PDF File - Art Educators of Minnesota

the View
from Delegates Assembly
By Kris Holsen
Deb Hannu and I were privileged to represent AEM
at the 2013 Delegates Assembly the day before the
NAEA conference in March. Delegates Assembly is
a gathering of 1-2 representatives (depending on
membership numbers) from each state in NAEA (plus
representatives from special interest groups) that
meets to share information and to put forth position
statements on various issues that are of concern to
our members.
This year’s activities began with a Texas greeting with
a group of rowdy costumed characters from a local
theater. NAEA President Dr. Robert Sabol then spoke
to the assembly. He shared his memories of Delegates
assemblies past, and talked about the history of position
statements coming through Delegates Assembly, a
practice that started in New Orleans in 2008. Position
statements are being created for the organization as
advocacy resources. These statements provide both
members and state leaders a way to reference and
utilize the official position of NAEA on various issues
of importance to art education.
Dr. Deborah Reeve, NAEA’s Executive Director then
spoke inspiringly to us about “What if NAEA did not
exist” (See her remarks elsewhere in this newsletter!)
We are so lucky to have Deborah – she is a consummate
professional who cares deeply about our work
and our people.
We were then introduced to the position statements
that were written for our review this year. These ideas
came out of Regional meetings last summer, as well as
continuing conversations from past years’ assemblies.
There were 5 new statements for us to hear about, plus
5 from past years that were brought back for review.
In the afternoon we had poster sessions where all the
new and old statements were posted for us to comment
on and discuss. Deb and I took special interest
in the statement on CTE, and drafted our own rewrite
strengthening the language and adding some specifics.
On Thursday morning the position statements were
brought to us again with rewrites suggested by our
work on Wednesday. The assembly then voted on
each statement.
These are the topics of the 10 statements that were
brought before the Assembly this year. These will be
posted on the NAEA website in their revised forms
soon.
• Arts Integration - passed (MN voted yes).
• CTE statement - passed (Although we feel very
strongly that this issue must be addressed, MN
voted no. We wanted to see some changes in this
statement, such as adding language to include arts
standards, using the term “art” instead of “visual
art” in order to include media arts, and restructuring
the document to include less defensive language.
The revised version presented to us on voting
day was better, but still lacked what we felt were
essential components. Deb and Kris submitted a
rewrite addressing our concerns to Western Region
Vice President Laura Milas on 3/6/13.)
• Teacher Evaluation statement - passed (MN voted
yes).
• Student Assessment statement passed (MN voted
yes). Kris re-sequenced the statement in discussion
and that was mostly how it was reworded. It was
nice to know our work made a difference!
• Distance Learning - passed (MN voted yes).
The past statements that were submitted for review
were as follows:
• 21st century skills - passed as is (MN voted yes).
• Early Childhood Learning – passed (MN voted yes)
with a few grammatical changes.
• College and University Art Museums - passed as
is (MN voted yes).
• Race based mascots did NOT pass (MN voted no).
It was sent back to the Board which may call for
a rewrite.
• Certified/Licensed Visual Art Educators in Pre-K
through 12 School Settings - passed (MN voted yes).
Other exciting news! The Delegates Assembly (including
MN) voted to recommend the creation of a new
Division of NAEA for Pre-Service teachers. Students
– once the Board votes, you will be completely represented
as an equal part of the organization. Student
Chapters will continue to exist – more information
soon on how that will work if the vote goes through.
Student chapters already have a governance system
in place which will help the transition.
The Assembly also voted on some Constitutional/Bylaw
changes which were needed to keep NAEA doing
business properly under the laws of Washington DC.
All in all, Delegates Assembly was a very exciting time.
It is great to meet and greet people from all over the
country who have the same challenges that AEM has
– and to share ideas with the combined creativity and
brainpower of a nation of art teachers. Leadership is
exciting – and I hope more of our members will step
up and join the fun!
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