Spotlight
Artful Teachers
| USFSM
How can an artist’s love of creativity and beauty make a difference in a child’s life? One way is to become an elementary school teacher and infuse learning with a uniquely arts-integrated curriculum.
With the Sarasota area so celebrated for its rich arts and culture heritage, it’s especially appropriate that USFSM’s College of Education is helping artists make a fluid transition to teaching.
The Center of Partnerships for Arts-Integrated Teaching (PAInT) has partnered with State College of Florida and Ringling College of Art & Design on the “Artist-to-Teacher” program — paving a seamless transfer process so that students can complete their A.A. degree with an emphasis in fine arts at State College, then earn a bachelor’s in Elementary Education at the College of Education, or complete a B.A. or B.F.A. at Ringling College and a Master of Arts in Teaching at USFSM. Either path leads to state licensure as a Florida public schools teacher.
“Elementary teaching is by nature integrated and can clearly benefit from the model of arts infusion that we practice,” says Dean Terry Osborn of the College of Education. “‘Artist-to-Teacher’ enriches our partnerships with our neighboring institutions of higher learning and helps create dynamic professionals who will improve our classrooms and learning outcomes for all students.”