CITIZEN SCHOOLS
EDUCATOR DEVELOPMENT MODULE 1
FALL 2023
Module 1: Experience
This module focuses on educator praxis of the creative process to support an experiential understanding of the concepts inherent in Catalyst project design. Educators will learn about the components of the creative process through the development of their own creative work, collaborate, introduce components of this process into their classrooms, and collaborate with mentors to support a mini-project with their students.
Module 1 prepares classroom educators to approach authentic experience based learning supported by external mentors and engaging activated communities as both a process and a mindset to achieve critical creativity, human growth, and global skills for students. It offers teachers an opportunity to both participate as learners in authentic experience based learning and deliver a supported learning experience to their students through asynchronous learning, synchronous participatory workshops, one-on-one mentoring with CS coaches, and engagement with student mentors from the CS network.
Educators will participate in an initial EBL project as a starting point for exposure to the underlying modes of engagement of Core Creativity. They will then explore the theory behind these modes through collaborative participation in a Catalyst Project with colleagues and mentors and through the tactical introduction of project components into their own classrooms.
Training for Educators and Mentors is coordinated to ensure a shared understanding of the CS Learning Framework and Pedagogy with some training sessions joint between mentors and teachers.
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1 Live, 1 Async, Educators Only
In this unit, we will introduce educators to the context of the Citizen Schools Educator Development Program, the work of Citizen Schools as well as the culture of the program, and the broader scope of the learning progression. Participants will develop a sense of the “Teacher as a Creative Professional” theory and unpack the current creative learning landscape in education. Participants will also be able to set shared and personal expectations and visions for their journey in the program.
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2 Live, Educators Only
Experience the creative process through the participation of a self-contained design exercise. Educators will participate in the process that Catalyst Projects asks students to engage in with the goal of understanding both its challenges and rewards. The focus of the exercise will be on educator experience and internalization rather than theoretical knowledge acquisition and subsequent units will both illuminate the theory of the process and provide tools for educator-student engagement.
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1 Async, Educators Only
Introduce, unpack, and interrogate the concept of a teacher as a coach, critic, and guide as a foundation for understanding the process-based methodology of the Catalyst approach. This includes debunking the “Myth of Expertise” that teachers are the arbiters of knowledge and begin to establish the benefits of collaborative partnerships with the community, mentors, and the citizenry in supporting and educating our youth.
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1 Live, 1 Async; Student Project 1
Draw on the educator's creative experience of Unit 2 and the ideas explored in the Lab to date, systematically define, explain, and explore the components of the creative process used in Catalyst Projects through presentation, discussion, experiential exercises, and praxis within the classroom.
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1.5 Live, Joint with Mentors, Student Project 1
Establish Critique Culture as the underlying method for project development and design investigations and Catalyst Educator and Creative Mentor engagement with students. Discuss the meaning of critical feedback, how it relates to the student process, and how to become an effective critic through group exercises. Introduce how to leverage collaborative partnerships to break the myth of expertise, support teacher creativity and project development, and expand possibilities for student Design Investigations.
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2.5 Live, 3 Async; Student Projects 2,3,4
Educators experience a full Catalyst Project with a team or peer collaborators. Live sessions will focus on guided work time and teaching methodology demonstrations with educator Design Investigations. Educators and Mentors will collaborate on implementations of process components with students within the classroom to demonstrate understanding, experience teaching process concepts, and introduce students to some core concepts of Catalyst in preparation for a full project in Module 2.
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1 Live, Joint with Mentors
Educators present their collaborative projects to one another, coaches, and mentors for critical feedback. Educators and mentors present student work to their peers. Group reflection on the Module 1 process and discussion of Module 2.