A Teaching Artist at Work: Theatre with Young People in Educational Settings

The works presented are moving and impressive; their authenticity and tone in harmony with the story teller's voice. The story itself may open new windows ... for those intent on enriching and humanizing what occurs in contemporary schools.
- Maxine Greene

A fabulous book for arts and theater education.
-Merryl GoldbergAuthor of Integrating the Arts, Third Edition

Are you a theatre teaching artist, or considering it? No matter what kind of educational setting you're in, the theatre skills you teach are intimately linked to your own artistry: you've got to know how to teach from your own practice while you learn to practice the art of teaching. The key is discovering how the educational setting, the students, and the stage link.

A Teaching Artist at Work helps theatre teaching artists develop connections between their pedagogical and artistic selves. The book presents a framework for thinking about the work of teaching artists in general and theatre teaching artists in particular. Through descriptive examinations of practice, the book also provides theatre teaching artists and those who prepare and work beside them with concrete examples of three theatre-education projects in three different educational settings as well as the collaborative processes that helped them succeed. Replicable in other settings-such as community outreach programs, after school and summer programs hosted by professional theatres, and not-for-profit educational theatres-these projects provide a jumping-off point for others who work to create interesting theatre curriculum.

In any educational setting, theatre teaching artists create spaces where teachers and students can envision a new, different, and exciting way of learning and doing that they can apply to theatre education and many other content areas. With emphasis on linking personal artistry with pedagogical artistry and examples drawn from McKean's own practice, A Teaching Artist At Work is an invaluable resource for teaching artists and the arts-education community.