The Creative Arts As A Way of Knowing:
A Preservice Program for Early Childhood Special Educators
Part of Collaborative Learning, Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Bloomgarden from the CAT Program. They wrote an article and taught a class together.
Introduction (only)
Teaming across discipline is a necessary part of services for young children with special needs. With this in mind a creative arts therapist and a special educator worked collaboratively to develop an interdisciplinary approach and curriculum for preservice early childhood special educators. Recognizing that young children with disabilities can benefit from a sensory-rich environment and that young children learn best through all the senses we designed this course to be sensory stimulating for teachers. The logic of this approach was to link the teachers' positive arts-based experiences with their ability to feel comfortable with an arts rich program in their classrooms. Our ultimate goal was to model a creativity centered classroom that promotes the utilization of the arts and creative play to enhance the learning of young children with disabilities.
After searching the appropriate literature Lowenfeld's classic text, Creative and Mental Growth (1987) was selected for an understanding of creative development, while the Kennedy Center's Very Special Arts Program's early children curriculum, Start with the Arts was chosen for the supplementary field work instruction.
Throughout the course students were provided with a bridge between the disciplines, the creative arts and special education, through a variety of course readings and experientials. By planning classes together, co-teaching, and reflecting from their different perspectives, the professors taught the students about collaboration as well as creativity. At the completion of the course, students were able to:
- Recognize the importance of the arts in early childhood special education;
- Understand and recognize the importance of creativity;
- Understand the growth and development of children with disabilities as related to the arts;
- See the arts as a basic need of learning;
- Utilize a variety of appropriate media in the classroom;
- Appreciate and recognize aesthetic intelligence;
- Develop observational skills with relation to early expression;
- Demonstrate the application of creative arts in the classroom; and
- Plan and adapt creative arts activities for young students with special needs.
The purpose of this article is to highlight the benefits of co-teaching across disciplines and the value of creativity in the early childhood special education classroom. Discussion of the course curriculum and the students' field work will be described as well as a discussion of how this work relates to Multiple Intelligence theory, a paradigm that views students' talents rather than their deficits.