In my school, art, music, and theater are collectively called the "VPA Department" for "Visual and Performing Arts." In a recent post at the art teacher's forum on Facebook I discovered that other names are used to describe the arts, some I had heard of, others new to me, and a few demeaning to our profession.
The acronyms are pretty straight forward; maybe your school uses these:
· IMPACT (Individual Music, PE, Art, Computers, Tech)
· ARC (Academically Related Curriculum)
· FAPEs (Fine Arts and Physical Education)
· PAVA (performing and visual arts)
· PAM (PE, Art, Music)
· C.A.M.P. (Chinese, Art, Music & PE)
· R.A.Ts (Related Arts Teachers) demeaning in my opinion...
These are some other titles that art departments fall under:
· Essential Arts (I like this one!)
· Co-curriculars
· Quarter classes
· Unified Arts
· Connections
· Encore
· Electives
· Applied arts
· Fine Arts
· Humanities
· Related Arts
These seem to indicate that art is a side subject, and not as important:
· Exploratory
· Enrichment
· Specials
· Resource Teachers* (Might be the same as "Preps")
The worst though as to be:
· Preps
This name, "Preps," tells everyone that your ONLY purpose is to offer "relief time" to the "real" teachers. That you are just barely better than a glorified baby sitter because you hold some laughable degree. I would hope that anyone who is called that at any time would stand up to administration and their colleagues and let them know it is unacceptable.
It can also be an indication of the level of professional respect your administration and the school holds for that position. If you are just a "pull-out" or "prep," you may not be respected, and less likely to be able to participate in professional development opportunities at your art ed conventions. You may also be less challenged to "step up your game," because they don't care as long as you cover pee-breaks for the "real" classes. As a "pull-out" or "prep," that's all you're good for. That kind of lack of support eats your soul, diminishes your role in the eyes of others, and in my opinion, is a kind of psychological abuse.
We all know that students who have art, outscore their peers by a wide margin on standardized tests. For example, art students score an average of 100 points higher on SATs. (See my "Advocate" page for more statistics and links)
We know that when a child grows up and are called "Stupid" by their family and peers daily, it has a dramatic effect on their performance, no matter how high their IQ is. It's a form of child abuse. The same thing is true in our profession... If you are referred to as less than the valuable team member you are, then you will begin to believe that you are nothing more than a glorified babysitter.
Feel free to print this file and hang it in places where your colleagues gather, and get a discussion going. A poster version is available HERE.
The acronyms are pretty straight forward; maybe your school uses these:
· IMPACT (Individual Music, PE, Art, Computers, Tech)
· ARC (Academically Related Curriculum)
· FAPEs (Fine Arts and Physical Education)
· PAVA (performing and visual arts)
· PAM (PE, Art, Music)
· C.A.M.P. (Chinese, Art, Music & PE)
· R.A.Ts (Related Arts Teachers) demeaning in my opinion...
These are some other titles that art departments fall under:
· Essential Arts (I like this one!)
· Co-curriculars
· Quarter classes
· Unified Arts
· Connections
· Encore
· Electives
· Applied arts
· Fine Arts
· Humanities
· Related Arts
These seem to indicate that art is a side subject, and not as important:
· Exploratory
· Enrichment
· Specials
· Resource Teachers* (Might be the same as "Preps")
The worst though as to be:
· Preps
This name, "Preps," tells everyone that your ONLY purpose is to offer "relief time" to the "real" teachers. That you are just barely better than a glorified baby sitter because you hold some laughable degree. I would hope that anyone who is called that at any time would stand up to administration and their colleagues and let them know it is unacceptable.
It can also be an indication of the level of professional respect your administration and the school holds for that position. If you are just a "pull-out" or "prep," you may not be respected, and less likely to be able to participate in professional development opportunities at your art ed conventions. You may also be less challenged to "step up your game," because they don't care as long as you cover pee-breaks for the "real" classes. As a "pull-out" or "prep," that's all you're good for. That kind of lack of support eats your soul, diminishes your role in the eyes of others, and in my opinion, is a kind of psychological abuse.
We all know that students who have art, outscore their peers by a wide margin on standardized tests. For example, art students score an average of 100 points higher on SATs. (See my "Advocate" page for more statistics and links)
We know that when a child grows up and are called "Stupid" by their family and peers daily, it has a dramatic effect on their performance, no matter how high their IQ is. It's a form of child abuse. The same thing is true in our profession... If you are referred to as less than the valuable team member you are, then you will begin to believe that you are nothing more than a glorified babysitter.
Feel free to print this file and hang it in places where your colleagues gather, and get a discussion going. A poster version is available HERE.
|  | ||
RSS Feed