Interactive professional development program explores STEAM and visual decoding techniques to increase student learning in the bottom five percent of Tennessee schools
Memphis, Tenn., [Nov. 8, 2019] - In an unusual twist, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and creatED by Crayola will host Shelby County School educators - rather than students - for the “Teacher Field Trip Experience,” an all-day interactive professional development event. In the wake of the successful pilot with Bartlett City Schools, the event will be the second of its kind as part of a greater effort to increase engagement between school districts and communities and equip educators with the skills to integrate STEAM across the United States.
All participating Shelby County educators are part of the Innovation Zone (I-Zone) program, an initiative to move schools from the bottom five percent in the state to the top 25 percent through cultivating innovative strategies and systems that increase student achievement and ensure college and career readiness. Eventually, the goal is to influence schools outside of I-Zone to adopt innovative teaching and learning practices that are successful.
“With the focus on innovation in these priority schools, we’re bringing the fun back into learning with art,” said Dr. Thomas Rogers, assistant superintendent for I-Zone said. “Test scores are important and that is why we are excited about Crayola’s child-centered approach because art levels the playing field and kids can express themselves even if their verbal skills can’t.”
While I-Zone has completed one professional development experience with creatED by Crayola, this is the first time the cohort is partnering with a cultural institution to learn a standards-aligned interdisciplinary approach to teach visual literacy and advance 21st-century skills and demonstrate the power of integrating the arts in a variety of disciplines.
“I’m passionate about cultivating a creative mindset in all educators,” said James Wells, innovative teaching and learning manager for Crayola. “In our first collaboration with the Brooks Museum and Bartlett City Schools, teachers left inspired and excited to bring what they learned back to the classroom. I can’t wait to share the same tools to make STEAM accessible and easy to implement with Shelby County educators.”
The program leverages Brooks Museum artifacts for lessons on visual decoding techniques and STEAM for teachers to incorporate into their lessons to increase student critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration across subjects. Approximately 90 educators from nine elementary schools in the district will participate in the event, which features experiential learning opportunities including the following:
- Toy and game design: aligned with the African toy series
- Design thinking: educators evaluated works of art including The Hen and the Hawk, painted by John Steuart Curry
- “Tech unplugged” coding algorithms: Clouds Over Alabama, painted by Roger Brown, was used to decode shapes and angles
- STEAM: educators embarked on a curated museum tour and explored the utilization of artifacts like a barometer from the early 1800s to teach lessons on water, wind, and weather
ABOUT CREATED BY CRAYOLA
creatED by Crayola provides professional learning and resources to K-8 educators on leadership, multi-literacies, and STEAM to prepare students with academic and life skills that hinge on creativity. By inspiring creative instruction through teacher leaders and project-based learning, creatED bolsters district-wide student engagement and improves learning outcomes. For more information, visit www.crayola.com/education and follow creatED by Crayola on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
ABOUT THE MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Founded in 1916 and located at 1934 Poplar Ave. in historic Overton Park, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is home to Tennessee’s oldest and largest major collection of world art. More than 10,000 works make up the Brooks Museum’s permanent collection, including works from ancient Greece, Rome, and the Americas; Renaissance masterpieces from Italy; English portraiture; American painting, sculpture, photography and works on paper, and decorative arts; contemporary art; and a survey of African art. The Brooks Museum enriches the lives of our diverse community through the museum's expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs that reflect the art of world cultures from antiquity to the present. For more information about the Brooks and all other exhibitions and programs, call 901.544.6200 or visit www.brooksmuseum.org.