. A mentor-teacher without proper art  
education training potentially does more harm than good to your pre- 
service teachers and certainly will hinder their marketability upon  
graduation.
To extend this final point to its logical conclusion, higher education  
institutions can and should refuse to place interns not just in  
schools, but in entire districts, that supplant qualified art teachers  
with unqualified stand-ins. In doing so, we retain our professional  
self-respect, and reconfirm the value of art education to our children  
and the future of our state and nation. Talk to your institution's  
placement officers, and insist that they do the right thing.
ArtServe Sponsors Great Debates

As we continue to develop our strategy for the coming election season,  
ArtServe has signed on to cosponsor the Center for Michigan's Great  
Debates. We are one of 19 leading trade organizations in support of  
this initiative designed to provide Michigan citizens with an in- 
depth, issues-oriented look at the candidates for governor and leading  
legislative seats.

The Great Debates will consist of 3 one-hour gubernatorial debates  
(one in each major party, one with final candidates), 50 thirty-minute  
legislative debates in key races, and several multi-candidate forums.   
The timeframe is July through November and debates will be broadcast  
on public television and distributed in video format for online  
distribution.

In addition to garnering statewide exposure for the importance of  
arts, culture and arts education, our partnership provides the  
opportunity to include a page in a Candidate Issue Guide to describe  
key issues for candidates to consider, and three questions to pose to  
candidates in the general areas of economic growth, talent and  
education, and efficient/effective/accountable government.

To learn more about this initiative please visit www.thecenterformichigan.net 
  or download the Great Debates press release.
  Michigan Humanities Council Touring Program Grants

The Michigan Humanities Council is now accepting applications for  
grants to support arts and humanities programs between April 1 and  
September 30, 2010.  The grants will be awarded as part of Michigan's  
Arts and Humanities Touring Program, which consists of an online,  
juried directory of some of the state's best cultural offerings  
including dance, music, storytellers, theatre, tradition bearers,  
exhibits, and visual artists.  Grants of up to 40 percent of the cost  
of performances are awarded to schools, libraries, cultural centers,  
and nonprofit organizations to support presentations of those listed  
in the directory.

The Arts & Humanities Touring Program is a collaborative effort  
between the Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Council for  
the Arts and Cultural Affairs.  For 11 years, through this  
partnership, the Councils have provided thousands of programs, engaged  
more than 8,500 performers/interpreters, reached more than 1.5 million  
citizens, and invested $1,019,219 generating about $5.7 million in  
economic activity.

Learn more about the touring program and read the grant application  
guidelines.
News and Opportunities

Americans for the Arts collects Green Papers
Green Papers are short, easy to read, visions of the future meant to  
inspire a nationwide dialogue on the future of the arts. As a way to  
celebrate the successes of the past 50 years in the arts field,  
Americans for the Arts has collected Green Papers from a variety of  
national arts service organizations and peer groups representing  
different perspectives and disciplines.  Read and comment at ARTSblog.

MCACA Announces Funding for the School Bus Grant Program
On March 1, 2010, the Council approved School Bus grants to 162  
schools, located in 44 counties, totaling $63,151 in awards. MCACA  
offered grants of up to $500 to Michigan K-12 schools for  
thetransportation cost of an arts and culture-related field trip. The  
destination or performance was chosenby the school from a list of  
organizations affiliated with MCACA.  Download the complete list of  
grantees here.

AATE's Theatre In Our Schools One-day Conferences
The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) is hosting its  
series of Theatre In Our Schools (TIOS) events in four locations  
around the nation. This year's theme NOW MORE THAN EVER: VITAL ARTS IN  
TRYING TIMES emphasizes how it is critical that we stay energized and  
inspired to teach and create art in the midst of these times of  
financial strife. Art isn't an extravagance or indulgence, but rather  
a necessity that must be kept at the core of education. Spend the day  
with fellow teachers, artists, and arts administrators experiencing  
hands-on workshops, observing master teachers demonstrate their work,  
discussing your own practice and keeping our arts education community  
strong!  Nearby locations include:
March 14, 2010 - Northwestern University, Evanston, IL - Registration  
open
April 24, 2010 - Indiana University, Bloomington, IN - Registration open

Launching of Imagining America News Page
In collaboration with the Community Arts Network, Imagining America  
(IA) has created a News Page to enhance communication between and  
within campuses and communities and to increase visibility for  
exemplar public scholarship and practice in the arts, humanities, and  
design. Visit the page to stay up-to-date on consortium and field-wide  
news.

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