Course Start Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Course End Date: Friday, April 14, 2023

Facilitation Duration: 4 Weeks
Synchronous meetings via Zoom: March 29, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST; and April 10, 7:30-8:30 p.m. EST (both will be recorded, participation not required for course completion)
Registration Fee: $299, 50% off for members with a discount code (see Member Home page)

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Description: This online course will offer participants a deep-dive into the instructional framework of Differentiated Instruction and its application in arts learning environments. Differentiated Instruction practices will be applied to standards-aligned arts instruction (“in” the arts), as well as to arts-integrated settings that meet both arts and academic content standards (“through” the arts).  Differentiated Instruction In and Through the Arts will require active participation, but has been built to invite that engagement through learner choices that differentiate based on professional settings, readiness for advanced content, and learning styles.

Throughout this course, we will consider:

1. How does the framework of Differentiated Instruction support arts, general, and special educators in their efforts to meaningfully engage students with disabilities in standards-aligned instruction? What is the evidence that supports Differentiated Instruction?
2. What are ways to leverage the practices of responding to student interest, readiness, and learning styles to differentiate arts learning goals, arts instruction, arts projects, and the classroom environment?
3. How might Arts Integration offer arts, general, and special educators additional tools and supports to leverage when differentiating instruction?
4. How do the aligned frameworks of Arts Integration and Differentiated Instruction work together to expand learning opportunities for students with disabilities in arts-based and arts-integrated settings?

Participants who satisfy all course requirements will receive a letter of completion from the Kennedy Center as evidence of 20 hours of professional development.

Target Audience: All
Experience Level: Intermediate

Instructor: Jenna Gabriel (she/her) is a Ph.D. student at Virginia Commonwealth University, where her research focuses on how disabled students develop a political identity and the role of art teachers in challenging deficit-based framings of students to advance material transformation in public schools. She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at VCU and at University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where she teaches undergraduate and master’s level coursework related to sociopolitical struggles in education, as well as practicum coursework on arts integration and on supporting students with disabilities in art education. As an independent consultant, Jenna supports schools, districts, and arts culture institutions in addressing issues to better serve individuals with disabilities. She has led professional development workshops, facilitated strategic planning, and conducted research for clients across the country, including the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Guilford County Schools, MINDPOP, The Kennedy Center, Americans for the Arts, and more. She holds a BFA with honors in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and studied Intellectual Disabilities and Autism at Teachers College, Columbia University before completing her Master’s in Education at Harvard University.