TATI (Teaching Artists Training Institute)

Since 2007, the Teaching Artists Training Institute (TATI)  has served four classrooms at PS 37R, a self-contained school for special-needs students in Staten Island, NY, with 12-week residencies in visual arts and physical theater. The TATI program provides the opportunity for  arts educators to train in working with students on the autism spectrum, through observation of and reflection on these residencies with experts in the field of education for students with autism. For the 2011-12 school year, we hope that the program will expand, adding a third senior Marquis Studios artist to teach percussion, and two Practica for trainees ready to make the leap into teach in District 75. Working closely with classroom teachers, as well as the school’s specialists such as occupational, speech, and physical therapists, the Master Teaching Artists use residencies to model teaching strategies for the 20 participating trainees: to demonstrate how to further students’ development of social, communicative, sensory-motor, and critical thinking skills through the arts. Through a series of professional development seminars and focused observational visits to Arts Academy residencies, TATI builds the field of arts educators equipped to work with autistic children.

For more information on the TATI program and how to apply for our next year of training, please contact Maxine Montilus. Applications for participation will be available in the Winter 2011; acceptance is competitive, but Marquis Studiosencourages arts educators at all stages of their careers to apply to take part in TATI, as we believe that the greatest possible diversity in our pool of trainees will make for the richest experience in the program.