The Joan Oates Institute for Partners in the Arts

Where content & creativity connect • University of Richmond • Summer 2018

The Joan Oates Institute (JOI) for Partners in the Arts prepares PreK-12 teachers of all subject areas to use differentiation, creative and experiential pedagogies, and collaboration to develop interdisciplinary lessons and unit plans. The driving question, “how do we learn?” guides the curriculum and informs the Partners in the Arts (PIA) model of using creative practices to engage and empower all students.

This summer, we’re offering both a 3-day institute focused on community-based digital storytelling and our traditional week-long institute focused on arts integration. 

Joan Oates Institute: Community Inquiry & Digital Storytelling

June 26-28, 2018, 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Using the Out of Eden Walk project as a model, participants will learn how to define, explore and tell the stories of their communities through close observation, sketchbooks, video and writing. Using “slow” journalism in laboratory and field settings, educators will explore the surrounding community, then conceive, design, and implement a multimedia narrative project of their own design, in StoryMapJS, based on the precepts and example of the Out of Eden Walk.

Learn more about the 3-day institute.

Joan Oates Institute: Foundations of Arts Integration

August 20-24, 2018, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

JOI is designed for teams of teachers of all subjects and grade levels, individuals may apply and will be placed on a team. The focus is on how we teach, not what we teach, so bring a mixed-content area group to develop an interdisciplinary unit that will improve your students’ retention of content, build a dynamic learning community and transform learning in your classroom.

Participants will experience what it feels like to be engaged in multiple ways of learning, and discover how to communicate their learning outcomes in authentic and innovative ways.

Learn more about the week-long institute.