This blog serves as an audio forum; a home for a series of oral history and audio interview projects conducted by Debbie Rice.
A little about me:
I am a student in the Adult Bachelors Program at New School University. My main focus in the program has been writing. But I’m interested in people’s stories in all the many ways they present themselves. I want to hear the stories, write them, record them and share them with others. It was this interest that caused me to sign up for a class in Oral History as Documentary at New School in September ‘08.
One of the first class assignments provided a focus for the semester’s work, as well as an interesting ongoing project. We were asked to provide a list of subjects which interested us and could become possible oral history projects. Education appeared on my list. A poor student my first time around in school, I’ve become an adult who enjoys learning and excells in school. So education, especially as it applies to hard-to-reach kids fascinates me. Through narrowing and focusing the topic, my project became an exploration of teaching artists in high needs, public schools of New York City. These are not full time art teachers, but artists who enrich local classrooms through art. There are musicians, dancers, visual artists, theatre educators and others involved in this important outreach activity. The more I learn about the subject, the more interesting it becomes.
The response has been enthusiastic from both teaching artists as well as administrators of important organizations in Arts Education. According to the feedback I’ve received, this project is unique and valuable to the teaching artist community.
