Director of Education Nicole Ripley leads a workshop with students at Anshe Emet Day School
“We are interested in education here, not in schooling. We are interested in openings, in unexplored possibilities…For us, education signifies an initiation into new ways of seeing, hearing, feeling, moving. It signifies the nature of a special kind of reflectiveness and expressiveness, a reaching out for meanings, a learning to learn.
…we do not regard [this] in any sense a fringe undertaking, a species of “frill.” We see it as integral to the development of persons – to their cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and imaginative development. We see it as part of the human effort (so often forgotten today) to seek a greater coherence in the world. We see it as an effort to move individuals (working together, searching together) to seek a grounding for themselves, so that they may break through the “cotton wool” of dailiness and passivity and boredom and come awake to the colored, sounding, problematic world.”
-Maxine Greene, Variations on a Blue Guitar (2001)
Notes and reflections from the annual WT Teaching Artist training
In honor of National Arts in Education Week, we have been ruminating on this excerpt from Maxine Greene’s lectures at Lincoln Center Institute’s trainings in aesthetic education. We in the Writers Theatre Education Department have used Greene’s words to kick off our last several professional development sessions with teaching artists and classroom teachers alike — a nugget of pedagogical wisdom that allows us as arts educators to think deeply and engage each other in thoughtful conversation about what it means to “educate” versus “school.” We strive to teach while being learners ourselves. We strive to create arenas for young people to engage with layered curriculum that puts the creative tools in their hands, and that encourages them to ask, “What if?” With this quote as a jumping-off point for discussion, our teaching artists and classroom teachers have offered up a multitude of interpretations and questions and in doing so are mirroring the same inquiry-based approach to learning that we strive to cultivate with our students. Our hope is that the conversation around arts education is a continuous one, and during our annual trainings we relish in the chance to explore, reconnect with best practices, and ourselves encounter new ways of seeing, hearing, feeling, and moving.
Students at Mays Elementary (Englewood) during a Novel Series residency
Students at McCutcheon Elementary (Uptown) during a Novel Series residency
For more than 20 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre, a dedication to honoring the time and commitment of our artists, and to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible. Mirroring Writers Theatre’s mission, the Education Programs reflect our commitment to the written word and are aimed at nurturing the creativity of young people. Our work is process-based and inquiry-driven. Just as we encourage our teaching artists and classroom teachers to examine possibilities, take risks and live in ambiguity, we instill in students the capacity to take ownership of their creative process by embracing the new or unknown and provide multiple avenues into whatever topic we are exploring. Our residencies employ a customized blend of performance, writing, and ensemble-building to create layered, rigorous learning experiences and to stretch students’ imaginations and creative capacity. Our touring productions bring Writers Theatre’s sophisticated art directly to student audiences, with pre and post-show programs that are designed to challenge young audiences to engage deeply, think critically, exhibit empathy, and foster civic responsibility — to engage them in the artistic process and teach them that it is okay for there to be many answers and many ways to take action. We emphasize participatory and experiential learning in order to nurture the creativity of our students by providing them with bold approaches to seeking “a greater coherence in the world.” Some of the most phenomenal achievements students have made in our residencies have not occurred during final presentations, but in class while trying something new for the first time (or second or third time), making bold artistic choices that provide creative outlets or support literacy and learning in other subject areas, or supporting another classmate in making a brave choice. We nurture and thereby witness our students engaging with their creative work in ways that reveal to them unexplored openings and deeper understanding of each other and the world around them. We encourage students to let their curiosities drive their learning and allow them to draw their own conclusions and pose new questions. Just as Writers Theatre strives to honor the word and the artist on our stages, we nurture the artist and love of art and literacy in young people – by doing so, we strive to honor the lifelong learner.
More on the WT Education Department:
Youth Council | Residencies | Tours | Professional Development
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