For more information on the Arts in
Education Institute, contact us at ltillotson@cnyarts.com
or 315-724-1113.
Interaction between teachers, students, and AEI trained teaching
artists -- local professional musicians, dancers, actors,
artists, writers, and storytellers -- prepares students for upcoming performances
and integrates elements of the performance into grade level curriculum.
Intensive teacher training in workshops with teaching artists during the AEI annual
Summer Session strives to inspire new teaching strategies applicable to all components
of the curriculum as well as the arts and aesthetics.
During the school year, classroom activities promote participatory learning in
the context of analysis and evaluation of the processes behind creating a work
of art. These activities encourage critical thinking, reflection on human values,
stimulation of creativity, awareness of cultural heritage, and development of
cognitive tools that promote understanding.
By the time an AEI performance comes to a school, the participating students and
teachers are actively involved. They have considered a variety of aspects of the
work of art they are viewing and have a framework for directing their attention
and stimulating their perceptions. Students and teachers are no longer passive
observers, they are prepared to fully participate in a performance and integrate
it with their learning.
