Our students are back in the classroom and so are we at Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education (DiAE).
Slowly, but surely, things are beginning to appear more “normal,” with a cautious return to extracurricular activities.
We are all finding ourselves in a tenuous space, shifting yet again from one approach to another. As we return to this once-normal place, which now seems new, the challenges for learning are more apparent and critical.
As teachers will tell you, there are major gaps to overcome and transitions to mitigate.
For many students, extended months of being isolated, disconnected from their peers and left to their own devices have slowed them academically and socially. Teachers are finding these challenges exhausting and daunting. There are only so many hours in a day and they face a shortage of resources, staff and support. The idea of doing or taking on one more thing feels daunting, if not impossible.
What if that one more thing was just the thing to energize, support and create that sense of community in the classroom and beyond? As a nonprofit based in Wilmington, serving the state of Delaware, this is exactly what we at DiAE provide. Supporting teachers, engaging students and infusing the curricula with diverse, high-quality arts programming, we are helping to build community through cross-disciplinary learning, partnerships with professional artists, arts and cultural institutions and our friends in schools, school districts and early learning centers.
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Integrating the arts brings a hands-on approach to experiential learning. Whether we are in an early-childhood classroom providing research-based professional development for educators or partnering with a K-12 teacher, each residency connects an art form with broader classroom subjects. The students participate in activities that invite the whole child to explore, create — and learn — through and with an art form. For example, in our Delaware Wolf Trap program, a classroom teacher might be paired with a trained dancer to teach — through movement — concepts as varied as patterns and prepositions.
Moreover, research compiled by The Kennedy Center finds that an arts approach is especially helpful to students who are disadvantaged by economics, background or learning disabilities.
We all learn differently, and our partners at Head Start and early learning centers tell us how bringing the arts into their classrooms creates higher levels of engagement and minimizes inappropriate or disruptive behavior in the classroom.
“With everything going on the past two years, Delaware Wolf Trap (DWT) program was something our students and teachers looked forward to with anticipation and excitement,” according to Nicole Williams, manager of the West Third St. Wilmington Head Start Center. “It was another [new] face, a fun activity and an opportunity for our teachers to observe and learn new strategies in the classroom. The students and teachers were quick to jump in and participate. The students were all engaged and behavior issues would minimize substantially.“
At DiAE, we are in regular contact with our teacher partners and look to support them with a myriad of tools and strategies.
Dominique Brown, fifth grade lead teacher at Middletown’s Silver Lake Elementary School, reached out to find ways to make poetry more relatable for her students. Collaborating with spoken word/poet and DiAE teaching artist Christian Wills, Ms. Brown and the other fifth grade teachers created hands-on workshops to formulate arts-integrated lessons.
“The students built up their self-confidence through the creation of ‘I Am’ poems, which they shared with their peers,” Ms. Brown reported.
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Following the three-session residency the students attended an in-person workshop with the Twin Poets, Delaware’s 15th Poets Laureate. “This experience of working with Mr. Wills and attending a live performance with Twin Poets provided an opportunity for students to connect with the community outside of the classroom,” Ms. Brown said.
In their preparation, DiAE’s teaching artists collaborate with teachers to customize in-class workshops that address Delaware Common Core State Standards and Delaware Standards for Visual and Performing Arts while offering opportunities for students to explore, create and reflect on an art form. Our DiAE in-school residency program is modeled after the Lincoln Center Education’s Focus School program.
Our teachers are working hard to help their students gain lost ground. We are there to support them in every way, from lesson planning for the residency to finding funding sources to support the program. We build upon our strong relationships with the Delaware Division of the Arts, local and state foundations, businesses and community members to help subsidize the true cost to deliver our services.
“We know that our teachers want to get back to work,” said Leland Kent, executive director of Great Oaks Charter School in Wilmington. “We also recognize that sometimes we need others [like DiAE] to pull us out of our comfort zone to stretch. It’s a worthwhile investment.”
To learn more about the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education, visit our website at www.diae.org.
Nanci Hersh is executive director of the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education.
