Lecture on making arts education spaces more accessible and inclusive. Beginning with brief introduction of myself and the sensorimotor poetry workshops, then broadening out to best practices and facilitator mindset.

1. Inclusive & Accessible Poetry
Donnie Welch
Donnie Welch Poetry
The University of Alabama TH245 Teaching Theater
2/11/2019

2. In 2015 I turned down
a fellowship from the
New York City
Teaching Fellows to
run poetry workshops
for students with
autism.
I started running
workshops that
involved tabletop,
hands-on sensory play.

4. Sensorimotor Poetry Workshops
A curriculum grounded in social-emotional learning and based on the
belief that movement and literacy go hand-in-hand.
Movement helps us understand rhythm, rhythm helps us understand
poetry, and poetry helps us understand each other.

5. What Makes It Work
Fun
Rhythmic, routine, and regulating
Adaptable
Developmentally appropriate
Interdisciplinary

6. As Facilitator
• Be Patient
• Not only with students, but with yourself
• Keep a journal and video (if able) to reflect
• Be Flexible
• Stick out your can, here comes a lesson plan – Theodore Roethke “First Class”
• Be an Advocate
• ”You don’t have to be a voice for the voiceless, just pass the mic” – Anon.
Tweet
• Disability Visibility Project

7. Be Real
“[T]he teacher’s acceptance of their vulnerability connects them to
students who are often vulnerable because of how they are positioned
in society. It is this joint vulnerability that is the prerequisite for
change.”
— Christopher Emdin For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the
Rest of Ya’ll Too: Reality Pedagogy in Urban Education
Book photo via Amazon.com

8. Questions, Comments, New Followers
DonnieWelchPoetry@gmail.com
@DonnieWelchPoetry
@DonnieWelchPoet