This article describes Nilaja Sun's groundbreaking one-woman show about a TA, her students, and her school, and includes interviews with the author/performer, an excerpt of the work, and a discussion of the organization behind it.

In this issue of the Research Review, the author focuses on the importance of developing learning environments emphasizing the Arts. First, the author reviews a study concerning professional development and "artist-teachers", which is of particular interest since most readers of this journal are involved in various educational partnerships. Then,…

Without moments of reflection provided in every process, students might not learn to ask themselves questions. They need to understand that it is important to reflect, but students need models for efficient and effective questioning. In this article, the author discusses various approaches to reflection and questioning.

Assessing the success of a residency with an at-risk population requires an expanded set of standards. While ultimate goals may be the same, one needs a longer time to achieve them. In this article, the author, a teaching artist with long experience working in at-risk settings, argues for a deeper and broader understanding of assessment and…

In this article, the authors describe the outcomes of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course that offered a pedagogical innovation called "Imagination Quest." This CPD course was a part of a 2-year project entitled Teaching to Reach Potential. Participants were all from Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools' (MCPS') Program of…

In this Research Review, various models of research found in a recent publication from ArtsConnection, New York, are discussed. The researchers for the first study look at research from each person's unique perspective and value the descriptive and analytical process of inquiry. The researchers in the second study focus on research as a heuristic…

In this article, the author describes a collaboration between The Actors' Fund of America and 12 schools in the South Bronx. The true purpose of the STARRR (Substitute Teachers for the Arts and 3Rs) program was to establish relationships between artists and schools. Three years later, the author sees the results of those relationships: so many…

Support from school partners is absolutely necessary. Every teaching artist knows this, and every arts education organization strives to cultivate this support. In this article, the authors create some powerful strategies for achieving this support, such as agreeing at the outset about the focus of the residency. Lessons that develop meaningful…

In this article, the author recalls the life of playwright, artist, and educator Sterling Houston. Sterling was a teaching artist in a much more global sense. He taught everyone who encountered him how to connect across difference--across race, class, ideology, age, gender, and sexual orientation. He had a talent for gently pushing aside the fears…

In this article, the author examines ways in which the Internet is changing the way ceramicists teach, learn, and work. She addresses the curricular issue of how Web resources may supplement ceramic art history and extend student-centered learning. The author also explores the nature of the interplay between computer technology and clay. (Contains…

When people think of a person "working the corners," a G-rated image does not generally come to mind. Yet that is precisely what the author, posing as "June Cleavage," did in New York City one dreary morning: she facilitated a meeting of strangers through the creation of a character and an approachable situation. June, with her wacky outfit and…

There are many talented and creative dance professionals working in academia today, and it can be stifling to an artist to feel that one must give students traditional class assignments to evaluate their progress. Dance is a creative endeavor, and all aspects of the curricula, even non-movement-based classwork, can and should reflect this fact. In…

TheatreWorks is the third largest theatre in the San Francisco bay area. Through the usual educational programs that $6 million companies tend to offer, it has reached over 100,000 students of all ages in the past 8 years. The TheatreWorks Bridges Projects, however, are special. They are intricate and expansive, work with multiple community…

In this article, the reviewer focuses on a study of a professional development workshop and visual art studio workshops for adolescents. It is her hope that teaching artists will draw new ideas about curriculum and content from the discussion of this work and that the issues discussed here may provide inspiration for their own shift in thinking…

Circles are everywhere and endlessly intriguing. We know, sense, and feel them in time, space, sound, and the cycles of nature. A person's life contains spirals, repetitions, going out and coming back. Poets write of circles; composers write song cycles. Circles are at the root of the curriculum, concepts deep yet accessible, infinite in their…