|
Home > Interviews > Interview with John Abodeely
Voices of Innovation
An Interview with John Abodeely, Manager of Arts Education, Americans for the Arts
What is your current position at Americans for the Arts?
I am the Arts Education Manager. I oversee services for professionals in the field of arts education, serving mostly nonprofit organizations.
Listen 
What role does Americans for the Arts play in keeping arts in our public schools?
Americans for the Arts conducts research, monitors policy, improves the effectiveness of professionals across the country, and engages in advocacy activities to improve the status of arts education in public schools.
We have recently conducted research with the American Association of School Administrators and The Conference Board on creativity and innovation, education, and the future US workforce. We regularly provide reports on the economic impact of the nonprofits arts as well more broadly defined creative industries—jobs that involve creative skills.
We work with partners such as the American Association of School Administrators, National School Boards Association, National PTA, US Conference of Mayors, and others to ensure that civic and education leadership around the country has the tools and knowledge they need to enable high quality arts education for America's students.
For arts education professionals, we host networking events, conference, webinars, and trainings to improve the field’s ability to do their work, prove their impact, and reach more students. We’re currently hosting classes in program evaluation for nonprofit arts education organizations as part of our annual conference this June 2008.
Listen
What does arts education mean to you personally?
When I was in high school, I tried out for a play on a whim. I was waiting in the audience for my friend to finish her audition, when the director picked me out of the crowd and had me audition. I got a part and acted in every play thereafter. Those plays were the first time I felt connected with others and successful in my own right. In college, I sculpted and created installations. In every experience, there was a teacher or a mentor. There was someone telling me that I could do this, that I was good at it, and that my contributions were valuable. The mentorship of something as personal as my artwork changed the way I think of myself.
Listen
Explain how arts learning can impact a child’s education.
An education in the arts provide a multitude of benefits. From engagement and attendance, to cognitive benefits, the arts taught by qualified individuals can be a transformational experience for students. There is a host of research on this topic as well as myriad personal stories around the country of the enormous positive impact of arts education on students.
Listen
If arts learning has proven to be successful in providing a well-rounded education, why have some schools cut arts programming?
In some cases the arts are still thought to be fringe to a good education. In many cases, performance mandates due to the federal No Child Left Behind legislation have made challenging budget situations even worse. In an underfunded education system, many schools struggle to provide basic elements of education as defined by outdated perceptions or No Child Left Behind.
Listen
Who makes the decision to make certain that arts are a strong part of a school's dedication to quality education – teachers, principals, superintendents, school board members?
All of them! From the federal government down to the school level, there are dozens of education decision makers who enable or disable arts education in the classroom. It is necessary to have a suite of positive decisions—policy, planning, funding, time—at the many levels at which these aspects of the school day are impacted. Americans for the Arts has recently completed a scan of the complex policy environment that determines public education. Federal government representatives and agencies, state bodies, district, school and community all impact access to and quality in arts education. We hope to share this knowledge through various means with the field, so that each of us can do our part to impact arts education in our communities.
Listen
Can parents make a difference in getting arts learning into their school, and if so, how would they get started?
Parents play the strongest role when influencing school board decisions. School boards can provide policy level support for arts education. They review, revise, and adopt superintendents' proposed budgets, including any earmarks for arts education. They are the audience for regular updates on arts education in the district and a primary audience for advocacy arguments for arts education, such as creative workforce or student engagement. School boards adopt district improvement plans, of which arts education can be a part. Working with the superintendent, they set visions and priorities for the district. School boards can adopt policies that require arts instruction, can allocate funds for arts coordinators on the superintendent's staff or itinerant arts teachers that serve the district. They can draft and adopt plans to improve or implement district goals for arts education and monitor progress per superintendents' reports. School boards are the primary audience for parental interest in schools' providing arts education. Parents who know what to ask school board members to do for arts education will be phenomenal advocates for change. One parent's voice can go a long way when addressing the school board.
Listen
What are the key ingredients for making sure a community’s public schools have arts learning in the classroom?
District staff, policy, plans and funding strategies are the surest way to support schools to provide arts instruction. Next, principals and teachers must be properly supported—with knowledge, skills, and resources—to make the best decision for students to supply the arts. Managing a district or school is complicated, but it can be done with full inclusion of the arts. If we—the field of arts education providers—can support teachers and principals to reach that goal, then we can provide arts education for all students.
Listen
Can you relay a story of how arts learning has made a difference in someone's life?
I think the best story I could possibly tell would be my own. I couldn't say art saved my life, but I could certainly say it made it worth living.
Listen
|
