Amplifying Youth and Parent Voice to Activate Socially Just Policy Change

The Communication for Motivating Change Oversight Committee is a power-house group of leaders representing Youth Leadership and Youth Artists, Parent Leaders locally and statewide, and experts in communications and lobbying. This group had a conversation about how to collectively transform public education through the arts on May 23, 2012 –

This group will review the synthesis that emerges from the overall conversations, and use it to guide their leadership, decisionamking, community organizing and communications and policy agenda in 2012-13
Mapping the Next 10 Years Conversation
WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?
Our Vision for 2023
The arts are in every school, every day.
There is so much arts funding that arts organizations are struggling to keep up and find ways to resources effectively.
Workers are required to take a 10 minute creative work break every day.
In the future, if a child opens a Time Capsule from 2012 he will be shocked to find out about bubble tests, school schedule with no arts, the CA State Budget and Art Teachers getting “Pink Slips”.
There is no need for on-going advocacy. Everybody accepts and supports the value of Arts.
Arts are integrated into all subjects; and there are full scholarships for teachers who attend and participate in Arts learning trainings. Deep connections are established among arts organizations.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?
In terms of developing youth voice, parent voice and policy change……
Youth:
There are strong examples of youth voice amplified through arts that begins wiht youth experience, draws on community connections, and develops strong artistic skills so that students are creating new culture

Cross-age Relevance Cross-cultural
Inter-generational
Perspective
Radiates out
Media Performances

Parents:
There is now both a statewide and regional focus on the arts as a learning and engagement tool for parents and families.
Opportunities and successful models are in place, such as the California PTA School Smarts program, 100 Families Alameda County and Art Esteem organizing in West Oakland. CAPTA has position statements on the importance of the arts for the whole child.

Policy:
Arts Learning Leaders have successfully built relationships in the Bay Area so that local, state and federal policymakers consult with and listen to us. We have shaped a conversation about the need for new performance assessments that require, rather than push out, deeper learning in and through arts.
We have made progress on our policy agenda as evidenced by a new generation of assessments that will be performance based, and the statewide Create CA initiative to bring arts into California schools.
HOW WILL WE GET TO OUR VISION?
We need to build a popular movement where people understand the power of arts towards a better and shared vision for a future that is socially just.
We need to demystify the political and policy processes in order to support more people to present ideas, develop voices and network. We need to popularize what the issues are and the strategies for building equity and fair distribution of resources.
Organizations working with youth need to collaborate and aggregate the power of youth voice and vision. We must involve youth as essential leaders in the social change effort.
We must get out of the arts education silo and connect with STE(A)M initiatives, pre-schools, common core, etc.
How are Arts a part of the solution?

Identify who we want to communicate with and what we need to do to communicate well. We need to communicate shared values.
Consider how the arts connect youth (all of us) to our future and our dreams.

Create pathways (through collaboration) so that the public can see what kids are doing.

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