Summer Teacher Institute 2019

What is the Summer Teacher Institute?

It is an annual conference for teachers of all ages and all over that focuses on visual literacy and using art as a tool in the classroom. This year, we had participants from multiple east coast states and even an international participant from Germany! This program is lead by the education department at the Yale Center for British Art and three amazing and noteworthy educators from various backgrounds. They spend 4 days with a diverse groups of teachers and share with them the tools and tactics that they have used in their own classrooms. Each day there are lectures as well as time spent in the galleries, learning how to look and about all the things that the museum has to offer them!

What is visual literacy?

Visual literacy is the idea of reading a picture. It is the notion that we are able to look at an image and interpret what is going on in the image and formulate a meaning that goes along with it. Reading a picture can be as simple, if not easier than reading text!

So, why is visual literacy important to teachers?

Teachers spend their entire careers teaching their student's how to interpret information and apply it to their life as they grow and enter adulthood. English teachers are teaching us how to read and make meaning of the words on the pages and how they are organized to mean something specific so that we can think critically and make sound arguments later in life. Math teachers show us how to make sense of different kinds of numbers and their accompanying symbols so that we can later make logical judgements and reason. History teachers show us how to make sense of past events in order to make better and more positive choices in the future. The list goes an and our educators are doing their very best to make sure that their students are getting the best quality of education that they can provide. Although it may seem like they're superhuman, teachers are very human and can get stuck in uninspired ruts just like the rest of us.

Educators teaching a mock lesson in the galleries with their peers.

One of the key reasons that teachers attend this conference is to be re-inspired. Here they have this wonderful museum at their fingertips and the very dedicated and passionate museum educators and classroom teachers who run the program.

During this program, attendee's were split into three large groups and they spent time in these groups daily looking at one painting with their group leader. Over the course of the four days, they spent about 5 to 6 hours in front of that painting. That may seem like a long time, but one of the main goals of the program is to teach the educators how to look closely and deeply. The average museum goer spends only a couple minutes looking at the art work and reading the label; that is no where near enough time to take in every part of the work! (This is not to say you have to look at the same thing for 6 hours to understand it.)

Educators having a discussion in front of their assigned painting with their facilitator.

The attendees are first invited to quietly look at the painting for 10-15 minutes and come back together to objectively discuss it. They notice things like the lighting, the colors, the people, the plants and animals and objects in the work. Then they discuss what they think could be happening in this moment. They wonder, "What time of day is this?" "Are these animals someone's pets?" "Is that man going to jump off the cliff or is he standing triumphantly because he finished this hike?"

Before they realize it, their observations turn into inferences and stories, which ultimately would be the goal for the educator who is leading the class. When students begin to notice the details, like the time of day or the city line in the far background the teacher knows that they have done their job well. When student's start to make real life connections to the art work and ask questions and tell stories, the teacher knows that they have done their job.

During the time spent in the small groups, attendee's are also asked to sketch what they see in their journals. This is an excellent tool to get students to use their close looking skills and it's great for the people who don't always like to share out loud to showcase their observations.

Educators sharing stories inspired by a work of art in the gallery.

Art and story telling have always gone together. Think back to ancient cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphs. Before we told our stories through writing, we drew them!

Facilitators introduced multiple creative activities that can involve more than an paper and pencil. We introduce them to the different libraries in the museum and shared some rare books and works on paper that are not regularly on display. It's a really wonderful and exciting experience and it is important to introduce people to these services because they're there and they're free! I remember how enchanted I was, the first time that I looked at all the rare books and prints.

This activity included the pages of Zoom by Istvan Banyai. They were shuffled and lined up in an order that made sense and told a story.

Attendee's are also introduced to tactile activities that are used to activate different senses, with beads and fabrics to help tell the story on the canvas. We try to offer as many fabric and object options that appear in the piece of art that we're working from to make it as interactive and engaging as possible. In this activity students learn new vocabulary and ideas that they may not encounter regularly in class or at home.

Facilitator discussing painting packages that include tactile materials.

Sometimes learning includes busting out of your comfort zone. One sketching activity that we do includes starting a sketch of an object, then leaving it behind and swapping seats with someone else. After swapping seats, the person is meant to look at the object from someone else's view point and complete their sketch. Majority of the time, people don't know what to do for a moment, because they see this half completed sketch and are unsure of what else they can add that isn't already on the paper! This activity really promotes close and deep looking because they have to look for something else to add.

Another activity we introduced them to relates to creating something with a piece of text. This is inspired by British artist, Tom Philips, an artist who uses the pages A Human Document by W.H. Mallock, to create interesting new stories and visuals in his series called A Humument. We worked from the first page of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, to create an active page with a new story! This is an excellent activity that combines creativity and story telling.

Page 363, A Humument: Twilight of the Planet, 2010 by Tom Phillips

Needless to say, people leave this conference feeling full and revitalized and are encouraged to return with their students during the following school year.

I have participated and done some behind-the-scenes work for program for 3 summers, and every time I learn something new and feel encouraged in different ways. Most of all, I always feel so relieved to see that there are still teachers who are excited to teach and desire to learn new ways to get their students actively thinking and culturally enriched.