In 2011, the President’s Commission on the Arts and the
Humanities (PHAC) released Reinvesting
in Arts Education, a comprehensive report that urged national organizations,
state and local public agencies, and communities to establish new and better
cooperation in the delivery of arts education for America’s students. The PHAC
study noted that, while there was evidence of innovative programs and opportunities
throughout the United States, cutbacks in arts education had become widespread
due to high-stakes testing and funding reductions, particularly in high-poverty
schools. Re-investing in Arts Education made several recommendations to help
reverse that trend, including better collaboration between in- and out-of-school
arts education providers and more widely applied arts integration across
subject areas. The report also urged national
arts associations and other education organizations lead the way on that
collaboration by defining how institutions and individuals can best provide
quality arts education to PreK-12 students.
Now, three years later, twelve national arts and education
organizations, including the Educational
Theatre Association, have released Arts
Education for America’s Students: A Shared Endeavor, a statement that
defines the mutual responsibility of certified arts educators, non-community
arts providers, and certified non-arts educators. A Shared Endeavor calls on
policy makers, schools, and community leaders to re-assert the place of arts
education in America’s schools, and to ensure that all students have access to quality
arts education experiences.
Shared Endeavor and Reinvesting in Arts Education both emphasize
how partnerships can help reverse the lack of arts education access and equity,
and each articulates who those partners ought to be. The difference in the two
is this: Shared Endeavor asks that improved classroom instruction and practice by
all providers be based on sequential, standards-based education, and Reinvesting
in Arts Education makes a strong case for relying on after-school programs and
outside providers—teaching artists—to deliver arts education.
It makes complete sense for the stakeholders with the skill,
commitment, and financial resources to come together on arts education reform. The
challenge is getting the key players—curricular arts educators and after-school
providers—to rally around the rigorous standards and clearly defined outcomes.
Theatre is, by its nature, collaborative, and it’s not uncommon for a
theatre educator to bring a professional with a particular expertise—voice,
choreography, stage combat, and other aspects of the craft—into a rehearsal or
a classroom to improve students’ skill and knowledge. And, of course, the long-standing
tradition of student attending professional and community plays—though at risk
in some districts—is still a staple in many programs. But neither of these learning
strategies is the same as a full partnership with an individual or organization
in which there is shared ownership for the delivery and assessment of student
learning in the art of theatre. If we are truly committed to bringing theatre
education to all students, particularly those in high-poverty schools, perhaps
this is a model that we need to consider more closely. The question is, how do
we acknowledge and respect the skills of both certified curricular educators
and teaching artists and create authentic learning opportunities for students? While recognition of teaching artists’ value
has certainly grown in the past few years, there is still great concern about
their broader training in educational pedagogy—including their commitment to and
understanding of state or national standards. Conversely, some teaching artists
may not believe that a curricular educator possesses deep knowledge and skill
in their art, and are ambivalent about standards.
A Shared Endeavor includes a beautiful Venn diagram that
shines a light on an ideal twenty-first century landscape of art education. If you’re
school arts educator, it’s a graphic
that you might want to post on your bulletin board at school or, even better,
in your back pocket when you attend the school board meeting in which they
begin making funding, staff, and curriculum decisions in the coming months. Students are placed in the center of the Venn
with this language: “Students benefit from sequential, standards-based arts
curriculum, deep expertise, and professional experience, standards-based
connections to other content areas.” The
three interlocking Venn circles contain certified arts educators, certified
non-arts educators, and community arts providers. For each, supplemental language suggests “a
career commitment” to sequential standards-based education. How well that
commitment plays out in the coming months and years could make the difference
in whether or not thousands of students are offered or denied access to the
quality arts education they need and deserve. Those of us invested in theatre education need
to talk and share our successes, challenges, and concerns about our in- and out-of-school
partnerships with teaching artists and other community-based arts education
organizations. We owe this to our students and to one another. What do you think?