Teachers plan folklife education activities for their classrooms and examine ways to integrate folklife across curricular areas. Teachers develop an oral history project for students grades 3-12 and cover interviewing mechanics, negotiating problems, point of view, ethical issues, and what to do with the data gathered. Includes interviewing in a senior center. Teachers join community scholars, tradition bearers, and folklorists to teach and learn techniques for research and documentation. Participants explore folklife's uses in education and public programming with special focus on issues of cultural tourism and the economics of traditional cultural expressions.
Participants work on a project throughout the year and meet in fall, winter, and spring.
Washington July 30-August 3, World Music Education, University of Washington School of Music, Seattle, directed by Michael Bakan. Study music from Bali, West Africa, and other nations. The University of Wisconsin Department of Folklore and the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia offer teachers an exploration of folklore genres of Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Wisconsin, where immigrants keep these traditions alive. Participants examine how folklore enriches core curriculum subjects at the elementary level and attend evening cultural events.