Quality arts learning can a vehicle for personal transformation. For more than 40 years, an unwavering belief the possibility of such transformation has sustained the nationally recognized after-school Apprenticeship Training Program (AJP) at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG). Within school walls, academic standards position the arts as a distinct discipline expected to incorporate historical and cultural context, critical analysis, and aesthetic judgment into art production, exhibition, or performance (Pennsylvania Board of Education, 2002). By contrast, the arts-rich environment that MCG creates outside of those walls transforms students' sense of self, as well as nurtures a passion for learning through creative thinking and practice. Of course, arts learning within school hours also changes students, but our experience tells us that in-school and out-of-school arts learning transforms students different ways. Following a brief description of the MCG organization, we will detail these differences between in-school and afterschool learning.Manchester Craftsmen's GuildThe desire for arts education that extends beyond the school building and school day originated the personal experience of MCG founder and CEO, Bill Strickland. As an African American teenager a disadvantaged Pittsburgh neighborhood during the 1960s, Strickland developed a life-changing relationship with his high school art teacher, Frank Ross. Strickland describes his first encounter with Ross absorbed his work at a potter's wheel as a radiant and hopeful image of how the ought to be (as cited Terry, 1998, p. 173). As Strickland worked with his art teacher, he developed his skills as a potter, as well as an interest jazz, architecture, and other aspects of culture to which he had never been exposed. Soon, Strickland's perception of the possibilities for his future began to change, and he also noticed that others were beginning to see him differently - as an individual with aspirations and the passion to learn and grow. In 1 968, while a college student, Strickland founded Manchester Craftsmen's Guild to extend the same opportunity to area teens for transformation through the arts. Strickland (2007) reminisces that in just a few years, the Guild had become one of the brightest points of light the neighborhood, a source of hope and direction for hundreds of disadvantaged kids, Its modest way helping to transform the world (p. 69).Manchester Craftsmen's Guild grew from one man's vision into a nationally recognized model for Out-of-School Time (OST) learning through the visual arts. As Strickland's vision blossomed into a formal program with a physical facility, systems were designed to support its operations. Currently, MCG's team of teaching artists work four specialized, richly-equipped studios - Ceramics, Design Arts, Digital Arts, and Photography - to offer a dynamic array of 10-week courses. Students enroll up to four distinct courses per week, with many also choosing to attend an open studio session on Fridays.In-School and After-school: Divergences and PartnershipsSchools tend to focus on the tangible results of instruction to assess individual student performance. In arts education, this assessment often takes the form of quantifiable results derived from normative rubrics. Manchester Craftsmen's Guild's ATP began with a schoolbased relationship, and continues to enjoy a productive partnership with local schools. However, after 40 years, we firmly believe that the typical ways that schools track student achievement are not well-suited to measure success afterschool learning environments. Over the years, demands from external stakeholders and shifts educational policy toward quantitative evidence of success have required MCG to devote significant human resources to data-driven assessment. Although we can now report statistics about participating students' development, MCG feels that these numbers lack the ability to describe the powerful transformations of students as Individuals and contributing members of MCG's learning community. …
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Jan 1, 2012
Nuray Mamur + 1
Open Access
