This ends another successful Technology
Enhanced Arts Learning (TEAL) profes-
sional development session. The TEAL
project is a partnership between the L.A.
County Arts Commission and the Los An-
geles County Office of Education, and was
made possible through the generous sup-
port of the Los Angeles County Quality and
Productivity Commission and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
The project is committed to providing all
students with access to arts education, pro-
moting arts integration as one means to ac-
complish this vital educational goal. Now a
new group of educators has been introduced
to a powerful tool that can facilitate lively,
engaging and meaningful learning: arts in-
tegration.
There is a lot more to learn, but it doesn’t
end here. To build their skills, teachers are
reminded to connect through the TEAL
online professional learning community and
encouraged to tap the many online resources
available through the TEAL website, other
regional arts organizations, the John F.
Kennedy Center, and especially to explore
Imagine –
brainstorm gather
information for
possible solutions
Define the
Problem, Ask
the Question
Plan –
select a solution
and create a
“blueprint”
Improve –
reflect, get input, revise
Create –
Make it! Do it!
and collaborate with each other and their
school’s art specialist, should they be lucky
enough to have one, as they begin their arts
integration journey.
Arts integration is defined by the Ken-
nedy Center as an approach to teaching in
which students construct and demonstrate
understanding through an art form. Stu-
dents engage in a creative process that con-
nects an art form and another subject area
and meets evolving objectives in both.
Other definitions convey similar notions
that learning in art is balanced with learn-
ing in another area of the core curriculum,
meaning the alliance of visual art, dance,
music, theatre and media arts with math,
science, language, social studies, even physi-
cal education to facilitate learning in both (or
more) subject areas.
Educating students in the arts through
single-subject application – visual art, dance,
music, theatre, media arts classes – and also
through integration with other content areas
opens doors to learning for students who
have previously lacked access for a variety
of reasons, language barriers and behavioral
issues being two of the most noted. For all
students, including the arts in education
as more than an add-on is associated with
increased student engagement, initiative,
problem solving and persistence.
Lisa Marin is consultant II for distance and
online learning at the Los Angeles County
Office of Education.
34
Leadership