Last week I attended the webinar presented by Mr. Jim Palmarini
regarding the National Core Arts Standards. The standards were published under the National Coalition for CORE ARTS Standards (NCCAS), in affiliation with the Educational Theatre Association and the American Alliance for Theatre Education,
on June 4, 2014. This three year research project included 130 writers,
and 6,000 reviewers. Their goal (in simplified
terms) is to establish arts education for K-12 grade levels.
While a lot of the information was geared towards arts educators, a few
things stuck out to me that I would like to share with you all!
What it means to be Artistically Literate:
- Use a variety of artistic media
- Develop creative personal realization
- Cultivate culture
- Find joy in intellectual ideas
- Seek artistic support
The most useful component for students, I believe, are the Anchor Standards. The Anchor Standards are the following:
- Creating
- Performing
- Responding
- Connecting
Mr. Jim described these as the advocacy tools when talking to
administrators and school boards.
The presentation, and more in-depth information can be found in the Advocacy Library on Community.
What can we do to help? Spread the word!! When you are talking with your school administrators, or your state conference talking with theatre educators, ask them, "Are you
familiar with the National Core Arts Standards?" If not, point them in
the direction of the NCCAS website (a feature to mention
is how a teacher can create their own custom handbook with the guidance
of the standards.)
www.nationalartsstandards.org
With your voice we can incorporate these standards into our theatre classrooms, and show how simple it is to advocate!