This year the Teachers Institute at the BrooklynMuseum celebrates a century of progressive education

This year the Teachers Institute at the BrooklynMuseum celebrates a century of progressive education and teacher-focusedprogramming. The Teachers’ Institute was established when the Board of Educationof NYC asked the Brooklyn Museum if they could host the lectures in theMuseum’s auditorium. Grace Strachan, the District Superintendent, hoped to takeadvantage of the Museum’s connections with Brooklyn schools in addition totheir large auditorium and galleries. The Institute was considered such asuccess that William Henry Fox (the Director of the Museum) decided toreplicate the programing in later years and plan “a co-operative scheme forhooking up the Museum and its splendid exhibits with the educational work ofBrooklyn.”Though the Institute was initiated by the Board ofEducation, it fit well into the Brooklyn Museum’s roster of educationalprogramming. The Museum was part of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts (BIAS) andSciences, which included the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Academy ofMusic, and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The BIAS had near constanteducational programming in the early 1900s. Public lectures on a wide range oftopics, from astronomy and engineering to dance and world events, were held ona weekly basis at the BIAS’ various venues. At the turn of the twentieth century, accessible publiceducation was a radical idea. As new compulsory education laws in New YorkState were introduced, public teachers’ roles were being redefined. The 1916Summer Institute seized upon this wave of change, and offered lectures thatfocused on educating students for an uncertain future, and definingexpectations of a public school graduate.In 2017, as weprepare to launch the 100th summer Teachers Institute at theBrooklyn Museum, we call upon this legacy of teacher-focused, radical, andinclusive programming. This year’s Teachers Institute has been reimagined as aFeminist Freedom School. Focusing on AYear of Yes exhibitions, and the Museum’s permanent collection, theInstitute will celebrate the Museum’s legacy of community collaboration andinnovative programming, while keeping a critical eye on the future and thedemands and expectations of public education. Posted by Katie EliotPhoto: Brooklyn Museum Archives. Photograph Collection [S06]. Brooklyn Museum: exterior. View of the Grand Staircase and West Wing from base of the staircase, showing teachers from District 33 and 34 sitting on the Grand Staircase during sessions of the Teachers’ Institute, 09/11/1916 (1916), 1916. Bw negative4x5in. Brooklyn Museum. Quote: Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Office of the Director (W.H. Fox, 1913-33).  -- source link

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