The NRTEA is a Canadian think tank or laboratory of idea makers, made up of experienced, passionate, innovative, creative and ever-learning individuals who wish to meet, discuss, share and identify possible avenues, challenges, solutions and new frontiers for teacher education, as inspiration and support to all those engaged in arts education.
Our vision is to engage, empower and inspire arts educators in both public and private sectors through new insights into pre-service and in-service training and learning in the Arts to enhance delivery of arts education across Canada.
Our mission for 2012 was to assemble professionals in the area of teacher education in the arts, to share, discuss and focus more specifically on ideal programmes and models in arts education, that participants can take away for further experimentation.
Our objectives were to:
- Design, develop and co-create the event with all registered participants
- Provide a variety of whole group interaction and small group discussion and exchange
- Focus on essential elements of an ideal programme
- Work with those of similar expertise and make new connections.
- Explore new/alternative arts fields and experiences.
- Move toward a national set of principles and guidelines to envelop teacher education in the arts.
- Identify primary challenges to effective teacher education in the arts
- Provide possibilities for gaining rich insight into personal orientations.
- Collect and share the experiences, and statements of the 2012 event.
In May 2011, participants had discussed and explored the current nature of pre-service and in-service teacher education in the arts. They outlined their experiences, observations, perceptions and the importance this field had for them, using reflective discussion and various art forms. They offered their views and possible avenues of explorations in this area. Their comments and suggestions were used by this year’s NRTEA’s steering committee to prepare this year’s Roundtable. Many of the comments, insights and avenues for further investigation seemed to focus on the need to create or identify guidelines of an ideal programme for in-service and pre-service education in the arts.
For several months, the steering committee assembled a series of elements they felt were important components of an inspired in-service or pre-service programme. (Please see website www.nrtea.ca for the complete list). These were debated, changed, elaborated on and sent to last year’s and this year’s participants. A selection of the four most popular elements were kept and used as specific areas for investigation by this year’s participants to the Roundtable. They were selected in order of priority as follows:
- A strong philosophical base
- Targeting specific arts disciplines
- Knowing the teachers/educators we wish to serve through arts education
- Programme strategies
To see the full report, please visit www.nrtea.ca.