In Touch with the Dana Fellows

December, 01 2009

It is not too early to congratulate the fall 2009 recipients of the Dana Foundation Fellowship, who will complete their training as facilitators of Lincoln Center Institute's online Survey Course by the end of December. As reported in our previous issue, the Fellows qualify to train other arts specialists in course facilitation, thereby opening up the reach of Institute's approach to imaginative teaching exponentially.

And what do the almost-grads think of their rather intense ten-week training? "I decided from the beginning that if I was going to do this, I'd commit fully and get the richest experience I could," says Heidi Johnson, who works in the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District upstate New York. "And it's certainly been that. It's made me a learner again, a crucial role for a teacher of learners."

Heather Paul, from the Hiawatha Elementary School in Lake Ronkonkoma, talks about the benefits of the gradual progress of the LCI approach. "It provides an environment for the students in which they don't feel pressured to understand immediately what the work of art is about or what the artist's intentions were. A group conversation about the work unfolds gradually, and the students can build upon each others' ideas. This leads them to deeper questioning and analysis, and they begin to problem-solve. This process works in exactly the same way with other subject areas: its goal of engaging the students while viewing an object is not unique to the arts. In all cases, students are capable of developing their imaginations further and making connections to each other and to the object of their study."

Will the Dana Fellows incorporate parts of the LCI approach into their practice? "I already have," says Heather. I've begun using the Capacities for Imaginative Learning and it has had an impact on maximizing the students' learning potential. I let the artwork speak for itself. The details that the students uncover as they experience a work of art several times, helps them connect it to what they have seen or experienced in their own lives."

One of the principal aims of the grant is to enable the Fellows to train their colleagues in LCI's approach to imaginative teaching and learning. How, we wondered, would Heidi and Heather share information about the courses with their colleagues?

Heather points out the practical aspects of the program: "It shows teachers how to create an instructional unit based on key ideas and a line of inquiry, how to experience a work of art in a way that brings forth new opportunities to plan interactive, experiential lessons."

"What I've learned has already affected how I teach; it's made me more involved with my students," concludes Heidi. "I think it will do that for others as well. Teachers are often so wrapped up in having to meet test standards that the content overrules the process. The LCI approach brings us back to what matters, namely, you need to teach students how to think and how to connect with the ideas."

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