Youth Program : Academics
I think my art gets better and better each week, and my clay things look cooler and cooler. – Jonas, Age 9
The PNCA Youth Program offers a wide range of unique art and design classes for children and teens throughout the year. Our school-year courses, smARTworks, and teen workshops serve students between the ages of 4 and 16 years of age. For our younger students, our program is focused around investigative inquiry and play, similar to the Reggio Emilia approach. Reggio principles such as experiential and student directed learning, and the cultivation of student relationships and collaboration are emphasized during the curriculum creation process. For older students this emphasis on experimentation and artistic discovery is paired with a focus on deeper conceptualization of ideas and technical rigor.
The PNCA Youth Program also looks to the Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge Visual Art Standards. Great care is taken to ensure that Youth Program students meet appropriate content and achievement standards at the Elementary, Middle School and early Secondary School level. Students that attend Youth classes at PNCA will learn:
-Different media techniques and processes.
-About art history and its importance in the creative process.
-The role of critique and associated vocabulary.
-The Principles and Elements of Fine Art and Design.
-Creative Problem Solving
-How to use research and reflection as creative tools during the art-making process.
Youth Program Teaching Internship
The Youth Program Teaching Internship provides BFA and MFA students at PNCA with a unique opportunity for pedagogical training and hands-on experience in K – 12 art education. With academic components enhancing onsite work, interns build rich and varied experiences surrounding art education theory and practice.
At PNCA, interns receive pedagogical training under the direction of the Youth Program Coordinator and Youth Program Faculty. This academic study provides grounding in fundamental teaching strategies and principles including classroom management, lesson ideation and implementation, the role of different teaching approaches in the classroom, and children’s stages of artistic development.
Interns work directly with youth students for the duration of the internship. By assisting PNCA Youth Faculty in the instruction of Elementary, Mid-Level and Secondary age students, interns learn ways to translate their pedagogical training into successful delivery of youth art education.
Over the course of the internship semester, interns learn to create and present lesson plans, complete a series of journal entries examining readings and special presentations, as well as a variety of other tasks to enhance their understanding of the arts and how to teach them to a younger audience. Prior to entering a Youth Program classroom, Interns also complete a series of rigorous trainings including First Aid and CPR training, and those associated with the Youth Program’s Safety and Media Policies.
Many BFA and MFA students that have participated in the Youth Program Teaching Internship have gone on to work with the PNCA’s smARTworks Program, instruct ABC Classes on Saturdays, teach in other educational programs around the state, or pursue a graduate degree in Art Education after graduating from PNCA.
