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Educator Programs

The Philadelphia Museum of Art offers a variety of professional development programs for educators of all subjects and grade levels. Discover new artists and teaching strategies in our galleries, at your school, or online.

Two teachers cutting paper and smiling together during a teacher workshop

Overview

Enhance Your Learning Through the Arts

Discover how art can encourage new ways of thinking and learning across all grade levels and subjects. The museum’s various in-service workshops demonstrate how the arts can enrich social studies, language arts, and even math. Customize your own workshop or attend one of the Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching (VAST) seminars this summer.

As an approved Art 48/continuing professional development provider for both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the museum enables teachers to earn credit hours while sharing their ideas with fellow educators. And as a token of appreciation, educator discounts are offered across the museum.

Two teachers laughing together during a teacher workshop

Teacher Workshops

The museum offers interactive educator workshops throughout the year to help teachers develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of art that they can share in their classroom. These workshops allow you to nurture critical-thinking skills and learn how to use art to create a dynamic learning environment for your students.

Teachers of all subjects and grade levels pre-K–12 are welcome.

View upcoming workshops

Teacher pointing to an artwork in a gallery and leading a student workshop

In-Service Workshops

Learn how art enriches your students’ experience through one of the museum’s in-service workshops, held either at the museum, at your school, or online. Schedule one of the workshops below or request a workshop customized to your unique needs by contacting educate@philamuseum.org. All workshops include teaching resources designed to support arts integration.

Art and Language Arts

Art is a natural prompt for writing: it provides visual learners with inspiration, struggling writers with a subject, and all students with an opportunity for reflection and personal connections. In this workshop, teachers participate in a variety of model writing activities drawn from the art museum’s teacher resource Looking to Write, Writing to Look. These activities include narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive writing, as well as poetry, and can be adapted to a variety of grade levels and any work of art.

Looking Closely, Thinking Critically

Art is a powerful tool for sharpening critical-thinking skills. In this workshop, teachers participate in questioning strategies and activities designed to elevate students’ observations and analysis.

Art as a Primary Source

In this workshop, teachers practice a step-by-step process for observing, interpreting, connecting to context, and drawing conclusions about what an artwork has to say about a moment in history.

Special Exhibition Preview

Excited about a new exhibition? View the museum's exhibition tours and collaborate with a museum educator to learn about opportunities for integrating these featured works and related resources into your lessons.

Art in the Early Childhood Classroom

Explore how the combination of art, play, and early literacy create amazing experiences for young learners. This hands-on workshop provides teachers of grades pre-K–2 with age-appropriate, object-based strategies for teaching art through play and storytelling. Educators participate in close looking activities and discussions in the galleries, and develop meaningful art projects for the classroom.

Request an art-making activity in the studios for an additional fee.

Creating Community

The museum provides the ideal setting to slow down and practice skills that foster purposeful, impactful relationships among colleagues. In this workshop, museum educators guide your team through interactive gallery activities that emphasize close looking, active listening, collaborative problem solving, and self-reflection. Content can be adapted to meet the needs and goals of your team. This workshop is only available in person.

Workshop Fees

At the Museum

These are the fees for the museum's recommended workshop themes, customized for your audience.

At Your School

These are the fees for the museum's recommended workshop themes, customized for your audience. Add an introduction to the many resources for teachers at no additional charge.

Online

Additional Fees

Student raising their hand during a workshop in a museum gallery

Earn Credit Hours

The museum is an Act 48/continuing professional development provider for both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and allows teachers to earn credit hours by sharing their lessons.

Did you use the museum’s collections in your classroom? Learn something new at a workshop? Share your insight with fellow educators and earn PA or NJ professional development hours.

How to Earn Your Hours

Use our template to write and submit a lesson plan that demonstrates how you use artwork from the collection or ideas from one of the workshops in the classroom. You will earn three Act 48 or NJ hours for each complete lesson submitted. As long as you include all of the information listed in the template, you may submit a lesson in any format you choose (for example, a presentation with images).

For additional models, see our Lesson Plans.

Once submitted, your lesson will support the museum’s reaccreditation as an Act 48 provider and, with your permission, will be shared with other educators via our secure Google Drive. We may contact you to follow up on your ideas and how we can collaborate on future teacher workshops or online resources.

For more information, please contact The Division of Education at 215-684-7580 or educate@philamuseum.org.

A woman taking notes while standing in front of a large printed artwork

Visual Arts as a Source for Teaching (VAST) Summer Seminar

Every summer for nearly forty years, the museum has hosted an intensive learning seminar for teachers. The VAST program gives active teachers working in classrooms or other educational settings the opportunity to engage deeply with our collection. Discover how the visual arts can support your lesson plans, connect with your colleagues, and uncover the unique stories behind our art while earning Act 48 or NJ professional development hours.

During a VAST seminar, educators will experience:

  • Creative warm-up activities
  • Presentations by museum staff and guest scholars
  • Gallery sessions with museum educators
  • Hands-on workshops
  • Field trips

Previous seminar themes include:

  • 2022: Artists as Placemakers
  • 2019: Insider | Outsider: Building Inclusive, Classrooms, Museums, and Cultures
  • 2018: Art as the Spark for Socially Engaged Teaching and Learning
  • 2017: Driving Creativity: Developing Original Ideas
  • 2016: Unlocking Creativity
  • 2015: Art at the Center of Interdisciplinary Teaching

Stay Connected

Sign up for the School and Teacher Programs e-newsletter to receive information on program updates and learn more about resources for teachers.

Our Gift to Educators

To show our appreciation, K–12 teachers will save $30 on the membership of their choice. Enjoy free museum access, $10 guest passes, and deep discounts for a full year.

Claim your gift in person at the museum or by calling 215-684-7840.

A teacher ID is required.

Teacher and students smiling together while looking at artwork in a gallery