PAEP working with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and the University of the Arts (UArts) kick off their online Teaching Artist Certificate Program (TAC) across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this fall as part of UArts’ Continuing Studies Division. After a year of offering the program to graduate students at UArts, the TAC program is expanding to include two cohorts of students, one cohort will be exclusively teaching artists sponsored by the PCA representing the PCA’s regional arts in education partnering organizations and the second cohort will be open to other teaching artists. This program will also be offered throughout the country and around the world.
The TAC online program uses a combination of synchronous and non-synchronous weekly sessions. Artist only need an Internet device that has a camera and a microphone to participate through Adobe Connect. The non-synchronous sessions utilize Uarts’ Digication software. Students who complete this program are not only awarded a Certificate that demonstrates to schools and community sites the level of teaching skills these artists bring to their programs, but students also receive official University of the Arts alumni status.
The intent of this program is to offer artists, who have had some experience teaching and strong skills in their art forms, opportunities to improve their ability to teach by acquiring knowledge and skills appropriate to 21st century teaching whether in Pre-K-12 schools or community sites. This unique program offers courses in Foundations of Learning, Human Behavior and Child Development, Methods for Teaching Artists, Professional Practices, and a Capstone Project in which the artist will work in a residency monitored by arts education experts in their local communites. Foundations of Learning, Human Behavior and Child Development, and Professional Practices are offered as five week sessions; Methods for Teaching Artists will be offered as a 10 week course. The Capstone Project at the conclusion of the program will be a 10 session residency either in a school or community setting. For more information, click here.