Certified Teaching Artist? Using Professional Development to Train Mentors, Teachers, and Community Workers in a Teaching Artist’s Approach

Abstract This article examines the challenges faced and lessons learned while developing the SPEAK Young Women’s Vocal Empowerment Curriculum and leading 30 educators through a Professional Development Training on the curriculum in Guatemala in 2019. The guiding question is, What does it take to train non–teaching artists in the skills needed to lead a curriculum traditionally taught by teaching artists? This is the first in a series of two articles that examine this guiding question through the lens of a Voz Empoderada Diplomado, or Vocal Empowerment Certificate Program, led by teaching artists for 30 educators, mentors, and community workers in Guatemala. This first installment introduces the author as a teaching artist, her approach and experience with professional development, the development of the SPEAK Young Women’s Vocal Empowerment Curriculum, the design of the training program, and the initial lessons learned.