Quality: A Meaty Subject

What if I told you that I was gonna fix you a steak dinner, but when you came to my house to eat it the kitchen was infested with ants, the steaks had been sitting out all day and I served 'em on a paper plate? Very quickly, you’d realize that even a steak dinner can be an unenjoyable experience if the quality isn’t there. That’s why Big Thought holds Quality Panels - to make sure what Dallas is serving up in- and out-of-school is grade A, prime-cut teaching and learning…

The eighth triannual panel kicked off last Wednesday with a BANG! Fine arts teachers from Dallas ISD, community arts and culture pros, Big Thought staff and national arts education hotshots came together at the Meyerson Symphony Center (home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra) to dig into arts programs in Dallas.

Our task was to go out into the community to watch teachers teach and children learn and then come together in groups based on discipline (theater, visual arts, music and dance) to talk about what we saw. We talked about strengths - how much better the training and support for arts education is now than when we began this process and what we can do to call attention to that. We talked about weaknesses - what's still not clicking, what we need to do to fix it and how we can share the responsibility.

It was an eye-opening experience for many - even veterans of the Quality Panels saw things that were new and different; and that, after all, is the point. We use this in-the-room research and observation to help us make arts education better both in- and out-of-school. It's not for our benefit...it's for the benefit of our community partners, who've stood with us for the last 20+ years to get fine arts back in the curriculum and in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Dallas. It's for the benefit of the educators, who deserve the support and opportunities to improve their techniques and discover new ways to reach children. Most important of all, it's for the benefit of the children of Dallas, who deserve an unparalleled education that prepares them for success throughout their lives.

Now: who wants that steak dinner?