Gail Sehlhorst
Primary Discipline:Theatre Areas of Specialty: Acting, Directing, Adapting literature for performance
Based in: Seattle
Biography: For eleven years, Gail has worked as a theatre teaching artist in K-12 classrooms with ACT, Arts Impact, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre. Recently, Gail was the Program Manager for ArtsEd Washington’s Principals’ Arts Leadership program – an organization that addresses inequities in arts education among Washington’s schools through principal leadership, team building and arts implementation. For 7 years she was the Education Director for Book-It Repertory Theatre’s Arts Education Program, Book-It All Over, growing the program from touring performances to one with residencies, teacher professional development and student matinees. Gail’s focus as a teaching artist and consultant is to develop curricula and programs that integrate drama and literacy with classroom content and teacher professional development that incorporates theatre into the classroom. Gail received a BFA in Acting from New York University and a M.Ed. from the University of Washington in Curriculum and Instruction: Language, Literacy, and Culture.
When asked about her approach as a Teaching Artist, Gail wrote this: "My teaching philosophy is two-fold – to learn in and through the arts and to bridge cultural and social differences through the creative process of drama. Art has the capacity to equalize the educational inequities present in our school system, particularly when integrated into classroom curriculum. Constant reflection and revision are inherent in the creative process. When students learn through an artistic process they first construct knowledge of what they are learning through the creation of an artistic product; then they reflect on and revise the product; and finally they offer the product to a larger community, which may lead to additional revisions based on the public response. This process gives students two or three opportunities to internalize what they are learning, thereby meeting the needs of every child and supporting the habits of mind that create critical thinkers. Our society needs creative, critical thinkers. The process of art can do this."
Suitable for Grades: K-12 Curriculum Integration Possibilities:Literacy/Reading/Writing, Math, History/Social Studies, Other Arts Disciplines
Additional Interests/Experience:
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