Teacher

1. Share information

Communicate and engage with your students

• Share information about the coming performance with your students. Think motivation and inspiration.
• Sit with your students during the performance and share the experience with them.

Add performances to the weekly schedule

• Add the performance to the week’s schedule for parents to see.  Share a link to more information or a video presentation, if available.

Communicate with the parents

• Add art performances to the annual working plan and inform parents at the beginning of the school year of productions that students will experience during the year.

Join the Culture Team and work together with Culture Crew

• If your school has a Culture Team, ask to join and contribute with your expertise.
  A Culture Team consists of management, students and teachers with different backgrounds and makes plans around the school’s art programme. They also participate in the selection of performances, when possible.
• As a part of the Culture Team you may also be able to work with the Culture Crew, a group of students who assist in organizing events at the school. When the Culture Team and Culture Crew come together, they are able to draw on their different perspectives which gives a better result – and also doing things together makes it more fun. 

2. Be a good guide and role model

Sit among the students and share the art experience

• Spread out and take part in the experience with the students, whenever appropriate.

Be a good role model

• Show interest and engagement during performances.

Guide the students in how to be a good member of the audience

• Talk to students about what it means to be a good audience. How does their behavior affect other students, and how does it affect the performers on stage?

3. Give learning a chance

Have a short debrief with the students immediately following an art experience

• This gives students an opportunity to digest and share their thoughts, which in turn allows them to learn more from the experience. It also makes art and culture a more natural part of the school culture for teachers in all disciplines.
• Use a few simple questions that encourage reflection. See questions you can use below.

Talk about the performance beforehand and allow the students to express their feelings afterwards

• Before: Focus on motivation and inspiration.

• After: Let the students share their feelings but give them time to contemplate alone first.
• You can also consider giving a homework assignment linked to the experience, for example ask the students to share their understanding of the performance and their opinion on it.

Discuss the theme of the performance

• Try to get a deeper understanding of the theme together with the students.

Play music from coming concerts

• Play music from coming music artists as background music when appropriate. This way the music is familiar when the concert takes place.

Practice language skills

• Use the art experience for students to practice language skills (foreign or native). They could for example post a short commentary on social media (Instagram or other).

Write reviews

• Use the art experience for students to write reviews in lessons or as a part of an exam.

Keep a Culture Diary/Log

• Give students the possibility to reflect, digest and express themselves before and after a performance.
  Before: What are your expectations?
  Afterwards: What was different from your expectation? How did you like it?
• Depending on the age of the student, ask them to draw a picture, add a photo or write a text. When students have finished one book, they get a new one and it follows them through their years at the school. Digital methods are also possible, particularly for older students.

Reflect on the culture in your school with your students

• Talk about the culture in your school and how values such as diversity and inclusion fit in. You can use examples close to home, for example Jane is a maths teacher, and she loves sci-fi novels.

Gallups and feedback

• Ask the students for their opinions on art performances and make sure they complete any evaluation forms that you have been given.

• Let students express their feelings about performances on evaluation boards in communal areas. This allows the students to reflect, digest and express themselves after experiencing a performance or other cultural activities.