Creative Teaching for the Teaching Artist

Saturday, December 14, 2019 // 11am to 3pm
Presented by Laurel Butler
Max Participants: 18
$45 Regular / $36 Members

Member price accessed with discount code at checkout. Are you a member and don’t know your code? Email [email protected]! Not a member but interested in these perks? Join here!

Being a Teaching Artist in school and community contexts is one of the most rewarding jobs we creatives can find.  Who wouldn’t want to share their creative practice with a roomful of bright-eyed learners!? The students of the world want to learn how to do their version of what you do! 

It is also laden with complex considerations: from pedagogy and lesson planning to classroom management and basic employment infrastructures (or lack thereof). Teaching Artistry asks us to engage with real questions about how our facilitation can have the most positive and empowering impact on our students, and how to find a dynamic balance between preparedness and flexibility to hold space for their artistic process.

In this 4-hour intensive, we will dig deep into the work of Teaching Artistry to understand effective Arts Education practices through the current language of the field.  What does student-centered pedagogy really mean? How can I make sure my teaching is developmentally appropriate to my student’s age group? Do I need to incorporate standards into my lesson plans in order to impress the hiring powers-that-be?  What even is a lesson plan??  

This 4-hour workshop will include engaged discussions, hands-on experiential learning, Qs & As, and lots of helpful handouts and takeaways.  Together, we will:

-Define our own teaching practices and pedagogy
-Explore contemporary practices in Arts Education
-Develop concrete resources for our Teaching Artist Toolkit
-Register as members of the Teaching Artists Guild!

Artists in all disciplines welcome: Visual, Performing, and beyond!  The skills and frameworks we will take away from this workshop are perfect for anyone interested in taking their art practice from the studio to the classroom and into a dynamic learning relationship with students of all kinds. 

Bring a notebook and a snack to share.

Laurel Butler is the Arts Education Specialist for the LA County Office of Education, where she develops and facilitates professional development in the arts for over 70 school districts throughout the County. During her 20 years in arts education, Laurel has taught students of every age – PreK-12, college and university, professional and non-professional adults – with a focus on performing arts pedagogies for social justice curricula. Most recently, Laurel was the Associate Director of the UCLA Visual and Performing Arts Education Program, where she trained undergraduate arts educators for professional teaching placements throughout the community, as well as the Youth Development & Leadership Specialist for the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, for whom she designed arts-based re-entry programs for formerly incarcerated and systems-impacted youth.

Accessibility information for this event: WCCW has a 36” wide ramp at our front entrance and a stairway with 8 steps and a rail. There are 2 gender neutral restrooms. One restroom is wheelchair accessible, with a handrail. We provide scent free soaps and encourage guests to attend our events scent free. If you require ASL interpretation, CART, interpretation for a language other than English, supervised childcare, or have any other access needs or questions, please contact [email protected] at least two weeks in advance. It is our practice to do everything we can to create a safe and accessible space.

Childcare for this event: We do our best to provide low-cost, on-site childcare for our events when requested at least a week in advance. If you are interested in childcare for this event, please fill out this form.

*All members get 20% off paid programming. A limited number of free spots are also available for Warrior & Goddess level members. Email [email protected] to inquire about free tickets.

Our program costs go directly towards compensation of the instructors and staffers who work the event. We want to make programming as accessible as possible to anyone who is interested, however, so we offer volunteer opportunities in exchange for membership, as well as free community tickets to each program (number varies depending on capacity of the class). Email [email protected] for more info or to find out more about these opportunities for a specific event.