Innovations in Teaching, Learning and Leading: Highlights from the NAEA Conference

Article By: Jennifer Long
Published: April 25, 2008

Art educators from around the country—including SCAD professional education professors Kristie Bruzenak and Debra Ambush—gathered for the 2008 National Art Education Association conference March 26-30 in New Orleans, La. The conference offered hands-on workshops and presentations by professors, graduate students and PK-12 teachers. Sessions were organized by education division and art education topics. The conference presentations were punctuated by “super sessions” that brought together nationally recognized experts who addressed current issues in art education.

Bruzenak and Ambush focusing on attending sessions that related to the preparation of art educators. Issues such as the relationship between the ideal practices taught in education classrooms and the realities of the classroom were discussed as educators exchanged their individual practices, success stories and solutions for program concerns. This collegial support and shared experience is what attracts art educators to the conference. Participants left with possibilities for program development and renewed energy. Bruzenak shared the unique framework of SCAD’s new M.A.T. program and gathered information from colleagues for further program development. 

Conversation with colleagues was one of the highlights of conference attendance. “Listening to descriptions of the impact of New Orleans refugees/evacuees on the classrooms of West Virginia and Texas brought home the point that we need to remember we are teaching students, not just subject content,” said Bruzenak. “The state of mind in the learner influences the learning possible, and needs to be considered when determining the teaching strategies to be used.”

In her report to M.A.T. students, Bruzenak described how conference attendance strengthens teaching practice and fuels professional development. She also described how the conference’s large art material commercial exhibitors hall helps educators stay abreast of new media developments and offers opportunities for teachers to ask questions of the manufacturers. Bruzenak provided each of her students with a written report of her experience at the conference and surprised them with gifts of media samples and information she gathered for them from the exhibitors.