The work of teachers and literacy specialists has a lot of potential overlap with that of teaching artists of visual and literary arts within early childhood education. When young people in preschools and kindergartens practice early art and literacy, these two areas build in a sort of symphony as youngsters tell stories, make drawings of their…

Drawn from the authors' larger study of teaching artists in dance and theatre arts (Anderson and Risner, Hybrid Lives), this analysis investigated participants' (n = 172) attitudes and beliefs about the need and relevance of a teaching artist credential or certificate. Data were obtained through an in-depth, online survey, electronic…

A librarian and scholar discusses the burgeoning makerspace movement as a new context for teaching artist work.

A visual artist and teaching artist considers teaching as performative, conceptual arts practice.

This case study is one of twenty cases derived from Anderson and Risner's international study of teaching artists in dance, and theatre, which investigated participants' (n=172) artistic and academic preparation in dance, and theatre, initial entry into the teaching artist field, rewards, challenges, and obstacles in participants'…

The purpose of this article is to describe the ways in which the artist residencies supported preservice teachers' acquisition of content knowledge and skills and influenced their confidence level with regard to integrating the arts in field experiences in early childhood classrooms. This article begins with a description of the artist…

This section is full of stories from teaching artists working to clarify what needs to change within their practices and moving toward solutions--whether it's supporting a classroom of learners in new and unexpected ways, reassessing one's approach in the classroom, shepherding an individual child toward success, or professionalizing an…

Despite the significant role of pottery in preserving cultural identity and providing a source of livelihood to the people of Nanumba, their artistic development of pottery production has been stagnant. This has resulted in low patronage of their products, which is further accentuated by the influx of the plastics industry on the market. This in…

When one says "writing about teaching artist practice," what exactly does that mean? In the first two sections (EJ1039315 and EJ1039319), the authors considered different ways to frame a story by either zooming in closely to a specific moment or zooming out to provide more context in an effort to address complex issues. The stories in…

Writing about the teaching artist practice should mean writing about art making. As both teacher and artist, the authors are required to be cognizant of their own art-making processes, both how it works and why it is important to them, in order to make this process visible to their students. They also need the same skills to write about how and…

As seen in the previous section (EJ1039315) writing about teaching practice is more than simply reporting about what was done and in what order. When teachers zoom in closely to highlight the feel and tone of one particular classroom moment, lesson, or project, they create a microcosm in which many aspects of the individual teaching values,…

The last two sections (EJ1039315 and EJ1039319) presented stories about specific moments or lessons. Also, situations infused with complexity where the writers had to toggle back and forth between providing the larger context and the details that support readers' understanding of that big picture were presented. In this section each story is…

It is definitely easier to write about work when things are going well, but it is even more important to write about what happens when things get challenging. The act of writing about the challenging times can be challenging in itself but can also provide invaluable insights into the process of teaching: important for the writer and just as…

This article describes ideas that came out of two workshops from a statewide Institute in Hawaii, comprised of sixty-five teaching artists, that focused on analyzing best practices. These were collaborative curriculum design workshops that yielded provocative and inspiring theoretical and practical ideas. In the first workshop, small groups of…

Stories in the "ALT/Space" section of each issue of "Teaching Artist Journal" illustrate and document a wide variety of topics surrounding the work of teaching artists while simultaneously revealing some larger truths about what it means to be an artist who teaches. This particular section focuses on the process and realities…