Photo Courtesy of Bonnie Koba
Next week, local educators and those from around Connecticut and the United States will work to “deepen their understanding of the HOT approach to teaching and learning” during a week-long professional-development program.
That description came from Bonnie Koba, the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism’s Arts in Education program manager and program director of that department’s Higher Order of Thinking (HOT) Schools Program. Koba said the HOT Schools Summer Institute will offer skills and strategies that teachers can take back to their classrooms.
Koba said participants will attend an opening reception at Artspace on Monday, and, on Wednesday, will take walking tours with stops at Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven Free Public Library, Yale Center for British Art, and Yale University Art Gallery. Participants will also visit the New Haven Free Store to learn about the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Project Storefronts initiative.
“In HOT schools,” according to language on the program’s website, “the arts are rigorous academic subjects, each with its own sequential curriculum that conveys knowledge not learned through other academic disciplines. HOT schools integrate the arts across disciplines, creating arts-rich environments that motivate students to make connections between and among subject areas and ideas.”
Koba said the program’s mission is geared toward “celebrating and validating every child’s voice” and the voices of all students in a particular school community.
The Higher Order of Thinking (HOT) Schools Program is a nearly two-decades-old initiative of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.
Koba said there are currently 12 HOT schools in Connecticut — located “deliberately in urban, rural, and suburban areas” — including the John C. Daniels School of International Communication and Worthington Hooker School.
In reviewing HOT Schools Program applications, Koba looks for “a degree of readiness, an alignment of philosophy, and a commitment to the structure.” Participating educators participate in professional development programs that teach them how to structure —and instruct — in, through, and around the arts, Koba said.
This year’s conference will be attended by teams (made up of school principals, arts specialists, parent representatives, and classroom teachers) from the state’s HOT schools and educators from other Connecticut and out-of-state institutions.
“Through presentations, workshops, interactive demonstrations and performances, educators learn and share HOT Strategies and explore the HOT Approach to school renewal,” according to language on the Summer Institute’s website.
The Summer Institute, which was developed for the state’s HOT schools and then opened up to other institutions, is a “huge commitment” for participants, Koba said. This year’s conference, Roots for Innovation: 2011 HOT Schools Summer Institute, will take place July 11 – 15 at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. Among the locally based presenters will be Michelle Cheng, the New Haven Museum’s education director; teaching artist Richard Hill; and playwright Aaron Jafferis. Bill Strickland, president and CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation, will deliver the keynote address.