~Philosophy of Art Education ~

To be great you must inspire, which is what I hope to do for my students. The big question is why do I want to teach. I want to teach because of the excitement that I get when my student has just done something spectacular, or solved a problem creatively. I want to help them grow, and give them knowledge to help navigate the highly visual world we live in today.

Throughout my education, visual culture has been a main focus. While I agree that as art teachers we need to start to integrate and relate our teaching to the modern outside world, it cannot be at the expense of the fundamental skills and history that have been the backbone of our profession for so long. I hope to create a balance between the two, where the skills I teach my students in the classroom will be able to be applied to their everyday lives. Throughout my education at Penn State, my classes have focused on how to incorporate technology, diversity, and identity into my teaching, and how to use these things to implement the topic of visual culture into my classroom. These things will all be valuable tools in helping to teach my students how to be able to read and understand all the visual images they are bombarded with each day.

I want to enlighten children in a way that is beneficial to them. I believe children learn through experience, a trial and error way of life. As an art teacher my job will be to facilitate each student's learning based on their ability, and to encourage each one’s creativity. Learning through the exploratory method is the best way, as well as the most fun. Art is a subject that is not only learned, but also felt and experienced. My hope is that my teaching will extend beyond the classroom and into my students lives. My students will learn the basic fundamental content of art, which will help to foster critical thinking in my students. I hope to teach them life-long skills that will prepare them to function effectively in society. My students should to be able to relate their experiences in my classroom to their experiences in life. I want to release my students' creativity.

Sparking a child’s creativity is like opening up a whole new world, that is what makes teaching great and inspiring. As art educators, we have a rare opportunity that most teachers do not have. We have a classroom in which there are no right or wrong answers, only answers that enhance their own personal learning. It is essential that my students think of my class as a very fun environment, but also very disciplined. Your education is what you make of it; you can get the most out of it by applying yourself and experiencing all opportunities that come your way. This is what I hope to pass on to my students.

In conclusion, I want to be an inspiration. Education, independence, and a willingness to learn are what I hope to bring into my students' lives. As an educator, I need to not only teach, but also learn from my students every day. My contribution to my class and my students will be to create the best learning environment for all. This will be best attained by showing enthusiasm, patience, a genuine attitude, and providing directional feedback within my classroom. I would like my students to know that my class is a haven to explore ideas and think creatively.