From April 2020 – December 2021, Creative Generation was named an ITAC Innovator and focused on developing an infrastructure within the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) to address the gap in research and resources produced by and for the field of teaching artistry. The project engaged volunteers in the teaching artist field from a cross-section of countries to collect, validate, and disseminate tools, resources, and creative/scholarly research in a number of capacities. These include retrofitting the existing knowledge shared through the 2019 Think Tanks, building each into a digital learning module; formulating a strategy to catalog, publish and disseminate research and resources shared through the 2018 and 2020 ITAC conferences; and researching and recommending a sustainable and scalable framework for a clearinghouse of new tools and resources created by and for the field of teaching artistry to be located within ITAC’s digital platform. Read more about this project there.
From this work, ITAC hosts monthly Think Tanks, where a host from a different part of the world shares insights about their work, and in discussion with attendees, digs deep about the ways this could help you develop your own practice. The Think Tanks are edited, archived, and connected to additional resources across the sector.
Check out the latest archives here:
Teaching Artists as Leaders: Creating Cross-Disciplinary STEAM Partnerships (October 2021)
By: Jeff Mather (United States)
What happens when Teaching Artists "go first" and convene a meeting of potential stakeholders, allowing the sparks to fly?
As this session was participatory and collaborative in nature, participants reflected on their own partnership experiences to create "action steps" and respond to their peers, with the overall goal to empower more Teaching Artists (TAs) around the world to take the lead in creating new, innovative partnerships which can enhance their work, and to advance the presence and effectiveness of STEAM programs.
Following the Think Tank, participants were invited to join together in a working group and consider the following:
Historically, Teaching Artists have been expected to wait for educators and administrators to initiate partnerships and residencies with their goals established. But, as professional creatives, we can "flip" this arrangement to create more powerful and innovative projects and programs—like a theater set designer designing a set before there is a script.
This working group will pilot, document, and report back the ways in which Teaching Artists can become leaders in establishing unusual or unconventional partnerships. The format of the culminating resource will depend on the group’s preference, but it will be made freely available online via the ITAC website, with an eye towards encouraging more TAs to be bold in their approach to cross-disciplinary work.
Mental Health & Wellbeing and the Role of Teaching Artistry (November 2021)
Yvonne Wyroslawska (UK)
This Think Tank focused on the role of the Teaching Artist in supporting mental health and wellbeing within the various cohorts and communities we work by looking at existing research that supports creative arts practice for mental health and wellbeing and drawing a clear boundary between the work of trained therapists and the work of teaching artists. Using small group exercises generated dialogue between participants to encourage brainstorming around the ways in which teaching artists can use their skills to benefit mental health and wellbeing. Here a greater understanding arose where participants explored the benefits—and challenges—of being a Teaching Artist and its effect on our own mental wellbeing.
Following the session a working group will collaborate and discuss where the current resources and gaps exist in supporting TA mental health and wellbeing (both in ourselves and our participants). The group will collectively determine the way in which we choose to work, but will likely focus on:
Working to establish a code of effective and ethical practice for Teaching Artists with regards to mental health and wellbeing,
Collating existing resources in this area for use by Teaching Artists, and
Identifying areas which require further input/research/professional development opportunities, with a view to then developing these opportunities by identifying individuals or organisations who can produce them, and/or securing funding with which to do so.
With mental health problems affecting a quarter of our population, which are increasing due to COVID, it is timely that Teaching Artists bring this conversation to the forefront.
Non-Verbal Teaching Artistry: Physical Story, Modern Mime, and Teaching Beyond Words (December 2021)
Becky Baumwoll (USA)
As the first primarily non-verbal ITAC Think Tank, participants were engaged using images, written reflections, group discussion focused on playful gesture/facial expression exploration, and nonverbal games.
To keep the momentum, in working group fashion, Becky will invite participants to join her in collectively developing and creating a suite of resources for nonverbal Teaching Artistry to explore how word-free engagement can be applied more widely in various art forms.
The goal is for these resources to address the need for:
Engaging nonverbal students, teaching inclusively to different language backgrounds;
Creating ensemble culture in all art forms, even within verbal programs, and integrating accessible embodied learning.
Ultimately, this suite of resources will act as a practical guide and will include the theories, history, and narratives surrounding the many implications and impacts of nonverbal storytelling.