For current educational offerings and classes, please visit Applied Arts page

Please note: projects featuring either ‘arts in education’ or ‘arts in community’ are listed on separate pages of this site, even though the two often overlap/intersect.

RECENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS – ARTS IN EDUCATION

ARTSTARTS ARTIST IN CLASSROOM GRANTS (AIC)

2017 – 18 Eagle View Elementary, Port Hardy, BC (Grades 5-7)

Exploring Creativity: Storytelling and Playmaking was a program designed to serve the unique needs of students in Port Hardy, BC, as this particular student population had never experienced having an artist in the classroom before, and the lead teacher, Malcolm Fleeton, was intent of finding new ways to encourage oral expression in English Language Arts. After extensive consultation, it was decided to accompany storytelling and playmaking games with juggling, to encourage the students to understand through experience the benefits of on-going practice, as individuals, with partners, and working together in groups. In the second year (expanded from 1 week to 2), students in Grade 7 presented their work for students in Grade 3/4, a major step forward in their roles as mentors within the school community.

Video Link: Grade 5/6, 2017 – https://youtu.be/kNL611yoDwk

Video Link: Grades 5-7, 2018 – https://youtu.be/_QfJ-u9nA3g

TO VISIT MARK’S AIC PROFILE ON THE ARTSTARTS WEBSITE, CLICK HERE

 

VOICES OF THE ELDERS – Victoria High School 2012

FUNDING – City of Victoria: 150 People and Places, My Community Celebrates

Click on the picture to visit the project web site.

Voices of Vic High Elders is a web-based oral history project in honour of the 150th Anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Victoria, British Columbia.  Over a period of three months, students were recruited from three Grade 12 classes at Victoria High School (the oldest high school west of Winnipeg and north of San Francisco), while various Vic High Alumni (graduates from the 1930’s to the 1970’s) were sought out to be interviewed.

The students received instruction on how to prepare for and conduct an interview, prior to spending 1-2 hours with the elders to get their perspectives on life as a teenager and student at Vic High, life in the city as a whole during their formative years, and how things may or may not have changed in the decades since.  Interviews were documented in a variety of ways (text, photos, audio, video), and each student created a project based on their experience, for which they received course credit.

(Please visit Testimonials for a teacher’s perspective on the process.)

(one of several videos made for the project – see web site for more)

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CIRCLES IN THE STREAM – Restorative Justice & Youth Empowerment  2007 – 09

FUNDING: BC Ministry of Public Safety/Solicitor General, Victoria Family Court and Youth Justice Committee

PARTNERS: Victoria Restorative Justice Society (producer) * Oak Bay Restorative Justice * Peninsula Crossroads (Saanich) * Greater Victoria School District 61 (Healthy Schools) * Boys and Girls Club of Victoria * Volunteer Victoria * City of Victoria Youth Council

OBJECTIVES

• To inform youth about their legal rights regarding the RJ option (as offender or victim)
• To stimulate discussion about conflict resolution based on Restorative Justice principles
• To analyze how the use of listening skills, an openness to other’s points of view, and creative problem solving skills help restore relationships and maintain peace and safety
• To encourage young people to reflect on conflict in their own lives and how RJ practices might be applied

This three-year partnership with the Victoria Restorative Justice Society began with extensive consultations and participation in facilitator training, resulting in the design of a series of role play workshops focused on Restorative Justice which were held in Victoria, Cumberland, Campbell River and Pender Island, BC. The response from the workshops was so positive that planning began for a comprehensive youth program.

The Restorative Justice Youth Outreach Group was created in 2008, composed of youth ages 15 – 25 from a variety of backgrounds.  The group trained together in restorative justice conference facilitation, met with front-line stakeholders (facilitators, police, victims), and began theatre training in improvisation and role play, en route to creating and staging a play about Restorative Justice (with a multi-media backdrop) which toured to local middle schools.

Each performance was accompanied by classroom visits and workshops, and an on-line study guide was created to aid teachers, both before and after the performance.  CIRCLES IN THE STREAM was presented at the International Restorative Practices Conference in Vancouver in 2009, and at a special community gathering called Pathways to Justice.

(a slideshow of photos and multi-media images from the play – no sound)

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CLICK HERE FOR DETAILED RESUME – ARTS IN EDUCATION