My New Teaching Philosophy

1. Providing choice in the art classroom

2. Incorporating materials and techniques from a range of different areas 

3. Asking students questions when considering an artwork instead of giving them answers —> focus on interpretation 

4. Building strong relationships with students 

5. Encouraging meaningful concepts in art making 

6. Focus on the process over the final product

7. Allowing for students ideas, opinions, contributions, etc to be valued in the classroom 

8. Importance of valuing mistakes and therefore using them as a learning experience rather than a failure 

9. Allow for exploration through materials, techniques, ways of making, etc

10. Students play a role in the creation of curriculum

​

While writing my new teaching philosophy I was thinking through the semester and thinking about what I had learned. One of the main things I think I have taken away from the semester is that when looking at art, we as teachers shouldn't be telling students about the art, we should be asking them questions to get them thinking about the art, and therefore they are doing the interpretation of the art, not the teacher telling the students what is already known. This is something that kept coming up throughout the semester. When we were working on our BRAINY tour plans, we were asked to think about ways to ask the students questions that would get them thinking about the art itself. Also during our peer teaching lesson plan, on the first day we made a mistake, and told students about the art. On the second day we learned from this because it wasn't engaging to students, so on the second day, we focused on asking them questions about art that was made by the same artists we had viewed on the first day. This was much more engaging, and got students thinking about how two works of art by the same artist might be connected in a lot of ways. After writing my new teaching philosophy I looked back at my teaching philosophy from the beginning of the semester, a lot of my ideas stayed the same, I talked about choice, process over product, and allowing for students to make art with meaningful concepts. I think these are all ver valuable in the art classroom, and so that is why I think I included them in both of my teaching philosophies.The biggest difference I found was related to what I had discussed earlier. This was around the idea of making sure that I ask questions to students instead of giving them information when looking at and discussing a work of art. This was the third aspect that I put on my list, and something that I find to be really important as a future teacher. For my work this week, I decided to focus on better understanding this new addition to my teaching philosophy while still connecting with my ideas that I started with, and still continue to have. For that reason my piece this week is connected with the piece I made at the beginning of the semester. I started the semester, by talking about how students all come in with different experiences, and we should be aware of that in the classroom and allow for students of all backgrounds to make meaningful art. I incorporated the same idea in this piece, by having each student be a dot in this larger classroom. Some of the dots blend together because relationships with other students also affects the students and their experiences. Each of those students fills the classroom, and therefore has an impact on the classroom. I also wanted this to represent one of my biggest takeaways from this semester on how to talk about art with students. In this the teacher also becomes a singular dot, this represents how teachers shouldn't be the distributor of knowledge, the teacher is there to guide the students through their own learning. The students are the ones that look at the work and figure out what it might mean. The teacher is there to ask questions to probe thought, but they shouldn't be there to give all the information. This is represented in my piece by the teacher being a singular dot too, which represents the discussion. Teachers are only talking a little bit, they are asking questions, but the students are the main source of discussion. 

​

I think that the main events that changed my understanding are the two that I discussed earlier. BRAINY was a great experience for this. We talked about asking students questions, and I got the chance to look at works of art and come up with questions that would get students thinking. I wasn't thinking about ways I could give them information, but instead how they could participate and come up with their own interpretations of the work. During my time at BRAINY, students were really engaged, they were excited to share what they thought, this furthered my understanding around this topic. My second experience was during Kaley and I's peer teaching. The first day, we just talked about the work, but that wasn't engaging, and it wasn't allowing for students to get very much out of what they were learning. It was information they were going to forget. However, if they came up with the information themselves, it would be meaningful, and help them throughout their project. The second day we asked questions, and this really helped the students. It was more engaging, and they were getting more out of what they were learning. This is something I found really valuable in my learning this semester, and helped to change my thinking around this topic. I used to believe that we should give information to students, because that is how I was taught in a lot of my classes in high school. My history teachers, science teachers, etc all taught me through lecturing, which doesn't allow for as thoughtful and meaningful of learning as if the students do the learning themselves. 

​

I think that using fabric for the creation of this piece allows for the dots and the blending of dots in a really interesting way. In order to create this piece, I soaked my fabric in water and soda ash, then I sprinkled powered dyes on top of that. This allowed for individual dots to form, and it also allowed for blending of those dots and the colors. This helped to represent my ideas for this week in my new understanding of my teaching philosophy. I also think that fabric itself is something that is always changing forms, which is happening and will continue to happen with my teaching philosophy. There will always be new ideas that I will add, as well as things that continue to stay the same. This is important for me to think about as a teacher. 

​

I think this process helps me to think through my path to becoming a teacher in a lot of meaningful ways. It is important to always be refining and rethinking our ideas, because that is how we get better as teachers. This process helped me to think through what I thought in the past alongside what I think now. This allows for me to get a better understanding of where I started and where I have come. Reflection for me is a huge part of being a teacher. If we don't allow for ourselves to reflect, then our ways are going to stay the same, and that doesn't allow for the students to get the most out of their learning. Reflection allows for growth and change in a meaningful way. It also helps me think through my thoughts, and that can help me down the road as a teacher. I can look back at this and see what my thoughts used to be, and what exactly has changed that. This allows for further growth as a teacher, which is so important. 

​