ArtsSmarts' model of teaching and learning is designed to engage students in the creative process of artistic inquiry into topics that span many different subject areas of the curriculum.

In every classroom, ArtsSmarts looks a little different. This is because ArtsSmarts is a process.  It is self-generated by teachers and artists to meet students' needs and priorities, rather than a packaged curriculum lesson plan that is delivered to students.

The BIG Idea

Have you ever wondered how birds fly?  Or imagined what an ecologically sustainable city of the future might look like? Or wanted to find out how your community has changed over the past 100 years and the impact of thet change? 

ArtsSmarts projects start with a BIG question or idea.  This leads artists, teachers and students onto an inquiry-based process of discovery.

Once the BIG question has been defined, ArtsSmarts comes to life when an artist collaborates with a teacher.  ArtsSmarts engages students in the creative process through artistic inquiry into topics that span many different subject areas of the curriculum.

Our project model has evolved from focussing on arts-integration to creative inquiry over the past decade based upon research and the experiences of students, artists and educators across Canada.  Projects range in length of time, from several weeks to a full school year, with the average project length being four months which is similar to an artist-in-residence.

The success of our model, which can be applied to any discipline or grade level, is in a process that is self-generated by teachers and artists to meet students' needs and priorities rather than a packaged curriculum lesson plan.

We often find that projects beginning in one class spread to several grade levels the next year, involve multiple artists, and sometimes become a whole school project that extends to the community.  As artist-teacher teams become more familiar with working this way, projects increasingly become more complex integrating two or more art forms and three or more curriculum connections.

Artist-Teacher Collaboration

At the core of the ArtsSmarts project model is a sustained collaboration between an artist-teacher team.

The practicing artist and classroom teacher plan together, work together in the classroom and modify their actions based on joint reflection and assessment. ArtsSmarts projects require the artist and teacher to share learning, ownership and control, and adapt to new ways of collaborating.

Tailored to the context, and designed as a process, artist-teacher teams work together with students to answer the BIG questions, produce their own ideas and solutions, and reflect on their work.

The process of undertaking an ArtsSmarts project models the creative process.

The teacher is the guide and leader as their relationship to students changes from one of transmitting knowledge to offering support and facilitating learning.  The artist models creative thinking, inquiry, artistic processes and habits.  Together, the artist and teacher serve as model learners and social role models for students.

To make the collaboration a success, planning time between the artist-teacher team is critical.  This ensures that the creative process is central to each ArtsSmarts project, rather than an artistic component simply being assigned after the fact.

For both artists and teachers, involvement in ArtsSmarts projects fosters enriching professional opportunities where they can simultaneously practice and research what they have learned by using our collaborative inquiry and reflection tools.