teachers are making it happen

National Art Education Association

Teachers Are Making It HappenAuthor(s): Dean Graves and Ginny GravesSource: Art Education, Vol. 42, No. 5 (Sep., 1989), pp. 17-22Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193173 .

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Children view their "Rabbit Pavilion."

Teachers Are

Making It

Happen

Dean and Ginny Graves

I n the summer of 1988, over 200 teachers in the states of Missouri and Kansas climbed aboard yellow school buses, traveled over 150 miles in 90 degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity to

learn about the built environment - art, architecture, urban design, and preservation - through tours, lectures, and hands-on activities. Forty hours and one week later they were prepared, anxious, and eager to implement the same kinds of experiences for their students. This scenario was repeated in Minnesota, New Mexico, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington, Texas, and elsewhere.

This program, Teach the Teachers, is just one of many which the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is sponsor- ing nationwide in an effort to introduce and familiarize teachers with the basic concepts about the Built Environ- ment

Art educators are among its first and most ardent enthusi- asts (many teachers are enrolling for any and all courses offered); moreover, educators at all grade levels and in all curriculum areas find that they can incorporate built environment learning into the "teachable moments" of every day. What seems to catch the imagination of art educators and classroom teachers alike is the interdisciplinary nature of

Art Education/September 1989 17



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architecture-focused education. Built environment education encompasses economics, politics, geography, and aesthetics; and skills such as reading, writing, math, drawing, and visual thinking.

How does a non-educational organization, the American Institute of Architects, begin a national educational effort to affect the climate for good design? How does any organization with a relatively limited budget and small staff introduce learning concepts which do not fit just one curriculum area? To tackle these challenges, the AIA's public education director, Alan Sandler, has appointed regional education coordinators to help solve this dilemma and encouraged the coordinators to implement programs as they could on a local "what works, works" basis, and do some downright pioneer- ing in the schools without curricula.

A not atypical situation existed in the greater Kansas City area with its 25 school districts; three large cities; a dozen smaller bedroom communities, and a state line cross-over which discourages district co-operation. After initial discus- sions with superintendents and principals who, although enthusiastic about the program, were not able to fund new programs, the focus was switched to the grass roots level, the instructors, catering to their desire to present enriching experiences in their classrooms. By offering continuing education courses through local universities and colleges for graduate credit, Graves, a regional coordinator, was able to provide programs which were self-supporting in terms of materials and speakers' fees. (In most states, teachers are required to take additional course work for salary increase or recertification.) Experiences enriching for the individual teacher, providing knowledge about architecture and design, and valuable as a classroom resource formed a strong educational package with the natural incentive for salary scale increase. An on-going and successful built environment education program is the outgrowth of this effort.

The continued success of the Kansas City model (regu- larly 200 enrollments in each course) encouraged Missouri Council of Architects to implement that effort statewide. Over 2400 teachers in the two-state area have received the training in the last five years. When the number of teachers involved in in-depth training (30-45 contact hours in most cases) is multiplied by an conservative average student ratio of 1 instructor per 25 students, the numbers of students receiving built environment education becomes impressive and bodes well for the quality of the future environment of our cities and states. In the AIA newsletter, Elmer Botsai, FAIA, refers to the advantages of educating children to both architects and society. "If we can appropriately expose our

youth to the options that quality architecture has to offer, we can foresee generations of citizens equipped to need, yes, demand, the highest level of services our profession can deliver. Only when the public demands the best we have, can we make a substantial contribution to society - a contribution, I believe most architects would like to make."

To date, courses are being offered or are on the calendar in Springfield, Columbia, St Louis, and Hannibal. In addition, Missouri Council is helping other states to begin programs, usually taught cooperatively with a school district representative (often an art educator), an AIA representative, or an education consultant from the local historic preservation organization. The Iowa Council of Architects, under the coordination of art educator Sue Lewis, is in its second year.

Why are architects willing to give many hours away from their offices to implement this program? Dean Graves, long active with built environment education in Kansas City, and author/illustrator of the Kansas City Coloring Book:

It gives me great satisfaction to know that I can improve the environment now with attention to the buildings and envi- ronments I design; I can improve the created environment of tomorrow with the exposure of young people to good design and design issues. They are the shapers of the future, the decision-makers of the next century. The time that I spend 'teaching teachers' is as valuable and rewarding as the time that I spend with a client.

'The MCA Teach the Teachers approach is not one of teaching people to become architects," says Paul Duffen- dack, past president of MCA. "Rather, we want to teach people to recognize and appreciate the best in the built environment and to strive for that in their individual roles as citizens who serve on planning and zoning commissions, in their businesses as developers, bankers, and lawyers, or as individual home owners. The architect is not the only decision-making member of the design team, and it is necessary for all members of the team to recognize good design, functional construction, and to strive for it in all endeavors, whether it is an office, building, an industrial park, or a green space. It is good consumerism to under- stand the built environment."

Built environment education instruction includes several levels of learning: an introduction to the visual, verbal, and structural vocabulary of architecture; an exposure to the available resources: lecturers, print materials, slides and AV materials; field trip experiences (even if only in the school or school neighborhood) to practice this learning; an introduction to interdisciplinary curriculum materials and projects which are currently being used in other school systems; and a final session involving issues and challenges in the built

18 Art Education/September 1989



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Views of "Box City" with models by architects and by children.

Art Education/September 11989 19



environment followed by a chance to put into practice these newly-learned skills either through development of a project, an action letter or submission of a City Beautiful Award. The program's strength lies in the fact that it naturally leads teachers and students through all thinking level skills and into learning in all curriculum areas.

The class requirement for the course is a built environment activity, complete with support materials such as slides, visuals, maps, resource center activities, ready for classroom presentation. The activity is to be matched with the teacher's own curriculum objectives, grade level, and interest. Al- though there is no guarantee that teachers will introduce their learning into the classroom, post-class feedback to the AIA Education advisory team indicates that teachers are not only utilizing their class requirement project, but in actuality, are doing far more by expanding one project into semester-long and year-long units, applying for grants, and, the ultimate goal, writing architecture and design curriculum.

A variety of projects are submitted after each class, all reflecting the instructor's interests and needs. Although a motorcycle safety teacher began the week not quite knowing what the magic link would be between his topic and built environment, his ultimate solution incorporated a visit to the historic sites of Johnson County with the requirement for the course completion, a long drive on the vehicle, also fulfilled. A school nurse designed an architecturally interesting jogging and walking path. Art educator Jane Mallonee provided a multi-layered and self-reinforcing experience through a Victorian House project. Students discovered architectural details and vocabulary through drawings; the drawings were transferred to puzzles practicing knowledge of scale and visual perception; texture was introduced as students built clay relief house models, and finally positive and negative space was explored as the clay reliefs were transformed by the use of a vacu-form process.

Built environment education gives the art educator added incentive to work cooperatively with the classroom teacher, thus augmenting the content of both the classroom experience and the art experience. Art educators have seized the opportunity to integrate art into core curriculum areas. Shawnee Mission School district art instructor Bobbi Sharbutt presented a city design and planning project, Box

City, which brings together social studies and art elements. Sharbutt, working with classroom teacher Leonore Vose and speech teacher Brenda Hambleton, planned the city as a culminating project for Back to School night. Students studied city planning of cities of various time periods and designed buildings accordingly. Architects reviewed the city with the students, and parents became a part of the planning process, acting as a Zoning Commission board. The Design Team was complete, and the experience truly an interdisciplinary one.

The design and building of a Rabbit Pavilion to house the animal inhabitants of Red Bridge School occupied the greater part of a semester for students under the direction of Tom Creamer, Center School district art coordinator. An art education curriculum, developed by Creamer, involved students in many design decisions with opportunities for integration in social studies, science, and other curriculum areas. Architectural analysis of materials for weather suitability, as well as design aesthetics is just one of the activities in the curriculum. Creamer comments, "In keeping with the NAEA goals search, this project allows art to become part, if not the catalyst for core curricula. The Goals Series of the 1986 National Art Education Association conference advocates intregating the art program at the elementary level. Rabbit Pavilion is just one example of how this can be done."

Under the guidance of art coordinator Christine Hines in Kansas City, Kansas, and Janice Malott, art coordinator, Independence, Missouri, public schools, teachers and architects formed a team to present built environment education focused on their locale. With the help of area or neighborhood architects, the teacher team compiled a field trip tour and script (to be used by any teacher) complete with building dates, architect name, distinguishing architectural information (site, context, materials), and historical data.

The Wyandot game explores architectural characteristics and involves all senses including the kinesthetic to discover the built environment.


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Evaluation questions were presented as a part of each tour segment - what would you add or change about this structure? Who decides on the design of buildings for the elderly or poor? Is an old building worth saving or preserv- ing? Are you willing to have your tax dollars used for this purpose? A visual scavenger hunt, an architectural survey sheet, and a supporting slide presentation completes this instructional packet which will become available to all teachers through the school system and the American Institute of Architects office, and, in Kansas City, Kansas, the Kaw Valley Arts Council which assisted with this project. Although this kind of in-depth programming requires a three-year effort and involves many teachers and workshops as well as community people, the on-going saturation and the number of citizens involved lends strength to the program.

A teacher support group for Built Environment Education, ArchiNet, is one outgrowth of such intense involvement. Vemon Reed, past president of the Kansas City chapter, and a long time advisor to the AIA's built environment education program, comments, "It is actually the teachers from our classes who approached the local AIA chapter and said, 'We want to help you with this effort in a more structured way.'" Reed continues, "With this group our chapter was able to publish an award-winning guide to one of our well-known landmarks; to provide architivities for 1,000 children at a city-wide festival; and to build and maintain a resource library for the teacher's use. Without the teacher support group, we would not be as far along as we are with built environment education in Kansas and Missouri. Furthermore, their expertise and understanding of curriculum and the school system has helped us to identify and implement those areas of special need and gives us easy entry to the school system."

Although many kinds of programs have developed nationally, Missouri Council of Architects "Teach the Teachers" concept seems to contain success ingredients

which are replicable and would be helpful to a school district, an art organization, or even an individual teacher who would like to begin built environment education programs in a school district or city. With the American Institute of Architects as the catalyst, teachers are making it happen.O

Dean Graves, an architect, serves as advisor to the midwest- ern region Built Environment Education program. Ginny Graves is regional coordinator for the American Institute of Architects Built Environment Education program, and consultant to the Missouri Council of Architects.

For more information about Missouri's Teach the Teachers program and its workshops nationally, Box City, The City Beautiful award, or any programs mentioned in this article, please contact Ginny Graves, regional education coordinator, American Institute of Architects, 5328 W. 67th, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208.

References: Botsai, Elmer E., FAIA. (1978, January 23). Memo. American Institute

of Architects. p. 3. Cart, D. (1986, September October), The Gazette, Historic Kansas City

Foundation. Building built environment awareness p. 1. Creamer, T. (1987, January). The rabbit pavilion, p. 1-23. Curriculum

prepared for Center School District, Kansas City, Missouri, p. 1-23. Graves, G. (1987, Spring). Box City goes to the city: Boston, NAEA

archiNews. p. 1. Graves, G. (1973, January). Box city, an experiment in spatial

education, Arts and Activities. p. 36. Greer, N. (1986, August). Competitions for young students spark

interest in architecture. Architecture. pp. 14-15. Rendlen. T. (1987, Winter). Preservation education and Missouri

Heritage Trust. Missouri Preservation News. p. 10. Sanchez, M. (1987, February 25). Students start their own city in the

back of their classroom. Johnson County Star Northeast. p. 4.




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