A mixed class of students, some with special needs, study music in the Coronado Unified School District.
Credit: Jane Meredith Adams/EdSource
In response to California’s long-standing teacher shortage, the state has invested in recruitment efforts such as internships, apprenticeships and residencies, all designed to attract new teachers to the profession. Now, in light of the thousands of jobs generated by Proposition 28, many arts education advocates are looking to lean on the same strategies, seeking to create more alternative pathways to arts education at the TK-12 level.
Teacher residencies are one such route. Part of the “earn and learn” model, these positions offer on-the-job training as well as mentoring, which often appeals to candidates who may not be able to afford to enter a conventional teacher preparation program. This can help diversify the ranks.
Meryl Goldberg, a veteran professor of music and art at Cal State San Marcos, is helping to develop a residency program to meet the needs of her art students, most of whom are the first in their families to go to college. Without paid training opportunities, becoming an art teacher can be a difficult path, she says, because it means giving up much-needed income for years.
“This could be a game changer for a lot of students,” said Goldberg, who plans to partner with several schools in North San Diego County next school year. “Many of our students have to work while in school to support themselves and contribute to their families. … Imagine if their job was their school, how much more time and energy they could put into becoming amazing teachers.”
Jacqueline Olison, program director of the California Teacher Residency Lab, points out that residency programs can help increase diversity by recruiting teachers who reflect the students they serve. Residents often co-teach with a preceptor for a year of clinical training even as they complete required coursework in a teacher preparation program.
“From a capital perspective, the residency programs are just incredible,” Olison said. “You have funding to diversify the workforce, to hire and retain applicants of color who reflect who our student population is. Then when you think about art and who has access to amazing art teachers and who doesn’t, it’s a way of making sure that those art teachers come in really prepared, reflecting the local diversity and the kids who get the opportunity to benefit from it. “
Eric Engdahl, professor emeritus at CSU East Bay and former president of the California Council on Teacher Education, is among those working on plans for how best to expand these programs into the arts space, but he cautions that institutional change is rarely in a hurry
“I think it will be a very important place to expand Prop. 28 and to attract pre-service teachers, but it’s complicated, like all things in education,” said Engdahl, who spearheaded an online credential program in theater and dance at Cal State East Bay in 2021, making it the first The CSU, which is proposing these powers amid the implementation of Proposition 28, “and it may take time to have any real impact.”
The sense of urgency, however, is part of that vision to raise a generation of teachers who better connect with the students they teach in this deeply diverse state.
“This not only impacts students by giving them time to really engage with learning, but it benefits their future students as their time is really focused on training them to become reflective, attentive and engaged teachers.” , Goldberg said. “The student population we’re reaching is without a doubt a student population that has fewer opportunities and privileges. The students we target reflect the population of students who will continue to teach.”
Research has long shown that the benefits of the arts are rich and nuanced, from stimulating social-emotional learning to supporting literacy and numeracy. Yet, until Proposition 28, the least privileged students, those most hurt by school closings and the loss of knowledge during the pandemic, were also the least likely to have access to the arts.
“We know that the arts are powerful for students and for self-expression, and they have tremendous benefits in school,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. “Art is something that everyone should own, regardless of your neighborhood or zip code. And Proposition 28 ensures that all students have equitable access to the arts.”
In an age of chronic absenteeism, student disengagement and a youth mental health crisis, many hope that arts education can be a key way to bring magic back into the classroom at a time when many children have dropped out.
“From my perspective, we’re all dealing with trauma at some level in our schools today,” said Peggy Burt, a Los Angeles-based state arts education consultant. “The pandemic has created this new era of ‘learning loss’ that has both teachers and students scrambling to catch up. As students rush to catch up, they feel overwhelmed and disconnected. The arts combined with social-emotional learning can be a pathway back to integration and belonging. … The arts create a culture and environment where students can thrive.”
The arts can be a powerful way to allow students to explore their darker feelings and transform those emotions into something beautiful.
“With so many of our students struggling with anxiety and depression, theater, in my opinion, is one of the best forms of therapy,” said Kathryn Borek, AP English Literature and Drama teacher at Dominguez Unified School District Compton. “We put them under a lot of stress and help them strengthen their wings so they can fly.” That is the power of art.”
