In partnership with the developers of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), the Frye Art Museum is working to strengthen teacher professional development, our school tour program, and gallery guide training. As part of this whole-school collaboration, VTS trainers and Frye staff provide a three-year professional development program to partnering schools. This program consists of one full-day training session at the start of the school year, five two-hour debriefings throughout the year, and a Museum visit for each class. The program costs $5,000 per year for three years, including all training and materials.

The program includes instruction in student-centered teaching and peer coaching, as well as methods of assessing student growth and facilitating discussions. Clock hours and credit are available through Seattle Pacific University. The Frye provides up to $90 in reimbursement for buses for Museum visits in this program.

VTS is a student-centered, research-based education method that uses art to build capacities to observe, think, listen, and communicate. VTS teaches how to value one’s own ideas and to listen to and build on those of others. This method, based on thirty years of empirical research by Harvard-trained educator Abigail Housen, has been field-tested with students who struggle to learn and across multiple languages and cultures.

More Information

• Watch a video about Visual Thinking Strategies at the Frye
• Visit the Visual Thinking Strategies website
• Read a Seattle Times article about how VTS is assisting medical students at UW