Local Learning connects folklorists, artists, and educators across the nation and advocates for transformative learning through the inclusion of folklife and traditional arts in education for the purpose of creating intercultural understanding and building stronger communities.
Local Learning began as the National Task Force for Folk Arts in Education during a 1993 folk arts roundtable at the National Endowment for the Arts. Today, the core activities and programs of Local Learning provide services to the field of Folk Arts in Education and support practitioners. We convene with the national arts service organizations of other disciplines to ensure a folk arts presence in national conversations and participate in the crafting of national policy and advocacy initiatives. We offer technical assistance, circulate news of the field through a variety of media and platforms, and provide professional development for educators, folk artists, and folklorists. Building on our work as a digital pioneer in folk arts with the founding of the CARTS (Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) newsletter and website in 1998, our flagship publication, the Journal of Folklore and Education (JFE), publishes work representing ethnographic approaches that tap the knowledge and life experience of students, their families, community members, and educators in K-16, higher education, museum, and community education. As a digital publication, JFE provides a forum for interdisciplinary, multimedia approaches to community-based teaching, learning, and cultural stewardship. Our audience includes educators and students at all levels and in all settings, as well as folk culture specialists.
Learn more at www.locallearningnetwork.org