SUZANNE JOYAL
MA IN ART EDUCATION WITH AN EMPHASIS IN SPECIAL POPULATIONS
(SHE / HER / HERS)
THESIS: ADDRESSING IEP GOALS THROUGH THE ARTS AND INCREASING ENGAGEMENT IN STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND PARAEDUCATORS WITH UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING
Given that general education teachers and paraeducators reported limited training opportunities in the arts and said that they would benefit from more arts education opportunities, how did a communitarian approach to lesson design using UDL help teachers, paraeducators and students (stakeholders for this study) use the arts to address their curricular and IEP goals?
Furthermore, how did the actions of educators impact a student’s opportunity to address their IEP goals?
ABSTRACT
This study explored ways in which the arts could be infused into the day-to-day practices of special education teachers and paraeducators to support them in addressing Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals. This study further explored the impact of positive or negative help from teachers, nurses and paraeducators on student engagement. Due to changes in the field (indefinite school closures), half of this project employed remote learning. Findings of the unexpected benefits of observational drawing and portraiture through remote learning were also explored. A communitarian approach to Universal Design for Learning was introduced to two special education classrooms on a suburban high school campus. This intrinsic case study focused on interactions with stakeholders (students experiencing disabilities, teachers, paraeducators, and one-on-one nurses) to better understand their experiences working together. Tools designed to help educators address Individual Education Plans through a creative lens included a template for addressing an IEP goal through a universal design for learning three-step process, a multiple choice survey to help students understand their own learning needs, and a cloud-based ARTS Bank of creative resources for educators to apply to IEPs. Teachers in this project noticed student attention and engagement triple when approaching IEPs through the arts.
KEYWORDS
Universal Design for Learning, Individual Education Plan, Paraeducators, Art Education, Disability Studies, students with disabilities, ARTS Bank
FINDINGS
Discover Joyal's findings in her thesis book, below.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY / ARTIST AS EDUCATOR
I believe that students and teachers should be given the opportunity to find something they are proud of, and that can happen through the arts. It’s important that every student is able to:
• Understand who wrote the story you’re being told, and write their own.
• Understand how our decisions impact others.
• Persevere, keep at a project, search outside of the obvious and ask questions to discover solutions to problems.
• Envision solutions, and take risks to explore new ideas.
• Respect our accomplishments, our peers and our tools.
All students should be given the opportunity and tools to tell their own stories. In my role as teaching artist, I have found that for many students, the arts are the only place where they can shine and excel and feel pride. I believe that learning should be creative, fun and engaging, and that happens with the arts. The arts should play a role in all aspects of learning.
BIO
Suzanne has exhibited her paintings and sculptures at galleries throughout the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Suzanne created and directed Purple Crayon Art Studio in San Francisco for over a decade. She then founded the U.S. branch of Give A Jump Start, a microfinance program for women in Zambia. At Youth in Arts, Suzanne is the creator of the Walker Rezaian Creative HeArts program, a replicable early childhood visual arts curriculum, and the ARTS Bank. She also coaches teaching artists on ways to work with students with disabilities, and provides professional development workshops for educators in arts integration techniques. Suzanne holds a degree in Art History from Wellesley College and has worked as an appraiser of fine prints for Butterfield and Butterfield auction house. This summer, Suzanne received her Master of Arts in Arts Education with a focus on special populations from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia.