Center for Learning in the Arts, Sciences and Sustainability

In 2002, the University of California San Diego ArtsBridge America program initiated a project, funded by the National Geographic Society Education Foundation, that was designed to address the lack of standards-based geography content and culture-based arts instruction within San Diego elementary schools. Representatives from host ArtsBridge institutions identified the following factors contributing to this deficiency: • a perceived lack of arts and geography competence amongst elementary educators; • limited knowledge of arts and geography lesson planning resources and educational standards; • increased pressure to prepare pupils for standardized testing that does not include geography or art topics; • and district mandates that limit time spent on topics other than literacy and math. This curriculum represents a Geography through Music curriculum developed by ArtsBridge with funding from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation. Mapping the Beat was built around three main concepts—environment, identity, and movement—that reflected the standards outlined in Geography for Life, the full national geography standards publication for teachers, curriculum developers, and other educators. These particular themes were selected for their parallel significance in the study of music. In the classroom, these three concepts were explored through the analysis of graphic reproductions of space and demographics, discussions in oral and written form and participation in musical and performance-based activities.

The Dancing History Collection provides new source materials for inquiry in dance history and culture, using reconstruction as a methodology for research. The emphasis of the Collection is to enable the performance of representative movement from different places and times, to deepen dance research practice that has relied heavily on viewing dances. The Dancing History Collection: Cultural Dances, Part 1 contains nine dances from six countries: Israel; Vietnam; India; Nigeria; Argentina and Finland. Each chapter includes factual information, descriptions, and an intra-cultural perspective derived from oral interviews of cultural, historical, or stylistic experts.

New understanding can be gained by reconstructing dances, entering them, and identifying what the experience of the dances entails. The Collection provides original Labanotation scores that document cultural dances that have not previously been available in dance score format for reconstruction. Reconstructions of the dances reveal how they work with variables such as: the design of space; level of movement difficulty; involvement of different parts of the body; music/dance relationships; and the use of individual dancers versus pairs of dancers, or groups made of many pairs or individuals.

The Dancing History Collection provides new source materials for inquiry in dance history and culture, using reconstruction as a methodology for research. The emphasis of the Collection is to enable the performance of representative movement from different places and times, to deepen dance research practice that has relied heavily on viewing dances. The Dancing History Collection: Cultural Dances, Part 1 contains nine dances from six countries: Israel; Vietnam; India; Nigeria; Argentina and Finland. Each chapter includes factual information, descriptions, and an intra-cultural perspective derived from oral interviews of cultural, historical, or stylistic experts.

New understanding can be gained by reconstructing dances, entering them, and identifying what the experience of the dances entails. The Collection provides original Labanotation scores that document cultural dances that have not previously been available in dance score format for reconstruction. Reconstructions of the dances reveal how they work with variables such as: the design of space; level of movement difficulty; involvement of different parts of the body; music/dance relationships; and the use of individual dancers versus pairs of dancers, or groups made of many pairs or individuals.

In a naturalistic pre-post design, samples of saliva were collected from the members of a professional chorale during an early rehearsal (n=31), a late rehearsal (n=34) and a public performance (n=32) of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. As measures of immune system response, mean levels of secretory immunoglobulin A increased significantly, as a proportion of whole protein, 150% during rehearsals and 240% during the performance. Cortisol concentrations decreased significantly an average of 30% during rehearsals and increased 37% during performance. As measured through performance perception rating scales, a group of emotions and other experiential states that singers associated with professional singing were highly predictive of changes in level of secretory immunoglobulin A during the performance condition, but the results for the rehearsal conditions were not significant. The best multiple regression model for performance level of immunoglobulin A (p < .0015) included seven emotional, cognitive, and evaluative variables generally associated with choral singing, including levels of mood before and during singing, stress, relaxation, feeling "high," detachment/engagement, and specific satisfaction with the immediate performance.

In recent years, as society’s expectations have evolved, institutions of higher education and their communities are coming to understand the levels at which they are interdependent. At the same time, many leaders in educational reform are realizing the need for systemic change across all levels of schooling. K-12 schools are turning to resources from outside agencies rather than relying solely on their districts for support. In an environment where colleges and universities are reevaluating their missions to include public service and where K-12 schools are searching for external assistance, both parties’ interests may be joined through the formation of school-university partnerships. The time is optimal for those in higher education to combine efforts with those in K-12 on reform issues throughout the educational pipeline, in collaborations that maximize resources as well as potential results. This paper reviews the need for school-university partnerships and introduces some common partnership models, concluding with the key characteristics that have been found to be necessary for their success.

Contemporary public schools focus intensely on academic success. Social-emotional development is given only incidental attention. When families are not prepared to take up the slack, emotional growth may be impeded, resulting in dimished social skills, industriousness, and ability to cope with stress. This book describes recent changes in public schools and provides parents with guidelines for helping children to thrive.