In & Out:
Bringing the World to Your
Classroom
TAEA Conference 2015
Presenter: Lucy Bartholomee
Artist, Writer,
Teacher, Traveler
• Teaching Fellow and PhD
student in Art
Education/Art History at
Univ. of North Texas
• MA in Humanities/Art
History at UT Arlington
• Teaching since 1997
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3 years UNT
6 years elementary
3 years part time
6 years high school
• All Level Art
• PreK-8th grade all
inclusive classroom
teacher (lifetime)
• Special Ed Pre-K-8th
• Gifted & Talented
Certification
• AP Art History credential
• IB Visual Art instructor
• IB Visual Art Examiner
“In & Out: Bringing the world to your
classroom, and bringing your
classroom into the world”
Goals for this session
• Enhance multicultural richness in your classrooms
with sensitivity and depth
• Enliven your students’ learning experience
• Local and global ideas
• Elevate your teaching enjoyment and effectiveness
“Get Up!”
• Research based on 2 years of study and 18
years of classroom teaching, 13 years of
traveling to Europe with students
• Article under review by NAEA for their Art
Education Journal
• Title: Get Up! Discover the Transformational
Power of Living Curriculum
When they arrive in the art room,
many students are coming from this…
“Get Up!”
• The sensation of sitting in the same assigned
seat week after week, in the same classroom
month after month, is so monotonous that we
cease to notice it.
• “The challenge of the educator is to keep alive
the mind and sensibility of the young child.”
(Howard Gardner, 2008)
“Get Up!”
• Students lose a sense of community as they
move through middle and high school
– Sally Gradle
• The industrial model of educating students in
large batches anesthetizes them
– Sir Ken Robinson
• Art is a powerful tool to awaken our students
and ourselves!
Culturally Rich Curriculum
• Art curriculum can be crafted to build
sensitivity between classmates and others
who are different in race, gender, religion,
creed or privilege.
• Seek ‘Culturally Competent’ art curriculum
• Reach beyond cliché representations
• Sources: Lucy Andrus & Joni Acuff
Mexico / Central America:
Curandero Books
• Before launching into a culturally based art
project, research the specific culture
• Central America has been home to hundreds
of culture groups over the centuries; let’s go
deeper to find out more about the specific
people who practice Curanderia (the art of
curing, like a shaman or medicine-person)
• Curandero Book
inspired by cut paper or
leaf acordion books
made by Otomi Indian
healers in Mexico
• Resource: Handmade
Books for a Healthy
Planet, by Susan Gaylord
Otomi Tradition
• Otomi peoples live in an eastern-central region of Mexico
• Date back to at least 800 CE
• Remote, arid region where some pre-Columbian language and
tradition survive
• Curanderos (shaman/healers)
• Rustic bark paper processed into paper
• Intricate cut-outs represent spirits
• Rituals are performed to cure and prevent disease and improve life
• Unesco Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX1mghWtnCo
• https://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/minigalleries/otomi/intro.sht
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Curandero Books
• Hold images and ideas that ‘cure’ feelings of
sadness
• What makes you happy?
• What people, places or things uplift your spirit?
• Fill the curandero book with these things.
• Leave room to add photos and artifacts later on
Take your classroom out into the world
National Museum, Athens
Rodin’s home, Paris
Teaching while Traveling: Lucy’s Story
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Paris/Normandy 2003
Italy 2004
London/Paris 2005
Spain 2006
Italy 2010
Rome 2011
France 2012
England 2015
Italy 2015
Greece 2016
Professional Advantages
• Broadens your scope of knowledge and experience
• Demonstrates professional dedication
• Elevates your inspiration to keep learning
• Teacher Conferences
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London/Paris 2001
Rome 2004 & 2009
Greece 2012
Italy 2014
Cuba 2016
Bring France to your classroom:
Rose Window Project
Bring France to your classroom:
living curriculum
cathedrale-chartres.org
Bring France to your classroom
• Choose a Rose Window or Mandala
pattern, or design your own!
• Trace the design on the clear plastic
plate with permanent marker
• Include as much detail as you like
• Paint the design
– Not too much water
– Colors are more vibrant when dry
Local: Add to the cultural experience
• Learn a few French phrases
• GT students: make a poster to teach others about
life in medieval France / Europe
• French food celebration
• Play French pop music
• Invite a French class to visit your art class
• Hang the projects in a big window at school
• Follow up with a repurposed glass project
• Scavenger hunt: students take selfies with stained
glass in their own communities
Global: Teaching while traveling
• Drawing class in a café in Montmatre
• Pastel drawings while in Monet’s gardens at
Giverney
• A delicious Pizza making workshop in Rome
• Pottery workshop in a village in Greece
Local & Global
• Find ways to connect with your community,
such as art centers, historical societies, and
charities
• Investigate local cultures and utilize people
from those cultures (guest speakers, working
artists)
Local & Global
• International educational travel
– Museums, architecture, historical sites
– Living curriculum
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Personal encounters with amazing art
Service learning programs
Global perspectives
Economics, Politics, Language
History comes alive
Energized by constant comparisons with their
local community
Where you lead,
they will follow.
Lucy’s students on the streets of
Pompeii, 2015
(Students from Arlington High School, a
Title I school in Texas)