On Wednesday, June 13, 2018, TCG invites you to join with education colleagues from across the country to investigate and share observations and learnings along two major themes: 1) Pedagogy and cultural competencies — how we do our work; 2) How we collaborate with other departments within our organizations.

Education Departments – the Front Line on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in our Theatres

How do we talk about class, race, and socio-economics in our education programming? What kind of cultural competency do we need to cultivate?

We will approach the topic with an education-specific lens — in part because of the classroom-to-office transitions that education staff and teaching artists (TAs) routinely make. Often education staff are put in the position of being negotiators between those two worlds. Education departments also lead the way in programming sensory-friendly performances and in engaging with communities through a variety of programs. How do we support our education department staff and TAs, who are attempting to embody EDI values not only within the organization but also within schools? How are TAs approaching topics of race, class, and socioeconomic challenges in the classroom, in post-show conversations, and in community engagement sessions? How do Theatres for Young Audiences prepare their audiences to engage the topical issues that are highly charged and ubiquitous nowadays without becoming overtly political themselves? How do education programs encourage or lead their theatres toward examining these issues? How do education departments bring EDI practices from the department to scale across theatres? Case studies will be shared.

Internal Interactions and Collaborations (Leadership Skills) Within Theatres

How can theatres better leverage the expertise of their education departments?

This pre-conference will also focus on developing the capacity of education staff to serve as leaders within their institutions. How can engagement and education initiatives complement and amplify each other? How can development, marketing, and education departments collaborate and work better together to increase the value of their work?

Please click here for a detailed Education Staff Pre-Conference agenda.

Registration for the Education Staff Pre-Conference may be selected as part of the National Conference registration here. If you would like to attend the Pre-Conference, but cannot attend the Conference proper, please register here.