Teacher Teaching Artist
Job Description
Position Summary:
Girl Be Heard seeks Teaching Artists (TAs) for its after-school, girl empowerment theater programs in New York City’s public middle and high schools. TAs will give participants a foundation in writing and performance-based storytelling, and cultivate an understanding of intersectional feminism and social justice issues affecting women and girls around the world. They will also lead participants through the creative process of writing and performing an original show, which will be performed by the students in a professional theater at the end of the year.
Ideal candidates will have a strong background in planning and leading theatre-based education, and must be passionate about developing girls’ voices. We particularly seek strong writers and editors. An understanding of dismantling racism is key to be successful in this position.
Teaching Artists will be hired for the length of the school year (September-June) to work at one or more of our partnering middle or high school campuses. Programs meet weekly 2-3 hours each. In addition to weekly workshops with students, TAs will be expected to attend a kick-off 2-day training in September, a mid-year training, and regularly scheduled TA meetings.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as a positive, engaging role model for a diverse group of young women as they explore personal identity and social justice issues through writing and theater.
- Learn the Girl Be Heard curricula and plan lessons that meet the program milestones.
- Utilize your background (performing arts, writing) to create adaptable lesson plans and special projects/activities for students.
- Complete all required paperwork in a timely manner to support programming, administration, and monitoring and evaluation, including weekly session reports.
- Maintain communication with school officials and foster a meaningful relationship with the school community as a whole.
- Support the organization at fundraisers, cultivation events, and other outreach opportunities.
- Ability to engage in curriculum writing, creating lesson plans and facilitating a variety of hands-on, interactive workshops with diverse populations.
- Attend all required trainings.
- Participate in all TA meetings.
Girl Be Heard selects Teaching Artists who embody the following qualities:
- Artistic excellence, including quality and scope of professional artistic work, and depth of knowledge within an artistic discipline.
- Experience with playwriting, editing, and/or dramaturgical work preferred.
- Engaging teaching, especially incorporating the creative process, reaching students across diverse developmental levels, yielding quality student work, strong understanding of learning standards in the arts, and substantial experience in NYC public school classrooms, including strong classroom management skills.
- Professionalism, including abilities to plan with others, to articulate goals and objectives, and to adapt to varying student populations and school environments.
- Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of social justice issues and intersectional feminism.
- Desire to work with a dynamic organization to help shape the future activist-artists of tomorrow!
- Strong organization and administrative skills.
- Willingness to support participants beyond workshop time by connecting with parents and engaging students, when needed.
- Availability for all scheduled sessions, trainings, and meetings.
- Bachelor’s degree, or 4 years of equivalent relevant work experience required, in the areas of education and/or the arts. Master’s degree a plus.
Compensation: Part-time, commensurate with experience.
About Us:
Girl Be Heard develops, amplifies and celebrates the voices of young women through socially conscious theatre-making. Our curriculum encourages young people to think critically about social justice, challenge stereotypes, foster friendships, and build tools for bringing about positive change in their communities.
Work Environment:
Girl Be Heard is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender identity or expression, color, national origin, ability, ethnicity, sex, ancestry, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief. Girl Be Heard seeks a broad spectrum of employees and is strongly committed to a diverse and equitable work environment. People of all backgrounds, ability, gender expressions, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, religions, and nationalities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Girl Be Heard’s main office is located in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn. Our office is air-conditioned and located in a wheelchair accessible building.
Learn more about Girl Be Heard by visiting girlbeheard.org.
How to Apply
Deadline: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but priority will be given to those received by October 19th
How to apply: Send a teaching resume and artistic resume with a cover letter highlighting any experience as a teaching artist, your approach to working with young people, and why you would like to work with Girl Be Heard. Submit electronically via email to jobs@girlbeheard.org. Include “Teaching Artist – (your name)” in the subject line.
