Releasing the Imagination: Creating an Impactful Leadership Practice

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Using creative practices can be an effective equity strategy when approaching problems of practice as it lifts up the voices of all stakeholders and supports transformational change within the collective educational community. Tools of creativity and equity support leaders to make the changes in their sites that are people centered, and become a model for more systemic changes in their districts. Additionally, teachers trained in arts-centered classroom practices are able to create more equity centered learning spaces for students (Marshall, 2014) (Hammond, 2015) (Green & Teja, 2017) (Tishman, Perkins and Richart, 2008) (Hanley, 2013). 

With a focus on creative thinking as an aspect of leadership for equity, Arts centered integrated learning is grounded in three core intersectional frameworks: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Arts Learning and Arts Integration practices, and Educational Research and Planning that provide a common language for conversation, problem solving, observation, anti-racist practices and growth of school communities that support positive student outcomes.

The arts help to critically address equity and justice across diverse communities; and themes and ideas such as inclusion, systemic equity, systems change, and identity expression. 

In this professional learning series, leaders will unpack the implications of creative practice to support a variety of school outcomes:

  • Support creative practice and thinking as a system for reflection towards continuous learning and improvement in leadership practice that results in equity centered school-wide transformation;

  • Increasing leadership support of arts-centered integration as a strategy to create more equity centered learning spaces for students and staff;

  • Building leaders' comfort in artistic processes: support, valuing access, and commitment to the arts for learners who are historically marginalized and underserved, recognizing that arts integration in core curricular areas supports academic achievement and outcomes;

  • Presenting the arts as a proven method for learner access to core curriculum through culturally relevant pedagogy;

  • Engaging in the arts is a practice of mindfulness and healing. It can build resilience, confidence, social emotional practices and self-empowerment;

  • Engages a collaborative school culture to create systems of change.

Session Calendar and Content

Meetings will be held in person.

Schedule:

  • Saturday, September 30, 2023; 10:00 AM–1:30 PM
  • Saturday, December 2, 2023; 10:00 AM–1:30 PM
  • Saturday, March 2, 2024; 10:00 AM–1:30 PM
  • Saturday, April 27, 2024; 10:00 AM–1:30 PM

Structure:

  • PART 1 - The Intelligence of Artistic Work

    Offering an experiential level of learning that supports leaders in having authentic, whole learner experiences in the arts as a tool to investigate and understand complex problems and ideas, so that they see the power of embedding creative processes into their leadership practice and as a tool for whole school change. Supporting leaders to see how arts experiences are rigorous and part of academic dialogue and learning:

    • Immersing in arts experiences and playing with materials and arts processes to understand the intuitive mind;

    • Introduction to Creative Strategies (Marshall 2015) that support leaders to map their own artistic intelligence;

    • Meaningful applied learning experiences that are problem-based and context-specific to support models of how these practices are solutionary pathways;

    • Addressing how these practices support emotional intelligence and growth, build culturally responsive cultures of learning and open the door to deeper and more engaged academic rigor and understanding;

    • Examining the role of the imagination in leading, and unpacking and understanding the implications of creative thinking in leadership;

    • Introduction of creative practices as supportive methodologies towards sustaining equity centered learning environments to improve student and teacher outcomes.

    PART 2 - Exploring Arts Process Strands & Professional Leadership Standards through Critical Making

    Embedding Professional Standards for Educational Leaders and Arts Performance Strands (Creating, Responding, Connecting and Performing/Producing)

    • Engage in a variety of Studio practice experiences to make the connection between hands-on/minds-on knowledge (visual/somatic-movement/written and oral experiences);

    • Communicating ideas in authentic ways;

    • Experience iterative cycles of inquiry, iteration through working with a variety of material and approaches, communal practices, and individualized learning;

    • Engaging collaboration as a practice of exchange and knowledge;

    • Allowing for a process-centered learning including: struggle, emergence, disequilibrium, courage, release and joy to for leaders to reconnect with themselves as learners;

    • Offering a time for leaders to release, rest and explore in playful ways. 

    PART 3 - Reflection and Movement towards change through maintaining a creative practice

    • Using Visible Thinking strategies, rituals, routines and protocols in each session to engage deep reflection, make new connections, new curiosities and inquiries;

    • Leaders share practices, approaches, strategies, problem solving and learning from each other through discussion of their  processes, what was learned and how these processes engaged learning;

    • Reflection at each session about how these practices build stronger communities and break down systems of inequity at their sites.

Who Should Participate?

21CSLA programs are offered at no cost to participants employed in Title II districts and schools in six Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Solano.

This offering is especially geared towards:

  • TOSA and out of classroom teacher leaders
  • Site leaders
  • Systems leaders directly involved with school sites

Registration

Click here to register

Questions?

Contact us at 21csla_alamedaregional@berkeley.edu