Author: Remer, Jane

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Book

Summary:

This book is about the promise and power of the idea - the people and their programs. It is based largely on the individual and collective experience of six diverse urban school districts known as the League of Cities for the Arts in Education whose members are located in Hartford, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle and Winston-Salem.

Abstract:

This book is about the promise and power of the idea - the people and their programs. It is based largely on the individual and collective experience of six diverse urban school districts known as the League of Cities for the Arts in Education whose members are located in Hartford, Little Rock, Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle and Winston-Salem. The book will describe and analyze a somewhat unorthodox educational effort that began in 1973 under the auspices of the John D. Rockefeller 3rd (JDR 3rd) Fund's Arts in Education Program which was founded in 1967. It will document the origin of the idea of school development through the arts, trace the history of the League, set forth and define the components of AGE (Arts in General Education) programs, and describe the main strategies devised or discovered to translate theory into daily practice. It will also identify some of the problems encountered, mention some of the lessons learned, and suggest areas for further study and action. (p. 3)

CONTENTS
Foreword by John I. Goodlad.
Acknowledgments.

Chapter 1. Introduction.

The promise of a powerful idea: All the arts for all God's children.
The purpose of this book.
On the bias: a bit of personal history.
Belling the cat: what is age?

Chapter 2. New York City: Birthplace of the concept of school development through 
                the arts.

Balancing the equation: Edythe Gaines and the learning cooperative.
Solving the problem of Bigness.
Networking and collaboration.
Design for change: The arts in General Education (AGE) Manifesto.
All the arts for all the children, a joint venture between the New York City Public Schools and the JDR 3rd fund.
The goal, the five main characteristics, the change theory and the process for achieving it through AGE.
Planning the program: The Dry Martini Formula.
Main features of the school identification process.
Original categories of schools in the AGE network.
Criteria for participation in AGE.
Outcomes of the Citywide School Identification process.
Biting the bullet: A bloodless Revolution with the arts as the instruments of change.

Chapter 3. Guidelines for AGE programs: the league's process model.

Considerations for school systems interested in AGE programs.
The concept and the process.
Under certain conditions.
Getting started.
Building the program at the grass roots level: school development through the arts.
Mid-course corrections.
Extending the concept, enlarging the network - or both.

Chapter 4. School development through the arts: The concept of school development.

The characteristics of school development: the process, the people, the conditions.
Why the arts, not artichokes?
A rationale for the arts in education.
The characteristics of school development through the arts.
Some outcomes to anticipate.
School development through the arts and the broader aims of education.
This not a Santa Claus project, but....
AGE and what's in it for you.

Chapter 5. A day in the life of an AGE demonstration school: P.S. 152 Brooklyn.

At least two Gingko trees and a kiosk grow in Brooklyn.
Profile of the school.
When is a day a typical day?
The visit schedule.
School climate and environment.
Evidence of AGE in the teaching and learning process.
The principal as leader: We are such stuff as dreams are made on.
The problems.
The impossible dream?

Chapter 6. The League of Cities for the arts in education: Six variations on a theme.

How members were identified: one by one.
The fund's criteria for a partnership: Ten characteristics of school systems that have developed effective AGE programs.
The unusual nature of the partnerships.
The need and opportunity for a National Network: Formation of the League.
The League's mission statement and declaration of intent.
League activities: Business meetings, site visits and the Giraffe.
AGE proves to be adaptable: Thumbnail sketches of league programs.

Chapter 7. Networking and collaboration: I don't mind being lonely if you are lonely,
                too.

The goodlad factor.
A definition of networking: beyond the Rolodex.
How networking can build, maintain and expand AGE programs: Two examples from the League.
The Perils of Pauline and the Pedagogical Party Line: New York City revisited.
A study in contrasts: The Seattle story.
The benefits of networking according to AGE practitioners.
A few last words on the subject.

Chapter 8. Pieces of the puzzle.

A lick and a promise.
Classroom teachers: the heart of the matter.
Arts specialists: quality control.
Artists: The question from Kathryn Bloom.
Arts resource teams: Flying squads for consulting and technical assistance.
Parents community volunteers: an invaluable resource.
Consultants and authorities in the field: the answer depends on the question.
Colleges and universities: slow but sure.
Professional associations and teacher unions: untapped resources.
School Boards: Financial and political advocates.
Advisory committees: marshalling the community.
Private Foundations and corporations: seed money sources.
State education departments: Natural mechanisms for expansion.
Arts and humanities agencies and endowments.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Chapter 9. Support systems: What we have and what we need: Leadership training.

Staff and curriculum development.
Research and evaluation.
Documentation and dissemination.
Financing.

Chapter 10. Tallying up and laying the gauntlet down: In retrospect.

The significance of the League.
Current status: six cities in search of a hub.
A call for action: a national task force on the arts in general education.

Appendix A: Criteria. 
                   Community arts programs and educational effectiveness in the schools. 
                   The role of the artist in school development programs. 
                   Joint planning: some questions to raise. 
                   Profile of a One-week artists residency in n AGE school.
Appendix B: League of cities addresses.

A selected bibliography.
Index.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Arts Education