Training
Click here to see a schedule of VTS training events.
Workshops & Presentations
One-day workshops introducing VTS practice and theory for those who are curious about VTS, scheduled in different locations throughout the year, and can also be contracted for a particular site and time.
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VTS Practica
Two-day workshops focused on developing VTS facilitation skills. This is a beginning level training for people who have had little or no experience with VTS. While some time is allotted to examining theoretical underpinnings of VTS, the focus is helping participants learn to do VTS well.
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School Trainer Institutes (STI)
These institutes prepare educators to implement VTS whole school professional development programs. The complete series consists of three 4-day workshops separated by an academic year. Between sessions, participants will complete assignments including ongoing reflection notes and participate in online and phone check-in meetings.
The goal is to develop participants' practical expertise at facilitating VTS as well as discussions of teaching practice, research data, theoretical writing, and assessment of learning — in other words, to teach participants how to maximize discussion as a tool for collaborative learning. Participants will receive a solid grounding in the theory and research findings on which VTS is based including understanding the learning that VTS nurtures, its transfer, and its effects on test scores. There will be focused time on practical and logistical issues that arise during VTS implementations including what to expect at different points in the process. Participant will practice using a variety of web-based tools available to support professional development in others.
There will be an application process to participate.
Lead-Teacher Institutes
Two four-day workshops, separated by the first year of implementing VTS, designed to prepare teams of two or (preferably) three mentor teachers to return to their schools to introduce VTS, coordinate implementation by their teacher colleagues, and conduct intermittent debriefings, all in consultation with VTS experts.
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Research Institutes
These Institutes provide an in-depth introduction to the kinds of data collected by VTS, such as Aesthetic Development Interviews, writing samples, Material Object Interviews, and footage, as well as methods of analysis. The development and implications of Housen's theory of Aesthetic Development and findings from VTS's research studies are also presented.
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Coding Training
The Coder Training provides participants with the skills to use Abigail Housen’s method of coding Aesthetic Development Interviews. The in-depth, two or three-year training includes three workshops and ongoing phone conferences, both in group and individual settings. Training includes both the ogive and the clinical coding of Aesthetic Development Interviews of a wide range of viewers. *Prerequisites: an understanding of Housen and developmental theory and an understanding that the coder training is a 2-3 year process.*
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