The contemporary approach to art education focuses on content that is derived from a broad range of the visual arts with an emphasis on what can be learned from works of art. This is a significant departure from earlier aesthetic approaches which led to purely formalist criticism in the classroom. Based on the work of Arthur Danto, the author proposes that teachers develop student abilities to go beyond the visual level of artworks and enable them to gain access to the complexity of meanings that works of art possess. To exemplify this practice, an analysis of Adrian Piper's work entitled I
Interviews conducted during the summer of 2006 with people in and around the international museum community suggest that the interests natural history museums share in common with each other and with other kinds of organizations and communities are creating an array of new links across institutional, social and cultural boundaries. These links are active, complex, networked relationships directed toward common purposes. Museums that are taking advantage of this emerging environment are becoming “hyperconnected hubs” across which knowledge is exchanged and action initiated. In forging a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Tom Hennes
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This paper from Phi Delta Kappan describes how growing inequality threatens American education. One of the leading indicators is the amout of resources spent on young people during their out-of-school time.
This paper describes initial findings from the Mapping Out-of-School Time Science (MOST-Science) study. The study examines the characteristics of out-of-school time programs and their home organizations, including aspects of program design, structure, funding, staffing, and youth audience. We then discuss how organization types differ in these program aspects and draw out implications for practice.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) programs in out-of-school time (OST) are designed to supplement school work, ignite student interest, and extend STEM learning. From interactive museum exhibits to summer-long science camps, opportunities for informal student engagement in STEM learning abound. What difference do these programs make, and how can we improve them? These questions preoccupy educators and funders alike. OST program developers and providers can benefit from understanding why evaluation is critical to the success of STEM OST programs, what data collection
This article describes Philadelphia’s systemwide approach to project-based learning. First, we review the scholarly literature to define the strategy and discuss its outcomes. Next, we describe Philadelphia’s systems approach to project-based learning in OST and outline its successes. Finally, we discuss the challenges presented by a systems approach to implementation, offering recommendations to other cities and their intermediaries that wish to implement project-based learning on a systemwide basis.
This case study reveals how one community-based youth development organization in the northeastern United States advocated for social and educational equity for the low-income families it served by challenging the local school district’s practice of referring low-income children of color to special education in disproportionate numbers. Because this community-based organization (CBO) is typical of many such youth-serving organizations, the case study shows how the assets CBOs bring to their communities can help them negotiate with schools to achieve greater social and educational equity for
This article provides findings from the TERC-based program Math off the Shelf (MotS). The first phase involved working with library-based informal educators to create interdisciplinary mathematics resources, and the second phase made the resources available to a wider group of library educators.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marlene KlimanNuria Jaumot-PascualValerie Martin
By emphasizing work-based learning, youth programs can not only meet their youth development goals but also prepare young people for success in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.
A vivid portrait of a little girl, her mother, and their experience at a neighborhood agency demonstrates how stories taken from the field can illustrate the power of peer education and motivate staff toward more inspired educational after school programming.
Community technology centers (CTCs) help bridge the digital divide for immigrant youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods. A study of six CTCs in California shows that these centers also promote positive youth development for young people who are challenged to straddle two cultures.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rebecca LondonManuel PastorRachel Rosner
By designing accountability systems that fully embrace the notion of afterschool programs as learning organizations and by using research from organizational development, education, and youth development to create effective learning environments, funders and sponsors can help programs to improve quality—and therefore, to succeed in their goal of achieving better outcomes for young people.