Teaching Philosophy
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Frida Kahlo, Halloween 2020
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“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
Henry David Thoreau
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I teach contemporary visual culture using a postmodern approach in order to relate art to my students’ everyday experiences. Diverse contemporary artists along with classic artists from art history are analyzed using the conceptual framework, which includes looking at the artist, the artwork, the world at the point of its creation, and then understanding how it all relates to an audience. The micro to macro approach will allow students to see a bigger picture and wrestle with greater ideas. Students will combine research about these contemporary artists with their own opinions to form unique ideas about their surroundings. These ideas can produce actions in their communities and make positive marks on their opinions of themselves and their environment.
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Art curriculum has the unique opportunity to include and combine any other subject matters an art teacher can think of with their teachings. More specifically, I enjoy combining science, math, and writing into projects that I do with students. This is also a great way for me to cross curricular plan as well as to get students thinking about how all of their studies relate to each other.
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I believe a noisy classroom can be a productive classroom. Sharing ideas and opinions is important throughout the art making process to ensure a strong argument is made in the finished product. That being said, I have a calm nature and even practice yoga and meditation most days of the week. I want to influence my students to self-reflect as often as they can. A balance of quiet introspection during art-making with noisy visual culture and in progress/final critiques will be the key to happy students and quality finished products.
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Another important aspect of my teaching is that I will always promote an inclusive classroom. Culturally relevant teaching- recognizing, accepting, and celebrating cultural differences among students- is the most effective way to ensure that I am serving everyone in my classroom.