This qualitative case study focuses on the development of an interdisciplinary program in a Massachusetts urban elementary school over a fourteen month period as it moved from a teacher-directed approach to a student-directed one. An underlying assumption in this study is that integration of the arts supports learning. The interdisciplinary approach employs collaboration of teachers from different disciplines. The researcher in this study is also the art specialist. This study is a teacher's story viewed through a researcher's lens. One question which intrigued this researcher is: Who should choose the interdisciplinary connections, topics, and related arts projects--teachers or students? The naturalistic methodology of qualitative research utilized in this study included data collected through a researcher's journal, participant observer field notes, formal and informal interviews, researcher-made survey questionnaires, videotapes, and student projects. The study examined three focuses: different approach styles, effect of collaborating teachers' role on the learning environment, and factors affecting students' choices when deciding topics and interdisciplinary connections for projects. One conclusion drawn from data revealed that the development of the program was unique to each collaborating team. Although seven approach styles unfolded, the same style used with some teams developed differently. Factors included prior experiences, comfort level, constant reflection and feedback. Concerns inhibiting development included time to plan and scheduling limitations. The effect of the collaborating teachers' role on the learning environment disclosed both interpersonal and intrapersonal characteristics. Collaborating teachers experienced leader, assistant, co-leader, and facilitator roles. Teachers were flexible and adaptable in each role although, at times, the roles felt uncomfortable. The program's development influenced personal teaching strategies and styles, and fostered companionship among members. One concern to emerge was the learning environment itself. It appeared that the location (classroom or art room) effected the choices and effort students put into their projects. Another conclusion drawn from this study is that students should have a voice in the process of learning. Grade four students favored choices in the decision making process and experiences which involved movement or manipulation of materials. These conclusions support elements of brain-based learning and learning through the arts.

Since the 1970's collaborations, partnerships, and networks between schools and universities have been increasing. As Goodlad points out we no longer have to justify the value of school/university partnerships, but it is the descriptions of the processes that are lacking (Goodlad in Sirotnik & Goodlad, 1988). I have studied a partnership among a public elementary school, a university school of education, and two cultural institutions. The focus of the partnership was on the arts as the entry point to broader and deeper approaches to teaching and learning. A review of literature related to school/university partnerships and artists in the schools and the integration of the arts in the curriculum provides a foundation for this study. The case study design using in-depth and informal interviewing and participant observation was developed from a review of the nature of the phenomena to be studied. This inquiry was guided by the question: What factors, circumstances or environments within the partnership process foster the development of all participants as learners? The study examines the planning year and one year of implementation. During the planning year of this study I focused on an overview of the development of the three year art partnership plan and the efforts to lay the foundation for implementation of the plan. A description of the work with artists, university consultant, and the Cultural Education Collaborative's summer institute in the arts serves to show how that foundation was built. During the year of implementation the study focuses on the process of two pilot teachers as they interfaced with the components of the partnership program: the infusion of the arts in the curriculum, modeled by artists in residence, and experiential learning opportunities aided by interns and a consultant from the University School of Education partner. Conclusions drawn from the data indicate that the school community was energized by the involvement of community resources such as artists, consultants, interns et al. when their involvement was relevant to the interests and stated goals of the participants. This school/university (school of education) partnership provided a way for teachers and interns to reflect on their practice at their own pace. When participants come together open to ideas different from their own, and open to experiences new to them, personal and professional growth occurred. The arts were a vehicle for getting in touch with their creative potential. Recommendations for further research are presented.

This research explored the effects of implementing a curriculum based on important principles of Waldorf education with a Latino student population enrolled in a Transitional Bilingual Education program for gifted Hispanic students attending a public school in central Massachusetts. Qualitative research methods were employed in order to record how the students interpreted specific experiences and to gain insight and understanding concerning the impact of a curriculum based on Waldorf education principles used with bilingual/bicultural students. The study focused on two groups of bilingual gifted classrooms--a sixth grade in a Magnet school and a fourth grade in a community school. All of the students were Puerto Rican with the exception of one girl from El Salvador. Data used for this research study were collected for a period of four months through observation, videotaping, audiotaping, student interviews, and field notes. The finished products of the students were also considered data. The research revealed that the students became connected to the curriculum in three stages--social, physical, and cognitive. The cognitive connection to the curriculum occurred most successfully when artistic activities preceded the introduction of intellectual concepts. This finding is compatible with the research of Martin L. Albert, Lorraine K. Obler, and Kenji Hakuta concerning language formation in bilingual individuals. Increased use of verbal language in the native and second language of the students, a positive sense of self, and increased motivation to learn were noted as results from the students' involvement with the curriculum. Recommendations were made by the researcher to reform traditional public school teaching practices so that a culturally and educationally relevant curriculum might be developed for language and culture minority Latino students.