Comparative Conflict Resolution and the Arts

More info on the Promises Project. Another trailer worth watching: Encounter Point.

What is the role of arts educators in healing and in social healing? Throughout both films, we pick up on shared words like grief, horror, anger, heroes, pain, cycles, enemies, trust, peace, fear, strangeness, and questions: Why not talk? Is there and can there be a better future?

The common words remind us that through two very different worlds and perspectives there is a shared human story. Applied Theatre can explore the places where these shared human stories and narratives intersect and where they differ. As one child says: "Peace between you and me is impossible unless we get to know one another." Yet, our actions continue to be driven by fear and the complications of risk. When one parent is hesitant of letting his son cross the checkpoint, another responds, "Our needs are our fears."

Applied Theatre exercises may help us unpick our fears, share narratives, and open up new possibilities that challenge the status quo.

Simnia Singer-Sayada, an Education Associate at the Culture Project, describes one Theatre of the Oppressed technique that is often used to explore connections:

One such technique, the “Columbian Hypnosis”, creates an opportunity to explore he effect our actions have on one other. In a group, a leader is selected who moves to the middle of the room. Gradually, the rest of the class joins in, one by one holding onto someone within the group by the head, arm, knee, nose, etc.... When everyone is joined to someone else, the leader begins to walk through the room, and the subtle repercussions of her/his actions ripples through the group, each member being moved and therefore moving those around them. The power of literally seeing and feeling the repercussions of subtle actions can lead to huge personal discoveries.

Though they are seemingly simple activities--interactive experiences and games like the one above can uncover safe spaces for conversations.

Here's another piece that focuses on music therapy and Palestinian children of the West Bank.

NYC Public School Theatre Education

I attended a panel yesterday that included Paul King, Director of Theatre Programs for the NYC Department of Education's Office of Arts and Special Projects, and four NYC public school theatre teachers. Two from elementary schools and two from screened high schools (meaning an audition is required).

There was a little bit of discussion surrounding the direction in which theatre and arts programs are headed in the District, the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, the new comprehensive high school arts exam, the impact of high parental involvement in the elementary schools (which were located in Park Slope and Cobble Hill, Brooklyn), and the Annual Arts in Schools Report. These are worth unpacking at another time.

Most of the discussion centered around classroom management techniques, curriculum, etc.

What are the rewards of teaching theatre in the public schools?

One teacher said, "It's getting your students to stand in a circle at the beginning of class." (I can completely understand this.) Another recalled a time when one her fourth graders sang "I Sing the Body Electric" for an audition and she found herself in tears.

Jim Moody, of LaGuardia Arts High School, an accomplished film and TV actor (he appeared in the move Fame and on "Law and Order" several times), put it best: "The rewards are beyond 'thank you.' It's when they live it."

NYC Arts (Are Not) in Schools Report (a little late)

Here's the NYC DOE's First Annual Arts in Schools Report. This came out in early March, but I forgot to post.

Read the press release and then compare it to the shockingly low numbers that you see.

The "Next Steps" section doesn't seem to have much that is substantive yet, and vaguely touch on budget issues that are a major obstacle. However, the report is a first step in solving problems and does give some baseline info. Pretty interesting.

Just a quick summary of some points that I found interesting:

Elementary
By NY state standards, elementary school students are supposed to be exposed to all four arts disciplines each year. Only 4% of schools currently do this. 77% of schools directly interact with local arts and cultural institutions, and through this, raise their percentages. However, the quality of these experiences and the longevity of them is questionable. Along with the ability of students to build meaningful relationships with these arts educators. Will the exposure and ability of schools to partner with this plethora of cultural institutions continue to substitute the presence of arts specialists in schools? Particularly in dance and theatre?

Middle School
"Middle schoolers prefer active over passive learning experiences." (Really? Wow!) Only 17% of middle schools offer all 4 arts disciplines.

Secondary Ed
More secondary schools meet the standards. But that's because the standards are lower. High school students are only required to take 1 year of an arts discipline.

82% of schools have certified arts teachers. Breakdown of certified teachers (as a percentage of total arts teachers):

• 65% Visual Arts
• 42% Music Teachers
• 29% Theatre
• 20% Dance

The percentage of students who receive high school instruction in the arts in theatre and dance is about 2%. It's in the 20-30% range for visual arts and music.

14% of schools have certified Dance and Theatre teachers vs. Music (45%) and Visual Arts (61%).

Changing the Focus of NCLB to Inputs

In this Rethinking Schools article, Monty Neill talks about changing NCLB to focus on inputs (funding and improvement) rather than outputs (test scores) - or at least the outputs as we currently define them.

In terms of making changes, he suggests:

• Federal funding should be focused on school improvement. (Duh!) But very true. (As opposed to test-based accountability.)
• Funding to create communities of learners within schools- to focus on closing the educator achievement gap.
• Strengthening the capacity in which districts and states can help schools.

Worth noting:

"Further, study after study has made it clear that nonschool factors, poverty in particular, overwhelm what most schools can do. Michael Winerip summed up a recent Educational Testing Service study in his New York Times column: Just four family factors explain most of the difference in outcomes. They are the percentage of children living with one parent, the percentage of 8th graders absent from school at least three times a month, the percentage of children 5 or younger whose parents read to them daily, and the percentage of 8th graders who watch five or more hours of TV a day. A decade or so ago another study similarly found a handful of factors explained most of the state differences in NAEP results.

"Gloria Ladson-Billings uses the term "education debt" — the lack of adequate educational opportunity accumulating since slavery and segregation — rather than "achievement gap." The education debt includes the school-based debt. It also includes the housing debt (such as the racial covenants that ensured African Americans could not move to many suburbs after World War II), the medical care debt (pervasive historical and current unequal access to medical care by race and class), the employment debt (African American families earn three-fifths of what white families earn, while U.S. income inequality grows rapidly), and on and on."

Disturbing School Bulletin Boards

I was at an elementary school in Queens today. A very nice and new building and brightly decorated school. There are bulletin boards EVERYWHERE in the hallway. It makes the building look like a nice place to go to school.

Today, I took some time to actually look at the bulletin boards, and ended up being very disturbed.

Student work is displayed on each bulletin board. However, not all student work is displayed, only some. For each project, only about 6 examples of student work were displayed. It was pretty apparent that these were only the "best" examples.

Even worse, on each paper/poster/art project was a post-it with the students' grade - from 1 to 4, along with comments from the teacher. The only work that I saw displayed was at "Level 3." Oh, and if you don't know what Level 3 means - don't worry! There's a detailed rubric beside each bulletin board with the assessment criteria.

So what are we saying?
We only put up examples of completed work that fits the "standards" of our hegemonic system. You worked hard, but you didn't get at least a 3? Sorry, your work isn't important, because only the product matters -- not the process.

This made me very sad.

Who are these bulletin boards for?
Shouldn't bulletin boards be for students? I'm not sure what third grade student is going to sit and read the 1-4 rubric beside each board. And I'm pretty sure the students whose work is discarded and not worthy of the bulletin board won't have much interest.

It's great to show student work. But does the fact that we are afraid to show most student work tell us something about the school? And about how they perceive education?