Local LearningThe National Network for Folk Arts in Education

Conducts workshops in New York and other regions to develop and refine engagement strategies, culturally responsive pedagogy, and trauma-informed arts education practices for educators and teaching artists.

Provides artist training programs that center cultural knowledge and skills for sharing with learners, including training in classroom management, lesson planning, and alignment with academic curricula, as well as year-long professional development and mentorship programs for teaching artists.

Provides support to teachers and artists in developing folk arts curricula aligned with academic standards for students of all ages, including guidance on integrating cultural knowledge and life skills into classroom learning.

Provides national consultancy through a 5-year program funded by the U.S. Department of Education to strengthen arts and culture programming in education at the systemic level.

Operates a national network focused on engaging young people and citizens in traditional culture, local culture, and folklore, connecting practitioners across the United States.

Organizes public showcases featuring local teachers and traditional artists to share cultural arts and knowledge integrated into classrooms, promoting community engagement and visibility of folk arts education.

Promotes folk arts in education resources to support intercultural understanding through dissemination and outreach efforts.

Offers teacher training institutes and workshops for school districts and state agencies to integrate cultural perspectives into classroom learning, including summer workshops and ongoing professional development opportunities.

Distributes a quarterly e-bulletin four times per year featuring new resources, books, job opportunities, and projects in the field of folklore and education.

Facilitates crowdsourcing of community archives and collections to support teaching and learning with primary sources, enabling educators to explore cultural knowledge and lived experiences in classrooms and afterschool settings.

Provides a digital forum for interdisciplinary, multimedia approaches to community-based teaching, learning, and cultural stewardship, supporting knowledge exchange across educators, artists, and communities.

Provides K-12 teachers in Philadelphia with fully funded 5-visit classroom residencies in collaboration with teaching artists during the 2026–2027 school year; supports each teaching artist in completing a paid classroom residency.

Implements a nine-year spiral residency program involving over 500 students annually, with the same visual artist returning each year for one-week engagements to build sustained artistic and educational relationships.

Maintains a library of classic folklife education texts, current research, and case studies; publishes an annual peer-reviewed, open-access journal and research using ethnographic approaches; produced the book 'Through the Schoolhouse Door: Folklore, Community, Curriculum' presenting best practices for integrating folk culture into education.

Provides educational resources including activities, research, case studies, interview guides, lesson plans, and teaching tools that integrate digital archival holdings with local collections for classroom use; maintains a repository of teacher-tested folk arts activities accessible through custom search tools.

Provides professional development certificates and documentation for ACT 48 hours to participating teachers, supporting formal recognition of training completed through workshops and residencies.