Learning Series Dates:
February 10th: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
February 24th: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
March 10th: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Cost:
FREE
2026 CRAE Virtual Learning Sessions
Culturally Responsive Arts Education for the Moment We’re In!
We have heard a consistent need from the field: educators want meaningful, culturally responsive professional learning that is reflective, practical, and community-centered — but in formats that allow for greater flexibility and shorter time commitments.
In response, the 2026 CRAE Workout has been reimagined into three focused virtual learning sessions designed for flexible participation while maintaining the intention and community at the heart of Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Arts Education Workout.
A Three-Session Virtual Learning Series on Culturally Responsive Arts Education
This interactive series invites arts educators, supervisors, administrators, school board members, teaching artists, parents, and nonprofit leaders into a shared exploration of culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining practice in arts education.
Through guided reflection, facilitated dialogue, and practical tools, participants examine how identity, culture, and curriculum shape learning spaces — and how small, intentional shifts can lead to more inclusive, affirming, and effective learning experiences for students.
The three sessions are intentionally designed as a cohesive arc. Each session can stand alone, but together they support a deeper progression from personal reflection to instructional and curricular action.
Please register by Monday, February 2, 2026
About the Sessions
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
4:00 - 5:30pm, with an optional additional 30 minutes of office hours
What’s in Your Cultural Suitcase? The What and Why of Building a Culturally Responsive Classroom
This opening session introduces the concept of the cultural suitcase — the lived experiences, identities, values, and assumptions that educators and students bring into learning spaces.
Participants will:
- Reflect on personal identity, culture, and lived experience
- Explore how belonging and community agreements support student engagement
- Consider how educators can create spaces where students feel seen, valued, and affirmed
The session centers relationship-building, shared language, and the foundational “why” of culturally responsive practice.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
4:00 - 5:30pm, with an optional additional 30 minutes of office hours
Excavating Identity for Culturally Responsive Practice
Building on Session 1, this session invites participants to dig more deeply into identity, purpose, and positionality. Using identity-mapping tools and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz’s Archeology of Self™, participants will:
- Examine educator origin stories and social identity
- Reflect on how identity shapes expectations, relationships, and practice
- Translate self-reflection into classroom practice grounded in critical love and care
The session concludes with an “I Am” poem as a reflective and practical tool for educators.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
4:00 - 5:30pm, with an optional additional 30 minutes of office hours
From Reflection to Action: Using the CRAE Curriculum Scorecard
The final session shifts from reflection to application, introducing CRAE Curriculum Scorecard — a practical tool designed to support culturally responsive curriculum review and development.
Participants will:
- Learn how to use the scorecard flexibly, individually or with a team
- Examine cultural representation, social justice, and instructional supports within arts curricula
- Identify strengths, surface gaps, and outline actionable next steps
The scorecard is designed to support standards-aligned instruction while centering equity, relevance, and student voice.
Please register by Monday, February 2, 2026
While each session can stand on its own, participants are encouraged to attend the full series for a connected, practice-focused learning experience. Each session includes optional office hours for extended conversation, questions, and support.
"I was inspirational and really helped to create community in a virtual time. I felt seen, heard and valued as a member of a group of committed educators. Thank you"
– Adjunct, Professor
"Thank you for this opportunity. I has helped me grow as an educator. The quality of resource materials, curricular alignment rubrics, videos, and making prompts were exceptional."
– Elementary Arts Educator, Bridgeton, NJ
"The new learning will improve my instructional strategies, building positive classroom culture, building bridges to parents, and voicing curricular weakness to my supervisors with evidence."
– Elementary Arts Teacher, Bridgeton, NJ
"I think that the Personal Reflection Prompts and the Virtual Weekly Conversations resonated most with me. There is a lot of literature and media out there about CRAE, but teaching is a personal practice, and reflecting on how I, my colleagues, and my students might interact with those concepts was, in some ways, more useful to me than reading about the concepts themselves."
– High School Arts, Passaic, NJ
"[The] Reflections resonate [with] me. It was very emotional to see what I am doing and not doing. I look forward to the convos and the brave space."
– Elementary Arts Educator, Bridgeton, NJ
"Great resources and reflection. Can be done on [my] own time. Just enough time - not a huge commitment..."
– Department Chairperson of Visual and Performing Arts
"While I consider myself fairly attuned to bias, I learned that there are subtle messages in the Arts that I had missed."
– Former Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
FAQ
ABOUT THE CRAE WORKOUT
Since 2021, the Culturally Responsive Arts Education (CRAE) Workout has supported educators, school leaders, and arts partners across New Jersey in deepening their understanding of culturally responsive and sustaining practice in the arts. Through a structured, accessible 8-weeks of curated content, practical tools, and guided conversations, participants have explored identity and positionality, examined curriculum through an equity lens, and strengthened their ability to create affirming, inclusive learning environments for students. Grounded in real classroom contexts and informed by research and educator voice, the CRAE Workout has helped shift practice from intention to action.
Arts Ed NJ looks forward to offering the CRAE Workout again in January 2027, continuing this space for collective learning, reflection, and growth as the field responds to evolving student, community, and policy needs.
