FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK, NY – The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable is proud to announce a new cohort learning series for arts education practitioners. The Roundtable Cohort Learning Series will offer sequential, in-depth professional learning opportunities to best prepare arts education practitioners to teach in the COVID-era classroom. The program will kick off in 2022 with two cohorts on trauma-informed and healing-centered teaching strategies. Two additional cohorts and topics will be announced in Spring/Summer 2022 for the Roundtable’s 2022-2023 season.
While the long term effects of COVID-19 on students and schools will take years to understand, trauma, systemic racism, and learning loss related to COVID-19 are stark realities that students and arts educators face every day as they enter the classroom. Prior to COVID-19, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, determined that more than 38% of children in each state have suffered a traumatic event — ranging from the death of a loved one to living with someone with addiction. Officials estimate that number has since increased with the global pandemic, with NYC students experiencing collective grief, prolonged social isolation, and fear related to the virus. Though arts education can be a powerful force in supporting students’ social-emotional development and well-being, educators need to be intentional in the social-emotional contexts they create through their lessons or risk negatively impacting their students.
In support of our arts education community, the Roundtable is eager to kick off our cohort series examining trauma-informed and healing-based teaching strategies. We strive to ensure that the cultural workforce is prepared with tools and language to lead these difficult conversations, and to help students process their emotions in a developmentally appropriate way.
The first two cohorts will be facilitated by Mae A. Early and Candy Alexandra González from Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation. Each 20-person cohort will meet virtually for six sessions over the course of two months (totaling 18 hours of professional development). Program capacity has been set to 20 participants per cohort, allowing for increased peer exchange and a more individualized learning experience. Participants will be given a stipend of $150 for their time. At this time we are running a Winter and Spring cohort; please see the cohort website for exact schedules.
To help select participants for each learning community, interested practitioners should complete a brief application by Friday, December 3, 2021 via Submittable. Participants will be selected and notified by Thursday, December 23, 2021.
About the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable
The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable improves, advances, and advocates for arts education in New York City. NYCAIER is a community of cultural organizations and educators that shares resources, provides professional development, and advocates for the needs of our constituents and the communities they serve. Founded in 1992, NYCAIER builds our efforts around the value that arts education is a right for all NYC students. NYCAIER produces a major annual arts in education conference, Face to Face; monthly professional development programs; in addition to ongoing advocacy and communications efforts for cultural organizations and teaching artists in every discipline. For more information please visit: www.nycaieroundtable.org.
The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation works at the intersection of arts, education, community and philanthropy, grounded in our belief that deeply meaningful arts experiences strengthen people and communities. The Bartol Foundation advocates for and facilitates partnerships in which cultural organizations, teaching artists, community partners, and funders work toward the common goal of providing high-caliber, equitable arts education to people in Philadelphia, especially those in the most under-resourced or under-served communities. Since 2007, the Bartol Foundation has provided free professional development training for teaching artists including in-depth training in trauma-informed practices. Click here for more information about the Bartol Foundation and their Trauma-Informed Training programs.
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