ESPrit de Corps

Yes, I really do read books!  My blog title refers to the fact that I’m choosing to recommend two books that I haven’t read yet– books recommended by colleagues that sound very interesting and useful for arts educators.

Livia Vanaver, of Vanaver Caravan and a co-coordinator of the Hudson Valley/Capitol Region RLLN, told me about Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.”  She read a short passage about how exercise, including dance, can stimulate learning and improve memory retention.  This makes a lot of sense to me: active body can help with active brain.

Here’s a blurb from the author’s website: “SPARK is a groundbreaking exploration of the connection between exercise and the brain’s performance that shows how even moderate exercise will supercharge mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen thinking, enhance memory, and much more. SPARK will change forever the way you think about your morning run—or, for that matter, simply the way you think.”

The second book recommendation comes from Jack Langerak, who has several titles including retired teacher, co-coordinator of the Western NY RLLN, and President of the Board of Partners for Arts Education.   Jack’s been reading Dennis Littky’s book, The Big Picture,  as part of one of his other projects, and he told me that the book explained the ideas of whole-school reform in a very accessible and understandable fashion.

Here’s a blurb from the author’s website: “Dennis Littky explains the principles and rationale of a model for schooling that gives students what they need most. Discover how a philosophy of personalized learning–one student at a time–is the key to creating schools where motivated students are engaged in a meaningful curriculum, and academic progress is measured against real-world standards.”

Have you read these books?  Other books by the same authors?  Other books by other authors– that you find particularly powerful for people in the field of arts-in-education? Please, let me know about them!

Cheers,

Phil