We’re excited to share some of the feedback from our Arts Integration Professional Development Series!
The Arts Integration Professional Development Series was provided by Brockport Research Institute (BRI) as part of Eastern Wayne County SSAE Consortium's Well-Rounded Education Integration of Arts Across the Curriculum Initiative. The initiative aimed to integrate the arts across curricula in six Wayne County school districts in order to support students' creative self-expression and provide continuing professional development for teachers.
These workshops were led by BRI Professional Development Associate and Lecturer for Childhood Science Education at The College at Brockport Dr. Peter Kalenda. The series brought together faculty and administration from the Eastern Wayne County SSAE Consortium with practicing artists in order to create an arts-integrated mini-unit and brainstorm ways teachers could employ artist facilities and services to strengthen their curriculum. The initiative was awarded as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Participants included arts, music, and general education faculty, librarians, and administrators from Wayne County schools. An evaluation of the workshops found that participants felt better prepared for brainstorming arts-integrated units. All participants reported feeling satisfied with the overall series, with a majority of participants feeling very satisfied.
“I joined our art teacher,” a STEAM instructor comments, “and I’m so glad I did! I was able to generate so many ideas.”
Participants reported the ability to collaborate hands-on with the visiting artists and with other teachers as one of the major benefits of this series. BRI was pleased to see the number of faculty members that plan to integrate knowledge gained from the workshops into their own future lesson plans.
If you are interested in bringing BRI professional development opportunities to your institution, please see our current catalog. For inquiries, please contact info@BrockportResearchInstitute.com.