Delaware Art Education Association Position Statements for Moving Forward While the struggle was real for teachers across the globe, art teachers awaited further guidance from Governor Carney and Secretary Bunting, like everyone else. During that time DAEA shared these beliefs when planning for the 2020-21 school year. These ideas ideas are imperative for the longevity of teaching art. To provide the best visual art instructional delivery for Delaware’s learners, DAEA believes:
Current arts programs must remain active and students must have equal access to arts education and basic art supplies in any learning environment by a certified visual art educator. Visual art educators should teach in their content areas, as the arts are essential to education in Delaware.
The Delaware Visual Arts Standards can be taught with flexibility and support for modifications based on health and safety recommendations in any learning environment. Visual art educators must be limited to the same number of student exposures as other teachers. Schools should design a block or rotating schedule and assign fewer students to arts teachers than typical class sizes to permit greater levels of individual attention due to social distancing requirements for face to face, hybrid, or virtual learning. (ie. Elementary students may be limited to one arts discipline per cycle)
Educators in the same district and division should have common expectations for instructional delivery (ie. synchronous, asynchronous, schedules), common planning time, and PLC.
Educators should be encouraged to participate in content-related professional development.