LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS

 A NEWSLETTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS OF THE ARTS

 Spring, 2002

Welcome to the seventh annual newsletter written for those who use and value the arts for special education students. So much has happened in a year. We have seen the worst attack on civilians in this country's history and have learned about the hatred that inspired it. We have also seen the strength and the resilience of our multi-racial, multi-ethnic people. The arts have been part of our healing; children put shape to their feelings through their artwork, and the performing arts allowed audiences to share their collective grief.

New York City plays a central role as host to both the National Art Education Association (NAEA) and The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) members. The Hilton Hotel was the conference hotel for NAEA last year and will, along with the Sheraton Hotel across the street, serve CEC in April. I do not remember another instance of the two organizations, NAEA and CEC, meeting in the same place. Somehow it seems fitting that we all come to New York City .

There is much to share about special education and the arts. The NAEA voted to establish a Special Needs Issues Group that will focus attention on art education for special education students. Approved by the NAEA Delegates and Board of Directors, the Special Needs Issues Group can now elect officers and set an agenda for the coming year. Time will be allocated at NAEA conventions for business meetings and, as an NAEA Affiliate, Special Needs now has a column in the bi-monthly NAEAnews .

The newsletter was originally written for special educators who are involved in the visual and performing arts. Several years ago, it changed to include art education teachers who advocate the use of art for special education students. Now the newsletter brings descriptions of art and special education presentations from both the CEC and NAEA conventions held last year. It provides a connection to those who could not attend the conferences and communication between special educators and art educators who work with similar students. It is also timed to remind CEC members that our Special Interest Group for Teachers of the Arts meeting will be held this year on Friday, April 6 th from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.in the Carnegie Suite at the Sheraton Hotel. The day and time are listed in the Information section at the beginning of the convention program.

"Manhattan crowds, with their turbulent musical chorus! Manhattan faces and eyes forever for me.” Walt Whitman

Visual and performing arts presentations came in a variety of formats including a unique tour of the home and studio/classroom of local artist, Mryna Minnis (described below). One, somewhat boisterous, presentation was tucked into a corner at the back of the exhibition room. Wherever they were located, those interested in the arts found them.

 International Helen Keller Art Show – 2001 Edition . Each year the CEC Division on Visual Impairments sponsors an exhibit of visual art by students who are visually impaired, blind, or deaf-blind. Their artwork, selected from around the world, was prominently displayed near the main entrance of the convention center. The show exhibited artwork in two and three-dimensional media and demonstrated a wide range of subject choices. The artwork was sold using a silent auction format and encouraged some competitive bidding (Proceeds go to the artists). The exhibit will move to several sites around the country before the lucky bidders receive their artwork.

“Expressive Arts Foster Emergent Literacy” presented by Judy Potter , Western Illinois University, Macomb and Terry Carley connected children's developmental stages in art to learning to read (initially “reading” pictures) and to write (first making shapes).Potter and Carley shared information that linked the expressive arts and emerging literacy. They described how the arts could be used to reinforce math and science concepts and can be “supportive of all parts of the curriculum.” Their handout included information about children's drawing stages (Lowenfeld, Kellogg, etc.) and stages in writing. It also described adaptations to help children use art materials. Some were homemade adaptive gripping devices (i.e., empty film canisters); others were high tech computer switches or the “Touch Window” computer screen. For more information, their web site at the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, Western Illinois University is http://www.mprojects.wiu.edu .

“Sculpture Therapy in Action” was a site visit to the home and studio of local artist Myrna Minnis . The trip took us some distance from the convention center and gave a bonus sightseeing tour of the beautiful homes and country along the outskirts of the Kansas City , MO and the Kansas border. After exploring Minnis' yard, where sculpture pieces accented the garden and appeared in unexpected places, the group settled around a large rectangular table in the basement classroom. It was here that Minnis described her use of clay with students who had emotional and/or behavior problems and showed us some of their work. She shared the impact her clay sculpture had on her own life and healing process. Minnis introduced her special troll-like creation, an “Oogly,” made from a flat piece of clay that was pressed to make a hollow, ball-like shape with an opening for a “mouth.” Then it was time for a hands-on clay experience. The “Ooglies” began to take shape all over the table with variations that reflected their creators and theme. Clay “hair,” extruded through a garlic press, gave the clay sculptures individual, somewhat frazzled, personalities. The studio table was a busy place, right up to bus departure time. Minnis makes up clay kits with non-hardening clay and directions to make “Ooglies” and can be contacted at (913) 649-1185.

Heather M. Downey , Very Special Arts, Washington , DC presented “Utilizing Arts Activities to Teach Disability Awareness.” Downey brings a wealth of experience and involvement as an advocate of the arts for special education students. Her presentation included a hands-on activity, photos, and samples of students and their art from the “Express Diversity” program. Unfortunately, this session was scheduled at the same time as the Special Interest Group for Teachers of the Arts meeting.

Exhibitor Showcase Session:

“Unity with a Beat! Rhythm-Based Activities for Young Children” was presented by Barry Bernstein (a.k.a. Bongo Barry) who led a large group of mostly non-musical, but willing participants through many different rhythms, chants, and songs. Bernstein described the value of using rhythmic patterns and body movement in teaching. “When we put a concept into rhythm or chanting, kid's brains can grab on to it faster.” Bernstein's large supply of instruments included shakers that he had made (e.g., plastic fruits and vegetables filled with sand or rice) and a variety of percussive instruments, small to huge. He provided guidelines for using the instruments, particularly when to stop (“when the guitar stops”) that help students practice impulse control and learn how to take turns. Many of the instruments had adaptive handgrips, either Velcro straps or built up handholds on the mallets. The commercial products came from West Music Company that specializes in adaptive instruments, and Remo Inc., for “indestructible” drums. Bernstein can be reached at barry@healthy sounds.com and www.healthysounds.com.

Poster Sessions:

Kelly N. Blocker, Michelle R. Hoffman, and Janie D. Ross , students at Kutztown and Lincoln, PA Universities squeezed into the small space allocated for poster sessions to describe a dance project they had developed to teach ballet to people with visual impairments. Their six-session program, “ Dance: Impact on Purposeful Movement for a Young Child” was designed to use dance, in this case barre exercises, formal ballet positions and vocabulary, “to enhance their student's spatial awareness and strengthen orientation and mobility skills.”

“Project ADAPT: Addressing Academic and Multicultural Diversity Through the Arts for Preservice Teachers was presented by Debra A. Troxclair of Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond. Troxclair described a model she developed as a summer symposium to teach multiculturalism through the arts. The two-week “learning community” would address issues around the identification of gifted/talented learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. Preservice students would explore American Indian pottery, African American art, and the art of other cultures and create a related biographical project in their technology workshop. Students could choose a mural, mosaic, mobile, or sculpture to represent their understanding of diversity, tolerance, and change. At the end of the two-week program, an Adapt Arts Festival would showcase the students' final project.

“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the Pope.' Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” Pablo Picasso

This meeting geographically covered the country, with representatives from New York to Louisiana to California, West Music Company, and several members of the Division of the Visually Impaired. It was a time to meet and hear what others were doing. There was also good news to share. The NAEA delegates had voted, 100%, to accept a new affiliate, a special issues group that would focus on special needs students and the NAEA Board of Directors approved the recommendation.

Stuart Wittenstein , Superintendent of the California School for the Blind and current President of the Division of the Visually Impaired (DVI) shared some information and concerns that may affect small divisions. CEC currently has a membership of between 45 to 48,000 members who may also be members of one or more of CEC's seventeen divisions. In recent years, there has been an overall decline of approximately ten to fifteen percent in membership across all divisions. That decline has a greater impact on the four divisions with fewer than 1000 members and there is now discussion about the number of members each division must maintain. Membership dues cover division publications, meetings, and other expenses. While the Special Interest Group is not a division, issues that relate to membership size is a concern for those involved in the arts because of the relatively small number of professionals at CEC who combine the arts and special education.

Debra Troxclair shared her “vision” for a summer project that would focus on multi-cultural art. Rita Coombs-Richardson had exciting news. Her book, Connect with Others , a social skills program for students in grades 9- 12 would be published in May, 2001. She used art and music, including rap, and poetry throughout the book. High school teachers, who often have difficulty finding interesting and appropriate texts, should know about this book. Lynda Bordoni and her colleague John, described their multicultural arts program for students with emotional problems who are also deaf and visually impaired. The program has already have received two grants.

A brief discussion about the time this newsletter gets to readers resulted in a decision to keep it at the same time of year, just before the annual conventions. While it reaches CEC members before the convention, a continuing goal is to reach NAEA members before their earlier convention. Since there seems to be an increasing number of presentations, particularly at NAEA, please let me know if you are interested in writing about arts/special education presentations for this newsletter (NAEA meets in Minneapolis and CEC meets in Seattle in 2003).

“If you're an artist, you try to keep an ear to the ground and an ear to your heart.” Bruce Springsteen

The presentations addressed a wide range of topics from teaching strategies and adaptations to next steps for a Special Needs Issues Group. With apologies in advance for sessions missed or briefly addressed due to schedule conflicts.

 Scheduled at the beginning of the conference, Amelia C. Joynes , used project examples to show how middle school students, who experienced difficulty communicating in other subjects, were able to communicate through their art. ” Creativity and Adolescents at Risk , ” recognized and nurtured the self-esteem of these adolescents and offered alternatives for assessment.

 Beverly Levett Gerber , Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT provided a brief overview of the need for a Special Interest Group for Teachers of the Arts. “Special Education Teachers and the Arts: A Special Interest Group at the Special Education Convention” described the efforts of special education teachers of the arts to connect with others in the field. Special education covers a wide range of disability areas and of the hundreds of presentations at the CEC Annual Conventions, only a small number focus on the arts. Inevitably, those discovering special education “soul mates” gravitated to each other at the end of the presentations and continued their conversations out into the hallways. What began as informal gatherings and networking graduated to an annual meeting scheduled at the CEC convention. A logical outreach of the Special Interest Group meeting was an annual newsletter that described arts related sessions for those unable to attend. The network keeps growing as more people involved in the arts discover others equally committed to using the visual and performing arts with special education students.

Over forty people crowded into the room to hear Janet Fedorenko and Dennis Cannon describe “Project START: A Statewide Arts Program for Gifted Students.” They began their presentation with a brief history of gifted education in Ohio and summarized their application for a Federal Javit's Grant. After considering many different models, Ohio selected methods that could systematically and reliably be used to identify students who are gifted. Fedorenko trained teachers to use the tools, which include a display of student work, an audition or other performance, Clark's Drawing Test, the AP guides for portfolios, and an approved checklist of behaviors. A collaborative effort between the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Arts Council, and the Ohio Alliance for the Arts provided training and professional development for arts teachers and artists and involved community arts associations, students, and families. The grant also established “Empowerment zones” for schools where at least 50% of the students come from low-income families. Collaborative training was provided for teams of art teachers, artists, and classroom teachers at a one-week summer institute.

The following three presentations were all scheduled at the same time. William Norton from Menominie, Wisconsin has added another layer to his work with a multi-challenged high school student. In past presentations, Norton shared his work and videotapes (“The Olivia Project”) that demonstrate Olivia's development and progression of skills while learning to make art with a computer. Norton developed special headgear with adaptive devices and has also described his search for funding sources. This presentation “Come Celebrate A Special Book's Creation” provided another opportunity to showcase his student's skills and development and demonstrate the possible. “Art Education and Teaching Scholarship in Action with the Art Partners” provided an opportunity for Lucy Andrus , Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY to share her expertise as an art educator, at therapist, and university professor. Andrus described a collaboration between college students and faculty to identify and develop plans for teaching art to at-risk children. The third session, “Special Needs in Art Education Issues Group: Membership Drive” brought two different groups together. One group described and shared plans for a special needs issues group. The other group wished that they had direction and help with special needs students now in their classrooms. Both groups felt there was a definite need for this issues group. Barbara Suplee , University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA led the discussion of next steps with Mary Lou Dallam , Pennsylvania State Department of Education; Jan Fedorenko , Ohio State Department of Education; and Beverly Levett Gerber , Southern Connecticut State University.

“Success with Exceptional Students” focused on the adaptations of art teacher Rachel Huddleston and her colleague, Ruth Ann Barr , who offered a quick, mini-survey of special education students. Huddleston shared that students with special needs were not always identified before they came to her art class. She devised ways to work with them. For example, when working with autistic students, she used pictures to illustrate each step of the directions because she knew that there were problems with communication and verbal directions. When working with students who had vision impairments, Huddleston chose materials that added texture. The students drew on styrofoam, over screening stretched on a board, and used raised glue lines for printmaking and drawing. And, contrary to some initial concerns, “they did not make paint soup” (a mixture of paint colors). Huddleston felt that “All children are helped by neat, clear, step-by-step processes, especially these children.” She tries to “work with what they have. Think of the kinds of things they can do."

Overlapping sessions forced choices between two sessions located on both sides of the folding screen divider in the ballroom. Ermyn France King and Rana McMurray Arnold took participants into the world of the visually impaired. Their presentation, “Multi-sensory Gateways to Accessible Art” included guided touch and dramatic interpretation and described learning style preferences. King and McMurray Arnold bring their extensive collection of materials to help participants experience and better understand those with disabilities. They also conduct the “Festival Eyes/ Accessible Arts” Docent Training program at State College, PA. “Tips for Teaching Special Needs Students in the Artroom” was presented on the other side of the divider. Barbara Suplee , University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA and Maria Pandolfi , Chester Arthur Elementary School, Philadelphia, shared an inspirational videotape about students with disabilities. Pandolfi, who has severe dyslexia, described the strategies she herself used to avoid failing in school. She now works in film making at Naked Eye Productions and brought “Walk This Way: Differently Abled.” to this session. Students who were filmed described some of their feelings and coping strategies. One nine-year-old boy diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder described the effects medication had on him. “My brain was broken. I couldn't get past the questions…Now I'm taking that yucky medicine, Ritalin. The reason I'm taking it is so I can do my work. It makes me feel like I'm a different kind of guy.” Other students described how they dealt with hearing impairments. Suplee highlighted points from her presentation to the NAEA Delegates. She described the increasing number of special needs students across disability categories and the need for appropriate adaptations and accommodations (i.e., additional time, and modified expectations) in the classroom.

Two more sessions with conflicts of time: “Including Children With Severe Disabilities and Paraprofessionals in the Art Classroom” focused on children with multiple disabilities. Doris Guay , Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, drew on her research and observations to describe issues and concerns created when paraprofessionals, the adults assigned to work directly with these students, are also involved in the art lesson. Lori Schramel described the implementation of a multi-sensory approach to art criticism in her presentation, “Multisensory Art Criticism Instruction for Students Who Are Blind.” Schramel described methods used to develop materials for a multi-sensory approach to art criticism.

Adrienne D. Hunter combines a background in art education and special education for her work with troubled youth. Her presentation, “Making Art A Sanctuary For Troubled Youth,” was filled with slides of her students' artwork from over twenty-seven years of teaching. Hunter works with students who come from homeless shelters, crisis centers, or have been incarcerated in maximum-security prisons. She teaches (and makes welcome) students most teachers hope to avoid, and she makes her room a place where students succeed. “I am not a psychologist or an art therapist. I am an art teacher.” Hunter explains that “the teacher's attitude is the most important thing.” She emphasized the need to know as much as possible about the students, how they learn best, and whether they are on psychotropic drugs. “Failure should never be an option,” so she carefully “walks through the steps” and uses a task analysis to break the lesson down into manageable parts. Rules, policies, and expectation have been clearly established in a positive way. Her students have completed units on ancient Egypt, on Native Americans, made quilts for children with AIDS, and painted public courtyards as a community project. “Ninety percent of what I do is building confidence and self-esteem.” The art produced by her students demonstrates that she has succeeded.

Pat Moss, an artist with dyslexia, founded the P. Buckley Moss Foundation. Art helped Pat focus on her abilities when she was a student and she has been using her art to reach children ever since. Moss and her husband began an annual conference so presenters could share their skills and encourage others to use the arts with special education students. In addition to the annual conference, they established an annual Teachers Award for innovative arts related programs.

The fourth P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education conference, “ The Creative Mind: Making Magic with Children and Art,” was held from Saturday, October 13 th to Monday, October 15 th at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia. The Keynote speaker was Eldon Katter, Past President of NAEA, who spoke to an audience of teachers and practitioners of the visual and performing arts. General Sessions, hands-on experiences and Round Table Conversations addressed participants' varied training and background teaching the arts to special needs students.

Next year's conference will be held in Virginia during October. The keynote speaker will be Barbara Suplee , Art Education Department Chair, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. Information about the conference and/or the $5000.00 Annual Teacher's Award that is presented by the Moss Foundation can be obtained from The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education , 601 Shenandoah Drive: Suite 1B, Waynesboro, VA 22980; (540) 932-1728; FAX (540) 949-8408; Web: http://mossfoundation.org.

When asked, at the beginning of a presentation, if there were any special education teachers in the room, one art teacher replied, “Aren't we all special education teachers?”

NAEA Convention in San Francisco

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