The Accidental Art Teacher: Supporting Creativity in School & After-school

There is little argument that the arts are a necessary element of the after-school experience.  But how do you make it fun, challenging, and effective when you don’t have a large art budget?  The answer: find your staff’s passions and talents and allow them to share those with the students.  But these passionate youth workers cannot become art teachers over night.  They need to understand:

• Their strengths as an artist and a teacher and how to maximize those strengths when working with students
• How to structure a program, project, lesson, and environment to maximize creativity, learning and ownership in the group
• How to be intentional about what kinds of skills (artistic, collaborative, academic) they want or need to teach through artistic engagement
• How to use the “Art of Asking Questions” to engage students in meaningful reflective processes that acknowledge and celebrate their learning
• How to partner with outside enrichment providers and community resources to enhance their own programsThe Accidental Art Teacher takes teachers on a journey through these points and gives you an opportunity to support each other as you work to strengthen the arts in your programs.

— About the Trainer