Credential recognizes skills and experience of
exemplary school-based residency teaching artists
L to R: Quynn Johnson, Carrie Sue Ayvar, Harlan Brownlee, Brittany Roger
Young Audiences Arts for Learning (Young Audiences) is pleased to announce the 2019 recipients of its National Residency Teaching Artist Credential (TAC), a new initiative that articulates what high-quality arts-based instruction looks like in K-12 school-based residencies and formally endorses teaching artists who embody excellence in four competency areas: Artistry, Instruction, Preparation & Planning, and Community.
Following a rigorous application and adjudication process, four outstanding teaching artists have earned the credential during the 2018-19 TAC application cycle:
- Carrie Sue Ayvar - Arts for Learning Miami
- Harlan Brownlee - Kansas City Young Audiences
- Quynn Johnson - Young Audiences of Maryland
- Brittany Roger - Young Audiences of Maryland
The TAC initiative was conceived by a working group of representatives from the Young Audiences network and developed in collaboration with an advisory committee of experts in the field of arts education. The program has been piloted over a two-year period beginning in Fall 2017, with a total of 12 teaching artists from across the Young Audiences network earning the credential since its inception.
“Without highly-skilled teaching artists, Young Audiences could not fulfill its mission to ‘inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts,’” said David A. Dik, National Executive Director of Young Audiences Arts for Learning. “Ultimately, through our efforts to professionalize and advance the field of teaching artistry, we hope more young people will have the opportunity to experience high-quality, arts-based instruction.”
As evidence of their skills and experience, TAC applicants submit an extensive portfolio for consideration. Requirements include an instruction video displaying the candidate’s effectiveness in an authentic learning environment; an original residency plan designed, implemented, and evaluated by the applicant; work samples demonstrating the teaching artist’s mastery of their own artform; and recommendation letters from school-based partners. Each applicant’s submission is then adjudicated by a review panel comprised of experts from the field, including nonprofit leaders, arts education directors at state departments of education and state arts agencies, and past recipients of the TAC.
“Unlike almost all other professions within education, there has been no nationally recognized credential for the field of teaching artistry up to this point,” said Stacie Sanders Evans, President and CEO of Young Audiences of Maryland. “Because the field has lacked a credential, teaching artists have had no unified way to validate their expertise or the value they bring to the classroom. The National Residency Teaching Artist Credential that we are designing for the field addresses this problem by providing a universal way to talk about the deep experience and exceptional talent required to implement quality arts learning experiences.”
As the second year of the TAC pilot comes to a close, the team behind the TAC is working toward opening the program to teaching artists beyond the Young Audiences network, as well as finding other ways that the initiative can help “uplevel” the field of teaching artistry as a whole. The group is currently designing a professional development component of the TAC program, which will support both emerging and experienced professional teaching artists. This work will continue at Young Audiences’ 2019 National Conference, No Limits: Supporting Children with Learning Differences, when the TAC working group and credential recipients will convene April 3-5 in Houston, TX, to discuss lessons learned from the pilot and next steps in the development of the project.
The 2019-20 TAC application cycle will open in July 2019. For the latest information on the TAC initiative, and to learn more about our credentialed teaching artists, please visit: www.youngaudiences.org/TAC.
