Student Work

Practical

The ability for my students to produce naturalistic reproductions in instructor-led technical skill exercises is as uninteresting for my students as it is impractical for them. Almost every student who takes a class of mine will not need those skills outside of a setting in which they are being graded on them. My goal as an art educator is to engage students while teaching them skills that will translate to life outside of the secondary school art classroom. 

Ideas First

Art education theorist John Dewey established, students learn best through experiencing first hand and experimenting, rather than being told what an outcome will be or should look like. Art class should be a place where students feel free from the pressure to produce a “correct” or “incorrect” outcome. Some students may want a simple answer, but this is often because teachers don't ask them to practice idea generation. Concept should not be an afterthought. Teachers should teach idea generation like any other artistic skill. Students should practice idea generation and think about their concept throughout the process of every work they make. Artist, educator, and art education theorist Olivia Gude emphasizes how we should teach students that “artists utilize the most effective media, tools, and contexts for the ideas they want to express.” This looks like not viewing lessons as only a “painting lesson” or “clay lesson”, but a lesson which asks students to think deeply about a bigger idea such as identity, community, materialism, or nature and then experiment with the materials that best expresses their ideas. 

Contemporary

When teachers value their student's perspectives and encourage them to take ownership of their work, students feel empowered in all areas of their life. Giving students guidance with and access to a wide range of materials to make their ideas come to life means exposing them to all of the tools of contemporary artists including mediums such as installation, sound, video, and performance. Again, even more so for these rarely taught mediums or techniques, proper scaffolding must be in place so students grow in what Vygotsky calls the proximal zone of development.

Community-Driven

This kind of introspective curriculum pushes students to engage more with vulnerability and risk-taking. Teachers should place proper scaffolding and a safe classroom community at great importance to support students through processes that may challenge them. I want to build an art community that fosters support rather than competition. A quote that resonates with me on this topic by educator and pedagogical theorist Gloria Ladson-Billings states that teachers should be “committed to collective, not merely individual, empowerment.” I know though, that I cannot wish a compassionate and collaborative class collective into existence. This looks like activities and projects that explore different levels of collaboration amongst students, but it also looks like regular routines of class discussion. Peer critique and thinking routines such as those researched by Harvard’s Project Zero should happen early and often. These practices not only foster a sense of community, but also have students learn essential skills such as critical thinking, considering other viewpoints, and how to effectively take and give critique.

Always Evolving

As I expect my students to value experimentation, risk-taking, critique, and lifelong learning, I hold the same standards to myself. The role of an art teacher is to improve themselves and empower students by seeking and implementing their feedback. Curriculum should never be static, but constantly improved to be the most contemporary, culturally relevant, and engaging curriculum one can create.