The 92 Report: 45. Michelle Holdt, Creative Compassionate Classrooms

45. Michelle Holdt, Creative Compassionate Classrooms

Jan 24, 2023

Show Notes:

The Restorative Power of Arts in Education

Michelle Holdt is the founder of Arts Ed Matters, a nonprofit organization that works to promote access to arts classes in public schools. She is the founder of Creative Compassion, a new organization that addresses the crisis in education. She is also the Arts and Restorative Learning Coordinator in Santa Clara County. Holdt has been working since 2010 to address the issue of access to arts classes, teaching teachers how to integrate the arts into their academic curriculum. Holdt has also developed workshops on the Art of Self Care, which includes mindfulness and restorative practices. Additionally, Holdt is certified in restorative practices, which she teaches as an alternative to discipline for restoring problems when there has been harm. In 2022, Holdt moved back to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she currently resides with her three children.

Access to the Arts through Education

Will Bachman and Michelle Holdt had a conversation about Michelle's journey since graduating from Harvard. Michelle created her own major in theatre, child psychology, and education while at Harvard. After graduation, she received a fellowship from the Stride Right Foundation through Phillips Brooks House to lead theatre workshops for deaf children, mentally ill adolescents, and other special needs children. Michelle then went on to teach drama for close to 20 years in Chicago, Albuquerque, and San Francisco. She realized the inequities in terms of who gets access to the arts and decided to take a leadership and advocacy role for arts education for all students in 2010.

Michelle Holdt is the founder of Arts Ed Matters, a nonprofit organization that works to promote access to arts classes in public schools. She is also the Arts and Restorative Learning Coordinator in Santa Clara County. Holdt has been working since 2010 to address the issue of access to arts classes, teaching teachers how to integrate the arts into their academic curriculum. Holdt has also developed workshops on the Art of Self Care, which includes mindfulness and restorative practices. Additionally, Holdt is certified in restorative practices, which she teaches as an alternative to discipline for restoring problems when there has been harm.

Building Community in the Classroom

Michelle discussed the importance of taking time to build a community in the classroom in order to ensure that students feel safe and engaged in the curriculum. She also brought up the mental health crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. This crisis is being addressed by the US Surgeon General, Dr. V.T.E. Murthy, who is pulling together an advisory and leading speeches and meditations on self-love. Restorative practices are a proactive way to build a sense of community and safety in the classroom which can help combat the mental health crisis in our youth.She believes that people around the world are still in trauma from the pandemic, and that they need to do more social and emotional learning in order to heal.

Mindful and Compassionate Practice

Michelle Holdt utilizes mindfulness and self-compassion to help her approach her day. She practices meditation for five minutes each day, which she believes has made a huge difference in her life. She also employs a strategy of self-awareness to course correct not so helpful thoughts about herself and others. Holdt has also started a project called Compassionate Clips, where people can write to her and ask for a two to three minute audio clip on a particular topic they are struggling with. She then offers them reassuring and kind words to listen to as a mindfulness meditation. Finally, Holdt lives her life by Rumi's poem, The Guesthouse, which states that we should welcome and entertain all guests, even if there are sorrows and dark thoughts.

Timestamps

05:25- Interview with Michelle Holdt, Founder of Arts Ed Matters and Arts & Restorative Learning Coordinator

13:54- Visual Thinking Strategies and Tableau for Critical Thinking and Curriculum Connections

14:38- Embodied Cognition and the Benefits of Play-Based Learning

16:36- The Benefits of Integrating Arts Education in Schools

27:10- Building Classroom Community with Restorative Practices

27:16- Restorative Practices with a Creative Twist

36:06- Self-Love and Trauma in Education

36:54- Pecha Kucha Presentation: Cultivating Self-Awareness and Compassion Through Mindfulness

43:50- Creative Compassionate Strategies for Educators and Leaders

46:35- Retirement and Parenting

49:49- Reflection on Professor William Alfred: A Mentor and Friend