I want my students to be authentic as artists and teachers. I model the merging of artist and teacher so students can see how both teaching and making art are life-long learning processes, demanding reflection and transformation as new influences change our perceptions and influence our beliefs. I believe it is important for students to see that I am constantly evolving and testing various strategies for teaching and art making that may or may not result in what I envision, revealing my human vulnerabilities.Mistakes are part of learning, and many questions can have multiple answers. When students understand that perfection need not be a teaching or artistic goal, they develop the ability to take creative risks and may push the boundaries beyond what they think they can accomplish. It is within the process of editing, learning, re-making, and reflecting that ignites their growth as artists and teachers.
I create a welcoming, positive, empathetic environment that fosters community and creativity in all of my courses. I believe that empathy is the most essential component of curriculum. I am generous in empathy for my own students, as I hope this translates to their manner of teaching, transforming their art rooms into communities of care. When teachers display and encourage empathy, students learn to identify with each other and all people. This welcoming and safe environment allows students freedom to explore art and ideas without fear of failure.
I am strongly influenced by Democratic Pedagogy, in which I help students gain confidence in their choice-making when teaching, creating art, and living life. By overturning the usual power structure in classroom dynamics in which I am the sole expert, and instead posing information as questions to the class, power is shared between myself and my students. This type of dialogic teaching supports a classroom environment where student ideas are validated, fostering deeper reflection and inclusivity of diverse backgrounds and experiences. As a result, students gain a stronger sense of ownership over their artistic, education, and career paths, as they are empowered to recognize the importance of their voices in making informed choices in a democratic society.
Teaching Methods-Art Education Students in my art education courses learn about the history of art education, various drawing and developmental stage theories, and ways of empowering their own students through dialogue that pushes them to make choices about their artwork. Students create lessons that focus on ideas that are personally relevant to their students, so that they may genuinely engage with artwork. Thus, lessons revolve around big ideas and essential questions, supported by the vocabulary of art, art historical and visual culture examples, and the exploration of a variety of materials, all connected to the National Visual Arts Standards (NVAS). In my elementary and secondary methods courses, students exit with binders of lessons, theories, references, assessment tools, and classroom management ideas, so they have practical examples to use while student teaching and interviewing for teaching positions.
Teaching College Art Foundations I am continually creatively challenged to find new ways of helping art students focus on conceptual development, while practicing formal and technical skills. When building studio art curricula, I focus first on conceptual development, using formal and technical skills as the organizing factors for ideas. Therefore, all project work includes 3 components: Concept, Skill,andVisual Qualities. Project work is thematic and idea-focused, while skill and compositional strategies visually organize student ideas, so that work created is personally meaningful and visually strong. The decentralization of skill and visual qualities demonstrates that art remains important for its ability to communicate visually about or within the world. This model mirrors the big idea art education lesson planning that students learn when creating K-12 art curriculum when they are in my art education methods courses.
I count the success of my students as my personal honor and responsibility. Whether through visual, verbal, kinesthetic, auditory or any other method, my goal with each student is to find the most effective way to design instruction to help them learn and apply concepts. I use multiple teaching techniques, including visual examples, interactive group and individual reflection sessions, clear and written course objectives, and visual research techniques as part of my teaching methodology. In class discussions and critiques, I use questions to guide students to find their own answers and trust in their decisions. My grading methods have clear connections to course objectives, and I use rubrics as assessment tools throughout my courses, so that art work is graded on competencies specifically detailed in syllabi, and course expectations are clear.
Snapshots from Central Michigan University Visual Arts Education courses, Foundations, Student Chapter NAEA