LCI InEW in Mexico City

June, 03 2011

LCI in Mexico CityAs part of our series that features brief experiences by participants in Lincoln Center Institute workshops, we are pleased to print this essay by a teacher from New Jersey who was one of our original participants at the first ever event in Mexico! Register today for an LCI workshop at home or abroad.

LCI InEW in Mexico City by Carmen Santa-Cruz, Princeton Day School, Princeton, New Jersey

In 2010, for the first time, the Lincoln Center Institute International Educator Workshop was held in Spanish in Mexico City, Mexico, hosted by the Instituto Mexicano del Arte al Servicio de la Educación (IMASE). As a Middle School Spanish teacher in a USA school, I thought the benefits of this workshop would be even greater if I attended in such a fascinating location. I was very fortunate to have that opportunity.

The workshop was excellent. Through visual art and theater, we were immersed in an environment of imaginative learning, with a work of art as continuous reference. Every activity had its own purpose, and at the same time, it connected to other activities. The workshop leaders did a great job guiding the group. Our work together was quite creative, and the discussions turned out to be especially practical, focusing on how best to take back to our classrooms all the new ideas we'd acquired, and put them to work.

It was an outstanding experience. Yes, imagination can be taught! I experienced that first-hand, and I witnessed how a close engagement with a work of art unleashes our ability to think of and express new possibilities. No doubt, my resolve to continue learning about the methodology of imaginative teaching and learning would have been the same no matter in what city I attended the workshop. But it is perhaps because of IMASE that I re-confirmed my goal to connect more my teaching of Spanish vocabulary and grammar with Spanish art, opening the door to a world of endless possibilities for the students to explore.

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