TEACHING ARTIST
AjA’s Teaching Artists are professional artists with skills in both teaching and the arts who educate multicultural students in a variety of school and community settings. The goal is to provide education in the arts, thereby expanding the leadership, critical thinking, career and civic horizons of young people in the community.
POSITION OVERVIEW
Central to The AjA Projects’ mission is the transformation of individuals and communities through innovative, asset-based, participatory methods. Our primary tool, participatory photography, provides populations whose voices have been diminished, compromised or marginalized an opportunity to elevate their voice, tell their story and re-imagine their vision for the future. In AjA’s photography program, participants will learn basic photo techniques to create images which explore and analyze their personal and social landscapes as a means to process experiences and build identity and agency. Subsequently, the photos created through the workshops will be printed and displayed on site at an End of Semester Exhibition.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY
The core of all AjA programs is participatory photography and Visual Training Strategies (VTS) – creative teaching modalities that allow young people to use artistic expression to look critically at issues affecting their lives. This is an assets-based, youth centered approach that increases student self-efficacy and provides a safe and creative environment to re-visualize potential futures and outcomes.
TEACHING ARTIST DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Provide instruction during the scheduled time at the designated sites.
- Spend 75% of prep time in the AjA office.
- Complete Program Objectives and Outcomes as described above.
- Ensure completion of grant/contract deliverables and reporting requirements on time.
- Ensure adequate planning, lesson plan development, and evaluation time for all activities including providing AjA with curriculum and lesson plans prior to each session, at least 2 days in advance.
- Provide punctual attendance and active participation at all classes, as well as, Teaching Artist trainings and meetings as scheduled by AjA.
- Successfully coordinate and manage assistant instructors, interns, and volunteers and communicate any issues to AjA Staff in a timely fashion.
- Provide a professional and supportive classroom environment for participants by following AjA’s protocols for a safe and respectful participatory-photography-learning environment.
- Offer timely communication about positive and challenging issues that arise at the site, in the community or with AjA staff to ensure appropriate and timely responses or actions.
- Work directly with the Director of Programs & Partnerships, Program Coordinator and Program Office Support to ensure the proper uploading, storage, organization, and maintenance of program related images, forms, and information.
- Lead curriculum development when applicable and deliver AjA approved curriculum to displaced/underserved youth.
- Ensure accurate storage and organization of program-related folders on the internal server.
- Present Instructor Final Report to the Program Department Manager and/or AjA Staff at the completion of the program detailing classroom activities.
- Work with assistant instructors and support team members to complete and publish a final product for each initiative.
- Administer baseline and end-line program participant evaluation.
- Distribute, collect, organize, and file required participant release forms and other required forms for each participant.
- Facilitate briefing and debriefing meetings with assistant instructors.
- Oversee the procurement, delivery, storage, inventory and maintenance of program related images and equipment.
- Organize appropriate level of classroom support to implement and maintain attendance records, class and teacher evaluations, teaching hours and other required procedures.
- Maintain ongoing communications and coordination with school site contact.
- Manage equipment inventory in class.
- Maintain a proactive and positive attitude reflective of AjA’s spirit, method, and values.
- Some projects and events require travel throughout San Diego County and the greater Tijuana metropolitan regions
- Fluency in Spanish is preferred
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Employment Classification. This position is classified as a temporary/seasonal part-time, hourly employee and is not entitled to benefits except as specifically outlined herein.
- Meal Breaks: if you are a non-exempt employee, you are entitled to a 30-minute meal break if you work more than 5 hours in a workday. You are also entitled to a 10-minute rest breaks for every 4 hours you work. Non-exempt employees are required to document their meal breaks on AjA’s timesheets.
- Mileage Reimbursements: All employees must follow AjA’s Mileage Reimbursement Policy as a guide for the proper documentation and request for mileage reimbursements if the policy is applicable to their work.
- Reimbursement of Supply Expenses. Under normal operations, AjA will provide Teaching Artists with required equipment and supplies. However, on the rare occasion when a Teaching Artist needs to purchase supplies or equipment, AjA shall reimburse for reasonable and necessary expenses paid or incurred by the Teaching Artist in the performance of duties. Procurement of any expenses requires written pre-approval by the Director of Programs and Partnerships. Expenses incurred that do not receive pre-approval are subject to non-reimbursement.