In the eSchool News article, Meris Stansbury writes, "Educators and employers agree that creativity is increasingly important in U.S. workplaces, according to a recent report. Yet, the report suggests a disconnect exists between what survey respondents say they believe and how they act: In fact, findings indicate most high schools and employers provide creativity-conducive education and training only on an elective or 'as needed' basis" (2008).
I am happy to say that this report doesn't reflect the culture of C-FB ISD.
C-FB ISD is "An Innovative Leader in Learning." We, as a district, are continually seeking new strategies to teach through innovation and creativity. We believe that when teachers model and use innovation in their teaching that students are more engaged and are encouraged to be creative and innovative themselves.
How are we accomplishing this task, you might ask...well, here's how:
- Innovation and creativity are an integral part of the culture of C-FB. They are interwoven into the organization as a whole as well as the curriculum and teaching. For example, our Student Nutrition Department created the very first Virtual Cafeteria.
- The district was named for the third time to the Best 100 Communities for Music Education. With 23,000 students participating in fine arts activities, C-FB ISD continually sets a high standard for developing creativity and innovation through fine arts education.
- Students use, experience and learn with the latest technology including iPods, laptops, wikis, blogs, video conferencing, our virtual campus (vCampus) and more. Check out our video series called "Living in a Dot Com World" to see exciting examples of innovation.
- Teachers are using Web 2.0 tools like wikis to share innovative ideas with one another and encourage creativity.
I truly believe that C-FB ISD is "An Innovative Leader in Learning" through a culture and vision that actively engages students.
4 comments:
Dr. Griffin,
In today's post you refered to the many students that we have participating in fine arts activities. I would like to hear your comments on what you think of a middle school with 1 art teacher (5 classes)for ~1200 students.
I appreciate your question. Our team is continually looking for ways to improve our system and offer the best opportunities for our students.
We believe that Middle School is an exploratory time for children to discover their interests and talents like art, athletics, computers, band, history, writing, etc. Middle School provides a solid foundation for students as they begin their secondary education career. That is why we try to offer a wide variety of courses like theater, art, band, orchestra, choir, computer science, and more.
Elective courses are offered based on the number of students who sign up for the class. More and more middle school students are signing up for high school credit courses at the middle school level which reduces the number of requests for elective courses that do not receive high school credit. We have begun to see this change at the Middle School level. The number of students requesting a course is what drives the program. A principal must make difficult decisions and make changes to the courses offered to meet the changes in students needs. For instance, at one Middle School there are a large majority of students taking band, orchestra, and choir. This reduced the number of students desiring to take art and theater. Therefore, the principal made a tough decision to reduce the number of classes offered in art and theater because they were not needed.
We have fifty-three fine arts teachers at the Middle School level, which includes six campuses. In spite of facing budget difficulties, our district is resolved to continue to offer our students the very best education – including fine arts. We know that in order for our students to be productive members of our increasingly global marketplace that they must have creativity and innovation. Fine arts education is a key ingredient. We will continue to provide our students a well-rounded, quality education.
According to the Fine Arts Report to the Trustees in June of this year, there were 265 students enrolled in Art classes at this middle school. Based on that data it doesn’t seem that reducing the art class offerings was warranted. The decision to make the reduction was made before the students had signed up for 08-09 classes.
If middle school is an “exploratory time for children” then they need to have the ability and access to elective classes to explore and discover their talents.
I understand that the principal has a difficult job given the restrictions of physical space and human resources, both provided by the district. We have been told many times that difficult scheduling decisions have to be made. The lesser-chosen but more difficult decision would be, how could we be innovative with our resources and keep offering these services?
If the interest in art was related to students pursuing HS credit courses it seems that there would be a corresponding reduction in art courses offered to 8th graders, which is not the case. There is only one 6th grade art class, two 8th grade AP art classes and three 7th/8th grade art classes offered.
Many times there are difficult decisions that principals have to make that involve many extenuating circumstances. In this particular decision, there was not enough interest in this program to warrant another class. We will re-examine the situation next year based on student elective requests.
We always welcome comments toward the improvement of our programs. Please contact Jim McDaniel, Executive Director of Fine Arts, with any comments or suggestions you have in the future regarding our Fine Arts Program. Thank you.
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