It is of vital importance for folklorists and educators of all types to come together in this political and social environment to discuss one of the cornerstones of civil society—education. Local Learning will be at the Future of American Folkloristics May 18-20 at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, IN. Please join Lisa Rathje to discuss the role and relevance of folklore in education if you are at the conference. If you cannot attend, please feel free to be in touch with your ideas and concerns for the work of Local Learning and others in this field. Send these to lisa@locallearningnetwork.org.
Here is more about the workshop–we would love to hear from you!
Local Learning began as an education initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 1993. The goal of Folk Arts in Education initiatives from the beginning included the desire to equip teachers with tools, strategies, experiences, and resources so they may help their students connect to local knowledge and culture. Since 1993, Local Learning has grown from an NEA task force to serving the field as a National Arts Service Organization. As we approach our 25th anniversary, this conference presents an important opportunity to consider the relevance and resilience of folklore and education in the current climate of education reform and political uncertainty. It is of vital importance for folklorists and educators of all types to come together in this political and social environment to discuss one of the cornerstones of civil society—education. The goals of this facilitated workshop will be twofold: 1) Provide a forum for participants to share insights, challenges, and observations from the field of education—be it K-12, university, museum, library, or other community-based education site; and 2) Begin to craft an action plan for greater visibility of folklore within education and to identify important and strategic ways that we can use the vehicle of Folklore in Education for larger goals of justice and inter-cultural understanding.