Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education unites teachers, artists


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At Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education (DiAE) we believe that education and the arts are deeply interconnected.

Recently, DiAE has experienced a wave of requests for teacher professional development. In fact, last year we more than doubled the number of teachers served, reaching almost 500 across Delaware.

DiAE’s professional development (PD) program is a cornerstone of our mission. 

We seek to enhance education in Delaware through high-quality arts experiences that are rooted in the curriculum, occur during the school day, and are delivered by a multidisciplinary team of gifted teaching artists. Our professional development model is collaborative. Topics are co-created by the school partner, the teaching artist, and Artistic Director Ashley SK Davis, an expert in arts integration.

This approach ensures that the professional development we offer is relevant to the specific needs of the school and teacher. Together, we design programs that not only bring the arts into core curriculum subjects but also empower students to see themselves as artists.

Who are you working with?

Recent professional development work includes yearlong engagements with the visual and performing arts teachers in the Christina School District spearheaded by Sheila Lynch, the district’s curriculum specialist for visual and performing arts who is committed to arts specialists across her district.

We had another yearlong engagement with the teachers and staff at Gateway Charter School, an arts-integrated school for students who struggle in traditional learning environments. Principal Marlin White and Head of School Catherine Dolan are dedicated to arts-integration for their students.

We also were fortunate to work with Brian Erskine, supervisor at Colonial School District, another visionary leader committed to providing novel opportunities for visual and performing arts teachers across his district.

What are some topics for teacher professional development?

Some professional development topics are responsive to the Black history requirements of Delaware’s House Bill 198,  like “Bring the Beat In: Music Sampling in Hip Hop” or “Art & Activism in the Civil Rights Era.”

Others focus on the application of arts-based approaches to targeted aspects of the curriculum. We were invited to the Delaware School Counselor Association Conference to lead a session on arts-based methods to infuse their lessons with creativity and connection.

In July, Dr. Lauren Conrad of the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Division of the Arts asked us to co-facilitate a statewide professional development focused on a newly released Customized Arts Learning Toolkit. The toolkit “supports personalized learning in arts education and promotes culturally affirming and sustaining instructional practice in arts education. (https://www.caltoolkit.org/).” Following the introduction to the toolkit, our team led a series of culturally affirming classroom lessons for music, dance, theater, and visual art teachers.

What is a teaching artist?

Readers may be wondering, “What is a teaching artist exactly?” Eric Booth was one of the first scholars to use the term, defining them as “artists who choose to include artfully educating others, beyond teaching the technique of the artform, as an active part of a career.”

In DiAE, a teaching artist is an independent contractor, a working artist who is trained in state arts standards, inquiry, and other critical frameworks that allow them to support, complement, and amplify what is happening in a teacher’s classroom.

Would this work in my classroom?

The relationship between classroom teachers and teaching artists requires openness and a spirit of collaboration.  It is designed to build new understandings of the art form as well as the academic discipline. This collaboration leads to exciting results. Teachers and teaching artists bring expertise that stems from their unique contexts. Together, they create something magical for students that would not have been possible on their own.

Teaching artists and teachers: a win/win

The partnership between teachers and teaching artists is one of the most powerful elements of DiAE’s work. DiAE residencies allow teaching artists to supplement their artistic endeavors and help build a sustainable livelihood.

We support local artists’ ability to live and work in Delaware, while contributing to the education of the next generation of creative thinkers. For teachers, this collaboration provides an opportunity to work closely with a creative partner to share ideas while designing a program that will continue to benefit students and teacher long after the residency ends.

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This model is well aligned with the Delaware Arts Alliance CREATE Plan that seeks to boost the state’s “creative economy.” For more on the plan, visit delawareartsalliance.org/CREATIVEECONOMY.

To learn more about teacher professional development opportunities for your school, visit our website at diae.org/contact or call us at 302-660-4783.

A.T. Moffett is executive director of Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education.



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