Meta Thomas teaches at Lionsgate Academy, a charter school in Crystal, Minnesota, with a mission to provide a transition-focused, personalized learning program for all students, specializing in educating students with autism spectrum disorders. Many Lionsgate students have special needs, require educational accommodations, and have diverse interests and skills. Additionally, students learn and show their knowledge in unconventional ways, which requires teachers to approach their job differently.
Not a Classroom, but a Studio: Teaching Neurodiverse Artists
Students with autism spectrum disorders need routine, strong boundaries, and repetition when being taught, right? Not necessarily. Meta Thomas shares her journey to implementing Teaching for Artistic Behavior, a student-centered, project-based approach to arts learning in her classroom at Lionsgate Academy. The Walker’s Education team has been observing classrooms like Thomas’s as they build education offerings for neurodiverse learners.