After working for about 2 years, in a field completely different from what I studied, I figured out some things. I would leave the prisons and go back to school to work towards a teaching license where I could be around youth, which I enjoy and bring art back into my life and student's lives. My passion for art outweighs my passion to teach. But in bringing art into my life again, I will no doubt be passionate in teaching children about art. I can't help but think of all my past art teachers and professors and remember the impact they had on my life.
My beliefs about teaching or for that matter, teaching art are directly tied to greater concepts of politics, society and life. I will teach children about artists who challenge the status quo, who compose works for political and social commentary and who challenge beliefs of self. Art is not just something pretty in a gallery or a museum, it is life faceted in so many ways. Teaching one sided won't do for art. Teaching about Jackson Pollack is nice, but what is more interesting is the context in which he created his art and the relationships he formed and the secret behind his success, his wife. I feel that is is also important to teach children about art for their own self discovery of their own philosophies, values, likes, dislikes and passions.
I think your view of what art education should be is awesome. I subbed in an art class for a couple of days and it was a very unique experience. I'm not very artistic. I wish I were but I just can't draw. I took an art history class in college and thought it was awesome. I think if people understood the context of the art they would better appreciate it. In the class I subbed there were all kinds of students. Some were the so called artsy type that were really into their art and expressing themselves and liked to explain what they were trying to convey in their art. Others just took art because they thought it would be easy and just tried to draw whatever. I met some kids in that class that wouldn't do a thing in any other class but would create amazing sketches and paintings that had real depth to them. What was interesting about them was they just sat and drew. They weren't being obnoxious or drawing attention to themselves because they were tortured artists. That was just their thing and they didn't care to show it to everyone even though they were really amazing.
ReplyDeleteHello Katie,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great to be passionate about something.I think that even more important than for college it is for our life to have the opportunity to do something that we are good at and also enjoy doing. Since you are ready to share your passion, I have no doubt that you will be a great art teacher.
Katie, I can tell that you are very passionate about art and it is noted in the way you talk about it. I share your views on the importance of teaching all aspects of a subject including the history and meaning behind it. It's a shame that programs like art are sometimes the first to be cut in the school systems. But that is the joy of being a teacher, having the freedom to teach in a way that incorporates your passions and brings them into your classroom:)
ReplyDeleteKatie: I feel that your enthusiasm about art is wonderful and that when you begin teaching that enthusiasm will be very apparent to your students and greatly engage them. I agree with your ideas about teaching art, in fact I think that your ideas about teaching are can be applied to any subject. I think that it is important to teach all subject multidimensionally in order to give students the opportunity to "self-discover" in all areas.
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