Philosophy of Education
My aim as a Visual Arts educator is to establish trusting relationships with my students so that I can share with them my love for learning and artistic practice. I strive to help my students discover how to be independent learners who seek to learn for its intrinsic value. I want my students to utilize art as a tool for critical thought, establishing personal and cultural identity, developing craft and appreciating their own unique and individualistic capabilities. My aim as an educator is to provide an environment that promotes cultural awareness and artistic expression as a way of life. I believe that this will allow students to be objective, so that they can devise informed decisions.
To promote independent thinking, I am an educator who relates what I am teaching to a “real life” context, one that incorporates all disciplines and modalities. If I can relate the relevance of an art lesson to history, literature, science and math, the students will develop the skill to do the same. In this way, I call upon the student to value how an artist can use academics to inspire their art as well as make necessary connections.
One of my core beliefs as an educator is that I am always learning from my students. For me to understand how to design my lessons, I must pay attention to the interests of my students. If I can understand what their lives are like than I can better design lessons that engage them. It has been my goal in lesson plan designing to examine art in terms of its ability to represent the intangible in a visual format. It is my goal for students to examine symbolism, abstraction, color theory and representations of cultural values, as a means for them to express themselves as individuals.
Teaching the visual arts is a great and rare opportunity to assist in expanding perceptions of cultural values, history, and society. Creating art is a doorway for both personal developments, but also for students to understand that focus, dedication, and time is required to accomplish meaningful tasks. It is my hope that I inspire students to appreciate art as a valuable tool for everyday life.
As an educator, it is my long-term goal to inspire students to become independent learners who desire to create for the sake of intrinsic curiosity and knowledge enrichment. I believe that art possesses the power to transform how people solve problems, which is a skill that is needed throughout all areas of life. I aim to inspire my students to treat art with an attitude of exploration and appreciation.