Realizing the Potential of the Arts and Creativity in 21st Century Learning

Our annual learning symposium will take place October 4 - 5, 2010 at the Sofitel in Montreal, Quebec.

Join over 200 educators, artists, administrators, ArtsSmarts partners, community organizers, policy makers, education ministries and arts councils.  Over two days we will bring together uncommon and unlikely partners who share a passion for curiosity and a belief in the transformative power of the arts as a way of learning.

The event promises to provide an intensive experience. We will welcome big ideas from people who think differently, encourage networking and share learning possibilities.  All of this will be balanced with the opportunity to develop practice-based skills and design strategies to overcome the barriers that we face in introducing new ways of working and thinking.

Learning highlights include keynote speakers Karen Hume, Michael Jones, Penny Milton and Carrie Fitzsimmons as well as an impressive line-up of more than 20 workshops running in 3 concurrent tracks focussed on classroom practice, organizational strategy and future thinking.

As a participant at our premiere learning event, you can expect to gain:

Pedagogy. An understanding of the shifting learning competencies that the 21st century demands and how various instructional strategies can be used with ArtsSmarts projects to develop those competencies and inform artist and teacher practice.

Connections. An opportunity to connect with colleagues and peers from across Canada and begin experimenting, sharing and collaborating with each other through hands-on workshops and networking opportunities.  These may lead to collaborative projects across jurisdictions, schools or provinces.

Personal Growth and Leadership. Build your own learning adventure as you participate in what captures your interest and meets your professional development goals.  Through hands-on sessions you will learn to synthesize different techniques and strategies and understand leadership perspective from other professional contexts.    

Project Highlights. Artist-teacher teams working in schools will have an opportunity to get feedback on their emerging collaborative projects, as well as learn from experienced teams who will showcase, reflect, and celebrate their success and outcomes of their learning.