Arts for Action is an experimental advocacy project to involve parents and educators from the Cambridge Public Schools in innovative social change strategies. Arts for Action enlisted facilitators from VISIONS to help parents and teachers brainstorm innovative solutions to the race, class, language and gender disparities in academic achievement.

Visions, Inc. is a multiracial organization that conducts experiential workshops in team building, conflict resolution, and leadership development. VISIONS, Inc. facilitators encouraged workshop participants to share power, experiment with formats and reframe the issues at hand.
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This initiative grew out of a frustration with the status quo among parents, educators and elected officials who shared a desire to change the conversation about public school education.
The goal was to help educators, parents and students:

	develop an empowering group process,
	Introduce a common language to analyze power imbalances connected to race, class, gender, language and other “isms,”
	use role plays, theater techniques, and personal stories that draw on the experiences of the participants themselves to develop advocacy-based problem-solving skills.

Arts for Action ran interactive training workshops, conducted community forums, attended local school board meetings and used theater techniques to bring their concerns and ideas for change to the broader Cambridge community.