The Teaching Artist Dialogues: A New Model

Monday, January 18, 2010:  Education Through Music-Los Angeles embarked on a new collaboration with the Music Center and USC Thornton School of Music Outreach on professional development for teaching artists.

On the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 35 teaching artists - both new and veteran from all three organizations - convened in Downtown LA at ETM-LA partner school Castelar Elementary.  With signs on the walls that read: "Be prepared to be surprised", "Whoever attends are the right people," and "the Law of Two Feet" - the teaching artists were welcomed with a fresh approach to professional development.  Education Through Music-LA, the Music Center, and USC Thornton Outreach piloted a new exciting forum: facilitated discussions based on the Open Space Technology.  In this format, participants generated their own meaningful topics for discussion and then had the chance to move between a total of 9 possible discussions (3 at any given time).  No prior experience in this format was necessary, and teaching artists shared that they were excited "to be responsible for their learning" through this workshop.

ETM-LA Executive Director Victoria Lanier stated, "I was thrilled to partner with colleagues - Sandy Seufert (Music Center) and Susan Helfter (USC Thornton).  We had been brainstorming for several months now on how we could bring our teaching artist communities together." Open Space Technology is a self-described "twenty year natural experiment," which according to creator Harrison Owen, developed from the observation that quite often the most stimulating conversations during meetings or conferences happened during the coffee breaks. Therefore, enabling participants to create the agenda for meetings and conferences allows for more dynamic and productive results from those meetings.

Using this open discussion forum, this past Monday teaching artists generated the specific discussion topics, questions, challenges, and solutions. Several of the popular topics that emerged included:  Engaging parents and the community;  Music pedagogy skills;  Collaborating with academic teachers; Working with students with special disabilities; and Finding balance in life as an artist/teacher.  One hallmark of this format is that participants are encouraged to use the "Law of Two Feet," which states that participates are free to move on to another discussion room at any time if they feel they are not learning or contributing..  However, as one teaching artist commented, "[I] wanted to apply the Law of Two Feet, [but] the topics I attended were so engaging I didn't get a chance to apply the law."

By the end of the sessions, teaching artists were empowered and inspired to implement new strategies they had learned and shared in their discussions.  Many felt that this was one of the best professional development workshops they had attended, and that the topics generated genuine interest and inquiry with pragmatic, real solutions.   Click Here for Photos