Teacher-led professional development in arts and culture: promoting teacher ability to engage students using their place

Sandra J. King
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:44:33 PDT

This project is a piece of the SILKAT (Sustaining Indigenous and Local Knowledge, Arts, and Teaching) Grant that is funded by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. It describes the development of one of the professional developments modules as well as two of the cultural art units that make up the Professional Development Course and Cultural K-12 Art Curriculum that are being created for the Bering Strait School District as (BSSD) a part of this grant. The professional development module described leads teachers through learning the core practice of "engaging students with their place." This is extremely valuable in all areas, but especially the BSSD, as the schools are very remote, located in Alaska Native villages off of the road system. The art units will address the cultural values of "understanding others" and "hard-work/self-sufficiency." These values will be reinforced using appropriate studio habits of mind that are transferable skills to any content or situation.