Professional Development

The Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs provides resources, workshops, a conference, consultations, and other support for professionals in the field, including educators, arts educators, special educators, administrators, program leaders, and visiting artists. 

ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone

Our annual three-day conference, the ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone, will take place online April 9–10, 2022.

ABLE Conversation: Anti-Ableism, Representation, and Accessibility in Arts Education

This symposium includes presentations, performances, and opportunities for facilitated discussion. It will take place both online and in person as a hybrid flexible event on Saturday, November 20, 2021.

Digital Learning Series

Explore our free collection of lectures, workshops, and presentations by teachers and experts in the field of arts education for students with disabilities.

ABLE Arts Resource Center

This online clearinghouse provides music educators with resources to assist them in their work with students with disabilities. 

Music Education and Special Needs Study Group

Our annual study group for music educators will meet online in six sessions from March to May, 2021, and can be attended synchronously or asynchronously.

Speaking Engagements

Rhoda Bernard, managing director of the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs, has given numerous local, national, and international conference presentations on various topics in arts education and special needs.

Workshops

Bernard and her staff regularly provide professional development workshops to educators, arts educators, special educators, teaching artists, program administrators, and college faculty and students. Surveys and guiding questions before the workshops are used to create professional development materials and activities that cover the topics of greatest interest to the participants. 

Consultations

Consultations can take the form of team teaching, observations of teaching with feedback, and/or meeting with teaching staff, administrators, and college faculty and students. Surveys and guiding questions before the sessions are used to ensure that consultation time is valuable and productive.