TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Learning [and Teaching] in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds. 

- Elliot Eisner

As art educators, we sometimes take for granted that our students see/understand that what we are teaching is relevant. My intention is to make certain the 'WHY' behind my teaching is evident to my students. Teaching is my way of continually (and transparently) fostering growth through 'the process' in my students and myself.

By celebrating and being exposed to multiple perspectives, my students grow to understand that problems can have more than one solution and questions can certainly have more than one answer.  My students learn to challenge prescribed notions and existing environments. They learn to form their own opinions and effectively state their own beliefs. They learn to make effective qualitative judgements about the world using art as the tool and method to express who they are and bring awareness to their own way of seeing.

Art making is a process of working and thinking through ideas, situations, and materials.  My classroom/studio is a laboratory of experimentation where students are testing the boundaries and capabilities of the media and the processes.  My students engage with art through the kind of play, exploration and perseverance that promotes divergent thinking and creative problem solving. I actively encourage them to become detectives, scientists, and explorers of the ideas and 'problems' set before them.

As an art educator, it is important that I teach technical skills and conceptual development, but also the dispositions of process-oriented working: connection, perseverance, ambition, and discipline.  My students know that the end-result is merely a byproduct, and that the journey to creation and understanding...the experience, is essential knowledge with applications to their own lives beyond the studio/classroom. Through teaching, I encourage my students to critically assess their relationships with the people and places around them, making new discoveries and the most meaningful connections possible.