New Book Encourages Arkansas Teachers to Have Students Create Art to Deepen Learning

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An open-access book, spearheaded by leaders and participants in the College of Education and Health Professions' ARTeacher Fellowship Program, is now available free to teachers across Arkansas just in time for the start of fall semester.

The book, A Primer on Arts Integration: Strategies, Lessons, and Collective Wisdom of Teacher Leaders, is an edited collection of practical essays written by award-winning educators who participated in the ARTeacher program and successfully integrated the arts into their middle and high school classrooms.

The access for Arkansans was made possible through support from the College of Education and Health Professions' WE CARE, an acronym for Wellness and Education Commitment to Arkansas Excellence. The initiative advances three priorities centered on expanding impactful research, engaging in service to Arkansas and fostering a caring culture.

"This resource was written for teachers, by teachers," said lead co-editor Christian Z. Goering, a professor of curriculum and instruction and an ARTeacher co-founder. "Educators can use these lessons immediately in their own classrooms or initiate an arts-integration program school-wide." The physical book is also for sale in soft and hardcover print editions.

Each chapter establishes how art can be integrated into middle and high school classroom practice and demonstrates how having students create art is a timeless way to express themselves and demonstrate understanding in a discipline, Goering said. The cover was designed by chapter author Jessie Lorimer, an area high school teacher whose students' mapmaking artwork is featured.

Other co-editors are Hung K. Pham, director of the U of A Center for Children and Youth and fellowship leader; Katie Hackett-Hill, a long-time educator and doctoral fellow in the college; and Seth French, a Bentonville educator and college alumnus.

The ARTeacher Fellowship was established in 2012 in concert with the Walton Arts Center and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and each of these teacher leaders are past participants in the program. The fellowship, which entered its 12th year this summer, is open to area secondary teachers in English/language arts, math, science, social studies and world/foreign languages seeking to infuse the arts into their curriculum to deepen and invigorate the learning process.

While the program is limited to educators who are able to travel to Northwest Arkansas, this book offers insights that are accessible to all.