TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

The Party Class

  My Early Finisher book began as a way to ensure constant art making. Finished with the assignment? Choose from 20 open-ended questions and, using any medium we covered,  responded artistically using at least one concept from our formal assignments up to that point.  In my mind, instead of using extra time to socialize and distract other students, they would find themselves immediately engaged in making personalized art choices, and it would be easier to maintain a calmer classroom environment. My idea was an easy sell, as students realized that they had control over which prompt to work on as well as the medium. A new energy accompanied the Early Finisher pages, an energy that did not typically accompany the formal lessons. With freedom to interpret the prompts in any way possible, I witnessed greater care and interest among my students in their art making.   Nadine M. Kalin and Daniel T. Barney discuss the problems of objectifying curriculum in Hunting for Monsters.  They say that the objectifying of curriculum occurs when educators design assignments based on “meeting predetermined outcomes through measurable results” (Kalin & Barney, 2014).  It quickly became apparent that my formal lessons were not as opened ended as I thought they were, with more guaranteed outcomes than I loved admitting. I was now answering more “how to” questions as students planned and worked on Early Finisher pages, than I ever answered with the formal lessons. The Early Finisher project transformed our classroom dynamics. Instead of me trying to make students be quiet and care about the assignment I designed, students explored their own ideas, became engaged in our lessons, and therefore, more motivated, overall (Lekue, 2015).  The class I had internally nicknamed as the dreaded party class, was now a class made up of students excited about their own artmaking ideas.  They taught me that most students want to explore their ideas through artmaking, but sometimes I stood in the way.  I learned that skill and technique practice benefited from giving students room to explore those skills and techniques in their own, personally relevant ideas.  And, instead of spending energy on classroom management issues, I used my energy on increasing individualized attention and supporting their ideas. 

References

Adams, J. (2016). Editorial: Creativity in Teaching. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 35(2), 180–182. doi:10.1111/jade.12108

Graham, M. (2003). Responding to the Demise of Adolescent Artmaking: Charting the Course of Adolescent Development in an Exceptional Art Classroom. Studies in Art Education, 44(2), 162–177. doi:10.1080/00393541.2003.11651736

Kalin, N. M., & Barney, D. T. (2014). Hunting for Monsters: Visual Arts Curriculum as Agonistic Inquiry. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 33(1), 19–31. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-8070.2014.01774.x

Lekue, P. (2015). Artistic Understanding and Motivational Characteristics. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 34(1), 44–59. doi:10.1111/jade.12007

Mitchell, D. M. (2016). ‘This is the best lesson ever, Miss…’: Disrupting Linear Logics of Visual Arts Teaching Practice. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 35(2), 259–274. doi:10.1111/jade.12061