Philosophy of Education
In my teaching practice, I incorporate choice into my lessons so that students can explore their own interests and draw surprising connections in their research. I believe that by providing students with choice they will be more intrinsically motivated and will take authority for their own learning (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). This independence, with scaffolding and support, allows students to develop their own work habits that will enable them to become lifelong learners. This choice extends into students’ own interests and basing projects off of their own experiences. Students can only find meaning if it is rooted in their own experiences (Francis W. Parker, Efland, 1990).
I lead these lessons with patience, remembering that this is students’ first time trying to understand the complexities of their world. I remember that students are people first and treat them with respect for their interests, their work, and their feelings (Lowenfeld, Efland, 1990). My job is to empower students and to give them the tools to tell their worthy stories and use art to develop an understanding of themselves and the world. I plan to foster their creativity through a challenging curriculum that will help students develop critical problem-solving to address the complexities of the working world. One of my goals is to give them the language and tools to reflect, process, and communicate emotions, collaborate with others, and advocate for themselves so that they may have agency and a foundation for success in their future lives.
In my classroom students are called on to act as experts in their field, where they are exposed to all of the possible careers in the arts and understand the artmaking process from beginning to end. This includes exhibition preparation, writing about their own work, and responding to others’ work, as well as understanding what is currently happening in the contemporary art world. Students will be exposed to a diverse range of materials and artists so that they may see themselves in the artwork we analyze. By showing students a variety of artists and artistic approaches I hope to provide them with an appreciation and empathy for those unlike themselves, and a toolkit in how to approach storytelling. By engaging with and thinking critically about contemporary artworks I will provide them with the tools to analyze and read visual language so that they may be lifelong appreciators of the arts.
My goal is to build a community in the classroom where students feel comfortable taking risks and sharing their thoughts with their peers. This extends out of the classroom to build meaningful relationships with fellow teachers, parents, and the greater community so that these students have a team to support them as they grow in and out of the classroom (Dewey, Efland, 1990).
References
Douglas, K. M., & Jaquith, D. B. (2009). Engaging Learners Through Artmaking: Choice-Based Art Education in the Classroom. New York, New York: Teachers College Press.
Efland, A. D. (1990). A History of Art Education: Intellectual and Social Currents in Teaching the Visual Arts. New York, New York: Teachers College Press.