The Odyssey Project: Fostering Teacher Learning in the Arts

Canadaʹs national cultural institutions and its largest bilingual university entered into a partnership to offer an integrated arts summer program for classroom teachers which featured artists collaborating with teachers to enhance their arts learning and improve their instructional expertise. This inquiry focused on a description of those dimensions of an arts partnership which foster teachersʹ personal arts learning. Findings indicate that an emerging group culture within the class, characterized by a sense of community, comfort and mutual support, fosters trust, emotional openness and personal risk-taking. These dimensions of the program enabled teachers to explore their own creativity, examine their thoughts and feelings, acknowledge each otherʹs views, understand different perspectives, and engage successfully in artistic activities.