| Integration | Mirror Images: The Effect of Arts Integration for Teachers and Their Students |
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| A teacher steps back and gives the students their problem to solve. Putting out the art supplies or equipment, and making room for their exploration, the teacher has set the stage for an arts integration immersion in which her students will learn about an art form and the content at hand. The students become deeply engaged in their work. They are collaborating, seeking peer input, utilizing problem solving, and applying critical thinking skills. When the class period draws to an end, they do not want to leave. They just need to add one more thing to their project. This story, and many others like it, has emerged in the data of a multi-year research project undertaken by researchers at Lesley University, funded by the Ford Foundation. Having analyzed data from an online survey, 11 focus groups, and 10 in-person interviews and classroom observations, the team has gleaned insights from over 200 teachers (who are graduates of Lesley's Integrated Teaching through the Arts program) in 19 states around the country. The teachers in the study have undergone 22 months of intensive professional development leading to a graduate degree in which they participate in studio-based arts courses as well as other theory-based courses. This immersion has allowed them to stand in the shoes of their students. What is it like to go through a creative process, to draw on the imagination, and to share creative work? Having engaged in these experiences, the teachers know how to help students navigate creative and imaginative processes that lead to deep learning. The students learn about the art forms and the academic content, but the process of arts integration does more. The deep learning that results produces enhanced student engagement, absorption in the material, peer collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking – the kinds of skills and mind sets that are needed in the 21st century. We are interested in exploring the mirror-image theme with our peers – examining more closely the correlation between professional development and the impact on students, how this learning translates into classroom practice, and the resulting state of deep learning which leads to 21st century skill outcomes. There is a lot of research about the creative process, but we'll look more closely at the relationships that emerge among teachers and students when engaged in arts integration and think collectively about implications for the future. |
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| Kerrie Bellisario is a consultant dedicated to research, teaching, and educational projects that further the knowledge and understanding of the arts in education and community contexts. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of Lesley University’s Creative Arts in Learning Ford Foundation-funded research project – Voices from the Field: What M.Ed Graduates of the Integrated Teaching through the Arts Program Tell Us About Arts Integration in America’s Schools. She was formerly an Associate Professor at Lesley University where she co-founded the M.Ed program Arts, Community and Education. Kerrie has authored numerous papers, and presented nationally and internationally. She also has extensive experience in arts and education administration, having served as the Associate Professor and Associate Director at Lesley University’s Creative Arts in Learning division and as Executive Director of ArtWorks! Partners for the Arts & Community, Inc. She is also a practicing visual artist and curator, having exhibited her own work nationally and in Japan and Peru. Her curatorial work has included numerous projects in the United States and in the Azores, Portugal, and Peru. |
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| Dr. Lisa Donovan is an Association Professor and Director of the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University and co-principal investigator of the Integrated Teaching through the Arts Assessment project funded by the Ford Foundation. She is a theater artist and arts-based researcher who teaches arts integration, arts-based action research, and arts-based literacy courses. Lisa has a broad range of experience working as an arts educator and arts administrator in a variety of arts organizations, including Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Berkshire Opera Company, University of Massachusetts' Department of Theater, as well as Boston University's Theater, Visual Arts and Tanglewood Institutes. She was formerly the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education. She has presented her work at national and international conferences, including the Qualitative Inquiry Group in Georgia, the American Educational Research Association in New York City, and Unesco's World Conference on Arts Education in Portugal. Lisa's arts-based research script, Ah-Sess, was performed as the centerpiece of the Assessment Conference at New York University in 2004. Her script, The Voices that Matter, was performed recently at the University of Massachusetts. She has chapters in the Peter Lang series on arts in education in Teaching for Aesthetic Experience: The Art of Learning and in Signs of Hope: Art and Social Change. Lisa holds a Ph.D. from Lesley University. Her arts-based dissertation, The Aesthetics of Listening, explored the question, "How can theater education develop a sense of voice and identity in adolescents?" |  |
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