Personal Teaching Philosophy
My students will be trained to create thoughtful and meaningful art by a conceptual framework focused on questioning, researching, and creating art. Not only do I expect my students to go above and beyond the average student-artist, I will attempt to model these verbs in my learning/teaching as well. Indeed, I expect to learn from my students just as they learn from me. My classroom will be a learning community fostering both collaboration and serious, personal work.
Question: an interrogative expression often used to test knowledge; an interrogative sentence or clause; a subject or aspect in dispute or open for discussion; a subject or point of debate
I desire my students to question, because questioning prompts self-reflection, critical analyzing skills, and an active search for answers. Often, I find more significant conclusions may be drawn from questions rather than straightforward answers.
Research: careful or diligent search; studious inquiry or examination; investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts; the collecting of information about a particular subject
Students are ultimately accountable for their own learning, and it is the individual’s responsibility to search deeper for what is most interesting and relevant to him or her. Significant art exhibits a history of research and careful thought.
Create: to bring into existence; to invest with a new form, office; to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior; cause, occasion; to produce through imaginative skill.
I believe every student is capable of some imagination and creativity. In an art class, students will be challenged to push their creative skills through self-referential projects.
