ED210 Power of the Arts course

The Multiple Narratives pilot program was run in conjunction

with an Education course:

ED210 – Power of the Arts in Education

Course Description:  This community-based learning course explores the rationales and theories of the learning through the arts in education. The arts will be used as teaching pedagogies to motivate and engage students. Museum education will be studied as an informal learning environment for teaching core curriculum to K-12 students. Requires a substantial lab component which includes education technology, teaching in school classrooms, and working with K-12 students in the Fine Arts Center.

Multiple Narratives Program supports CBL and Experiential Learning

The value of the Multiple Narrative project for CC students was that it allowed them to apply education theory across two learning environments. CC students studied the theory of transfer, informal vs classroom learning, the rationale and approach of Writer’s Workshop, as well as a Backwards Planning curriculum design. In addition to class, CC students spent at least an hour each day supporting one classroom at the partner elementary school during the first two weeks of block 6, watching elementary teachers deliver the Writer’s Workshop curriculum and supporting elementary students during the workshop time.  When observing and supporting a specific classroom, CC students looked at that classroom teacher’s approach to learning, the individual student differences/assets, and how these two aspects overlap with a museum experience in ways that might increase the transfer of knowledge.  CC students then worked with current museum docents to design mini-lessons that were taught in the museum to further children’s authentic writing.  At the end of the block, CC students made recommendations in their final projects on how to extend the course goals through additional tours or projects that honor diverse voices.

Course Goals – 

    • To look at epistemology as it relates to praxis
    • To understand theories of how people learn, including:
      • Transfer of literacy skills for elementary students in a museum setting
      • Prior knowledge, engagement and assessment
    • To examine how people learn in formal and informal settings.
    • To practice and apply the statement: teaching is NOT telling.
    • To determine how to create a meaningful learning experience that achieves the goals of the school content and that honors diverse voices.
    • To utilize a model of critical thinking, applying it to a variety of course concepts
    • To co-plan and co-teach a lesson/tour at the museum
    • To explore the creative process in how it relates to learning, teaching and critical thinking.

The MN pilot program supported the course goals by giving CC students a way to experience the theory in practice.  After  working in a classroom, CC students were able to apply their learning to the development and delivery of a tour.


Course Essential Questions (details in parenthesis elaborate on the depth and breadth of the conversation and connections).  These questions demonstrate the range of issues CC students learned about while contributing to the MNP. 

  1. What does the term literacy encompass?  (How does that relate to visual literacies, museum literacies and literacies taught in K-12 schools?)
  2. What is the purpose of including art education in K-12 schooling? (Is it based on the process or products of art, or the transfer that occurs, or the contribution of the arts to thinking skills, classroom/school culture? etc…)
  3. What learning theories should be included in rationales for using art as a teaching pedagogy and why? (transfer, prior knowledge, critical thinking, metacognition…)
  4. What can be done to maximize authentic learning in a given context (formal, informal, digital format)?
  5. What should be the goals of an inclusive museum field trip and then how do you know if they occurred? {What process/pedagogy should be used for a specific sets of goals? How can one assess if the goals were met?}
  6. How will this reading inform what I do during this class (in the classroom, planning or giving a tour…)
  Students in 200-level education classes at CC come from a wide range of interests;  very few are planning to major in Education.  This past year’s ED210 course had 13 students, comprised of freshman and sophomores with the following majors: math, economics, neuroscience, psychology, pre-med, anthropology, sociology (2), organizational theory/administration, Cultural Management/Politics, education, history, and anthropology. Students were working on the following minors: dance, education, anthropology, and Spanish.  One student was an international student from France.  Their varied interests all contributed to the rich scope of this project and the successful outcomes.

This photo show our class going to the Denver Art Museum to view morning school tours and to connect with CC alumna Sarah Hart, Coordinator of Tour Programs for Learning and Engagement.

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