College of Education faculty are leaving the teaching comfort zone through applied curriculum
Alison Leonard and Jennifer Partridge are serious about the arts. As the two College of Education faculty members behind the Arts in the Elementary School course, Leonard and Partridge teach every class through dance, drama, visual arts and music — not as occasional add-ons but as the heart of daily learning.
“Preservice teachers consistently say they want their students to be creative; however, to do that, they need to be prepared to be creative themselves,” Leonard said.
Likewise, if Leonard and Partridge aren’t prepared to leave their own comfort zones, they shouldn’t expect their students to either.
“Children are already ready to dance and sing and be silly, so teachers can’t come into a classroom with their walls built up,” Partridge said. “When a teacher is in front of a room showing their creative side — whatever that may be — it is an invitation to students to learn.”
In Arts in the Elementary School, undergraduates are not learning to be “art” teachers; they are gaining confidence and tools to integrate creativity and the arts into every part of the curriculum. Exploring what it means to be creative in education — whether it comes in the form of learning math through song, painting to understand a science concept or using theater to increase reading retention — all takes place in the Arts and Creativity Lab, a space designed by Leonard and located in Godfrey Hall.
One half of the room is an open space that houses a wooden dance floor, where Leonard and Patridge invite students to create using their bodies. In contrast, the other half is teeming with tables and chairs, cabinets loaded with art supplies, paint brushes drying next to a sink, and art hanging from a clothesline spanning the room.
Leonard notes that many students begin the class thinking that art equates to painting or drawing and wonder how that will help them teach math, reading and writing. All arts are forms of literacy, she explained.
“When a teacher is in front of a room showing their creative side — whatever that may be — it is an invitation to students to learn.”
Jennifer Partridge
“For example, visual art is inherently mathematical, relying on lines, shapes and patterns,” she said. “We also read and write with our bodies and gestures, communicating ideas and expressing ourselves.”
“I think one of the main goals early on in a semester is letting our students know that we’re not judging their artistic skills,” Partridge said with a laugh. “Some of the most compelling lessons in any class, regardless of subject matter, can come from a teacher approaching the material from a creative, hands-on direction.”
Leonard said she has seen this creative approach work time and again; she even sees her students apply it to other coursework. Partridge challenged her students to create a dance to help them memorize information for a midterm. “They came back after the midterm rejoicing because a ‘silly’ dance helped them nail it! So, if you see students dancing in their seats during a test, there may be a method at work there.”
Students with intellectual disabilities or behavioral issues are audiences that also benefit from creativity in a curriculum, and it’s a student population that College of Education alumni increasingly serve. In 2025, the College experienced a 22 percent increase in first-time student commitments to its special education programs, which is more than four times the national average for similar programs.
Partridge said that children who have difficulty communicating can often express themselves better through the arts. While the Arts in the Elementary School course is required for the elementary education program’s accreditation, it is not required for either early childhood education or special education accreditation. The College requires the course anyway, much to Leonard and Partridge’s delight.
“It just shows that our College understands how important the arts are for problem-solving and adaptation,” Leonard said. “Students with special education needs tend to be great artists; dance and theater can help with emotional regulation, and creativity thrives in those settings. Our teachers can take all these proven concepts, put them in their toolboxes and take them into any school and apply them.”
