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By Stephanie Kistner, Senior Program Coordinator

For me, summer has always been a time to re-energize, reflect, and plan. Here at P.S. ARTS, it’s much the same. This summer the Programs Team has been busy reflecting on our accomplishments as an organization and planning our programs for the upcoming  year.

As part of the planning process, we annually research and review program models and best practices in the fields of arts and education. There are always exciting and innovative things happening in the arts and education worlds, and we’re eager to learn more about what’s happening in the field, in schools, and in classrooms.

Accessible and equitable arts programming are important values of P.S. ARTS, and with the addition of inclusive arts programs to our roster, utilizing best practices in special education and inclusion programs has been a priority.

Last month I had the opportunity to attend The Kennedy Center’s VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference in Alexandria, Virginia. VSA is a department of the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center that serves as an international organization that promotes arts accessibility for all. VSA also supports arts education opportunities for people with disabilities.

The VSA conference brought together program administrators, teaching artists, arts specialists, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and researchers from across the country to learn more about the arts and special education.

The theme of the conference was “intersections.” Intersections between arts and special education, intersections between classroom teachers and teaching artists, intersections between arts specialists and special education teachers, and intersections between practitioners and researchers. The conference brought together a professional network of individuals who all believe that the arts play an integral role in the education of ALL students.

I went to the conference with a mission: to find best practices and exemplar models that we could apply to our classrooms. What I quickly realized, and what I know very well working in education, is that there is not a one-size-fits-all model when it comes to classrooms, special education, and inclusion programs. To me, that is the exciting challenge of teaching, designing, and implementing lessons that fit a wide range of learning styles and that meet the needs of every student in the room.

Some approaches that I enjoyed learning more about and will continue to help P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists implement include:

  • UDL: Universal Design for Learning: UDL is a framework that helps educators design lessons for learners of varying abilities and learning goals. The framework can be applied to virtually any sort of educational setting and lends itself well to arts programming and inclusive, self-directed learning. UDL is central to P.S. ARTS programming and can be seen in all of our classrooms.
  • Social Emotional Learning: This approach is particularly helpful in inclusive classrooms that include students with Emotional Behavior Disorders (EBD) or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It can be difficult for these students to feel safe and comfortable enough to engage and participate in classroom activities. Social Emotional Learning through ensemble building in theater is one approach to reach and include all students as everyone learns together how to recognize, share, and control emotional responses.
  • Inclusion Based Arts Programs: One major take away from this approach was the community effort that it takes to manage and implement successful programs. Community is central to what P.S. ARTS does and this objective directly aligns with our programming. Built-in planning time, information sharing, goal setting, benchmarking plans, and clear methodology and approaches all contribute to student success in areas of increased communication and socialization skills, arts proficiency, and academic learning.

The conference opened with a quote by President John F. Kennedy that largely informs VSA’s work, and which closely resonates with the work of P.S. ARTS:

“I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but…for our contribution to the human spirit.” – President John F. Kennedy

Everything I learned at the VSA conference reinforced our values as an organization, primarily that providing universal access to an education that includes the arts is a matter of social justice, equity, and responsible public policy. I’m constantly inspired by the work that P.S. ARTS does and the change that it seeks to make in the world – in education, in classrooms, and in each and every student that we serve.

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