Cultural Agents Inc

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“To promote divergent thinking of arts and humanities in the service of solutions to real life problems. In courses, conferences and community- based projects, we join a range of creative collaborators to feature art and interpretation as integral to active humanities, as catalysts for social change in order to advance creative solutions to social challenges in the united states and internationally. Along with public events, seminars and conferences to promote art and artful thinking as resources for leadership, provide training for educators at all levels to integrate art activities into academid teaching in order to promote high-order literacy, innovation, and citizenship.”

“The teacher training program is called pre-texts. Pre-texts is a train- the-trainers pedagogy developed by the cultural agents initiative at harvard university, and available to outside partners through cultural agents, inc. The methodology combines three complementary goals of holistic education: high-order literacy, innovation, and citizenship. The simple protocol of pre-texts turns educators into facilitators for student-centered learning. Unlike conventional pedagogy (in which teachers pose questions and know answers), here the students formulate their own questions to a text and then speculate about possible responses. They also "go off on tangents" to connect independent reading with classroom texts. The program achieves "close reading" by stimulating a range of interpretations. It fosters autonomy and collaboration by students who re-purpose texts and other materials for participatory, eco-friendly, learning. The approach adjusts to the tastes and talents of participants who explore difficult texts as points of departure, pretexts for making art (painting, music, dance, theater, writing, technology, fashion, photography, cooking, etc.). As artists, students become users of challenging vocabulary, grammar and concepts in any field, often exploring their personal feelings and concerns. Original work by other students awakens admiration among classmates and sets the ground for good citizenship.”