For Educators

Expand your teaching and learning practice through a visit to the Museum, integrating Museum materials into your lesson plan, or taking advantage of a professional development experience.

Schedule a visit

With a guide or on your own

Curriculum development

College and university faculty and K-12 teachers can consult with staff to plan self-guided visits or develop classroom assignments. To prepare, explore the Museum’s collection online; watch, listen, and read student and educator perspectives on the collection; and browse planning resources for K-12 teachers. 

College and university faculty contact: museum-academic@risd.edu

K-12 educator contact: schools@risd.edu

Professional Development for K-12 Educators

Educators working with K-12 students can choose from a variety of opportunities geared to developing their own and their students’ visual and cultural literacy, and to encourage creative and critical thinking while making connections to academic subjects. Free gatherings such as Teachers’ Lounge consider relevant topics, issues and ideals related to teaching and learning. Customized workshops and pre-scheduled workshops offer useful introductions to ways to integrate objects and museums into teaching and learning and can also focus on particular goals for different subject areas including art, social studies, English, languages, math, and science. The annual week-long Summer Institute offers in-depth thematic and cross-disciplinary investigations. Contact School and Teacher Programs staff to learn more about customized opportunities for your school, district, or professional association.

Teachers' Lounge for K-12 Educators

Join educators from K-12 institutions, informal learning communities, and colleges and universities for conversations around topics, issues, and ideals related to teaching and learning. Each Teachers’ Lounge is facilitated by a guest speaker who initiates dialogue around pedagogical issues.

Summer Institute for K-12 Educators

Join a community of educators to expand resource materials and grow best-practices. In addition to supporting participants’ use of RISD Museum objects as primary sources, the Summer Institute focuses on how to integrate the perspectives of multicultural learners in their experiences of art and design. Discussion includes refining approaches, strategies, and use of content to reflect the complex identities of students.

Professional Development for College and University Faculty

Workshops organized in collaboration with Brown University’s Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning along with special exhibition previews prepare faculty to bring the Museum’s collection into their classes and studios. Faculty fellowships invite faculty members from across disciplines to conduct research, teaching, and public engagement.