A school improvement model that stimulates and deepens academic learning through the Arts.

Artful Learning

The Artful Learning interdisciplinary approach is designed to help students develop the capabilities that educators, parents and business leaders desire: analytical thinking across disciplines collaborative skills objective judgment higher academic achievement a commitment to excellence technological competence productive citizens and workers appreciation for diversity global perspective adaptable learners creative and innovative solution-driven characteristics

Artful Learning is a transformational school improvement model that empowers educators to use the arts and the artistic process to awaken and sustain the love of learning for all students.

Artful Learning is a K-12 comprehensive school improvement model specially designed to engage students at a deeper level of inquiry and understanding than can be achieved with standard educational approaches. By providing educators with a unique framework to present academic content, Artful Learning links the arts and the artistic process to the daily classroom learning experience.

Artful Learning employs an interdisciplinary approach that is anchored by a central Concept while posing a Significant Question that allow educators to teach a broad spectrum of rigorous academic content. Studying through the lens of the arts generates a measurably deeper level of comprehension and retention in students.

L E O N A R D B E R N S T E I N C E N T E R

The Leonard Bernstein Center mission is to strengthen education on a global level by preparing educators to use the arts and the artistic process to reinforce teaching and learning across all academic subjects.

Conductor, composer and educator Leonard Bernstein believed that the process of experiencing the arts could provide a fundamental way to instill a lifelong love of learning in children.

Through intensive collaboration and field research with leading educators, researchers and practitioners - Artful Learning has developed Bernsteins vision into a powerful and transformative education model.

Artful Learning, Inc.Leonard Bernstein Center121 West 27th StreetSuite 1104New York, NY 10001www.leonardbernstein.com/lbcenter212.315.0640

Research SupportedSchools effectively implementing Artful Learning demonstrate a pattern of increased growth in state achievement measures, school level data relative to their districts and an increase in student motivation to learn. Educators endorse the Artful Learning professional development as effective with measurably improved outcomes in their students.

Artful Learning has proven to be a highly successful education model across demographics from the impoverished to the affluent - closing the achievement gap and increasing student engagement toward learning.

Facilitates a three-year professional development and training series for teachers and the school leadership team

Uses the arts and the artistic process to increase student engagement and improve academic achievement

Provides a framework for exploring and delivering curriculum that revitalizes teaching, learning and leadership

Adaptable to any educational system for seamless integration to align with the school improvement plan

Allows educators to develop dierentiated instruction that meets the needs of all learners

Advantages of the Artful Learning Model

Professional DevelopmentArtful Learning provides educators and administrators with extensive, research-proven professional development on how to utilize the methodology over a three-year implementation process. Leonard Bernstein Center Trainers help schools build a sustainable and thriving learning community.

A Framework for LearningArtful Learning uses a distinctive four-phase sequence for curriculum planning, delivery and assessment as well as identified strategies for school improvement. The framework may be applied to any existing curricula by incorporating the arts and the artistic process across all academic disciplines.

experienceUses a Masterwork linked with a Concept and Significant Question as catalysts to engage students

inquire Leads students through research and inquiry-based activities to new hypotheses

createBrings students' original ideas to product and project-based outcomes

reflectGuides students through documenting and interpreting their understanding

Artful Learning SequenceExperience | Inquire | Create | Reflect

Artful Learning

Social StudiesLanguage Arts

MathematicsScience

GeographyReading

English Language LearnersSpecial Needs Learners

TechnologySchool-Site Initiatives

District & State MandatesMusic

Visual ArtsTheatre

DanceMultiple Intelligences

VisualAuditory

Kinesthetic

All learning content, modalities and initiatives are reviewed by teachers. Interdisciplinary connections are made between all subjects of focus. A rigorous Unit of Study is developed to follow the Artful Learning Sequence.

Outcome: Students actively investigate their learning through this concept-based, interdisciplinary Unit of Study utilizing the Arts and the artistic process to express their understanding of all content.

Benefits: Increased student engagement Students display understanding at a higher cognitive level through metaphorical thinking Improved student academic performance Transformed school culture & community

1

2

create

experience

reflect

inquire

significant question

masterwork

original creation

interdisciplinaryacademic content

concept

3

4

Artful Learning Sequence How It Works

Subject Areas of FocusTeachers design concept-basedUnits of Study that incorporate interdisciplinary subjects to explore the Concept and Significant Question from a variety of entry points. Rigorous study for both content and artistic fluency are assessed. This unit contains the following academic areas of emphasis.

Social Studies Geography Language Arts Mathematics Science Music Theatre Visual Arts

What is a Concept?

Artful LearningUnit of Study Sample

Masterwork : Declaration of Independence - John Trumbull 1817

Concept : Relationships

Significant Question : How does independence and interdependence affect relationships?

experience Students experience and respond to a Masterwork through sight, sound and movement. Ideas, emotions and understandings are awakened by the Masterwork, which serves as a catalyst for immediate engagement. Students leave the Masterwork phase curious and wanting to know more.

inquireStudents begin a substantive investigation triggered by questions raised in the Masterwork experience. A Concept is identified. A Significant Question guides the inquiry and students employ a variety of research techniques utilizing the interdisciplinary content to learn more. As students inquire, new understandings develop and connections are made.

Any human achievement that has exertedinfluence over time and regarded to be the best example of the genre. It embodies a significant innovation, theory or insight and has the intrinsic power to engage across disciplines and cultures.

What is a Masterwork?

What is a Significant Question?An overarching question that frames theinquiry by challenging assumptions. This point of reference generates researchable investigations to produce diverse answers.

An organizing idea or mental construct that is timeless and universal - powerfully linking various topics while crossing multiple disciplines of study.

Students pictured are using music, visual arts, dance and theatre Arts-Based Skills and Strategies with the Subject Areas of Focus through Inquiry Centers to represent and convey understanding of their learning.

A bold or innovative product created by the student to express understanding of the Concept and Significant Question in a new or distinctive way. The act of creating challenges students to use higher order thinking - requiring the ability to apply and synthesize the knowledge they have learned.

What is an Original Creation?

Students worked as individuals to create a singular mosaic tile through the visual arts to illustrate Independence and Relationships. The entire class worked together to create a tapestry from the individual tiles to realize their understanding of Interdependence and Relationships.

L E O N A R D B E R N S T E I N C E N T E R

createStudents design and complete an Original Creation - a tangible, artistic manifestation that demonstrates their understanding of this new knowledge. Thinking moves from divergent to convergent as students focus on what is best to represent the academic content learned. They construct a prototype and create the final product - continually evaluating and revising until the Original Creation is ready for presentation.

reflectStudents cogitate on their journey through the Unit of Study and ask Deepening Questions about what has been learned. They document this process through detailed narratives, maps and metaphors. Students look ahead and consider how they can use what they have learned in practical application, identify the valuable skills acquired and what their next steps will be.

Independence and Relationships

Interdependence and Relationships

Original Creations can be realized through traditional or non-traditional arts media, technology and a myriad of other forms. Subject Areas of Focus can be transformed through sounds, materials, words or movements to communicate a point of view.