I hate writing teaching philosophies. For starters, I haven't always been sure what my philosophy was, or even if I had one. Then there's the fact that I feel like I never sound smart enough, and it seems like the kind of people that read your philosophy of education will want you to use big words. Let me tell you, I'm a big fan of diverse vocabulary, but sometimes educators get so caught up sounding smart that instead of using simple, easily understood words, they come up with the most convoluted sentences they can. Well, it turns out I have a philosophy of education and it doesn't need big words. This year had a very tumultuous start, one result of which was quite a few conversations about education with a colleague who has become something of a mentor to me. These conversations have helped me to be able to verbalize what I really think about teaching.
I didn't grow up dreaming of becoming an art teacher; it was a career I kind of stumbled into, and it was only when I did that I knew I'd found the right path. As I began the art education program, I began to notice how many adults told me that they weren't good at art, and if I talked to them long enough, I discovered that at some point, someone older and respected - often their art teacher - made them feel that they weren't good at art. And I realized I never want to be that person in anyone's life. I believe that art is a skill that must be honed, not a talent that people are just born with. Every year I give my students an impassioned speech about the fact that everyone goes through developmental stages in drawing, and that it's only by pushing through those stages that they become "good at art." I want them to understand that if they want to improve in art, there's no imaginary lack of talent stopping them. These are a few other things I believe:
I believe that children should enjoy art class. I am not the world's strictest teacher, and while part of that is just my teaching style, I also try to encourage my students to chat and to share their tastes in music during art class. If you have to practice art to become good at it, my classroom needs to be a welcoming, safe place where students want to be. That means that although I have boundaries and expectations for my students' behavior, I'm more relaxed with them than my colleagues, and only become strict when it's necessary.
I believe that art doesn't have to be realistic or even representational to be "good." Recently one of my eighth graders said that I graded everyone really easily. And I do, but I feel that the visual arts are one discipline where you're hard enough on yourself. Throughout the creative process I give feedback to my students and help them develop their ideas, but when it comes to their grades, I base my rubrics on concrete objectives as much as possible, because the definition of "good" art is just too subjective.
I believe that children should have knowledge about art, so they can make their own informed decisions about the value of the things they look at. Even a strong knowledge of the fundamentals of art, with no skill behind it, will help my students in other areas of their life, whether that be in organizing a poster or designing a piece of clothing.
Even if they don't intend to become artists, I want every one of my students to feel like they could. An observable measure of the impact that my conviction that they have value as artists and the way that I run my classroom is that my class was the most popular choice in high school electives during this school year. Far less observable, but more important to me personally is that my students talk to me. They share their thoughts and experiences with me, because they know that I'm listening and that I care about what they're saying. Since education depends so heavily on relationships, I believe this is my greatest strength as a teacher.
I didn't grow up dreaming of becoming an art teacher; it was a career I kind of stumbled into, and it was only when I did that I knew I'd found the right path. As I began the art education program, I began to notice how many adults told me that they weren't good at art, and if I talked to them long enough, I discovered that at some point, someone older and respected - often their art teacher - made them feel that they weren't good at art. And I realized I never want to be that person in anyone's life. I believe that art is a skill that must be honed, not a talent that people are just born with. Every year I give my students an impassioned speech about the fact that everyone goes through developmental stages in drawing, and that it's only by pushing through those stages that they become "good at art." I want them to understand that if they want to improve in art, there's no imaginary lack of talent stopping them. These are a few other things I believe:
I believe that children should enjoy art class. I am not the world's strictest teacher, and while part of that is just my teaching style, I also try to encourage my students to chat and to share their tastes in music during art class. If you have to practice art to become good at it, my classroom needs to be a welcoming, safe place where students want to be. That means that although I have boundaries and expectations for my students' behavior, I'm more relaxed with them than my colleagues, and only become strict when it's necessary.
I believe that art doesn't have to be realistic or even representational to be "good." Recently one of my eighth graders said that I graded everyone really easily. And I do, but I feel that the visual arts are one discipline where you're hard enough on yourself. Throughout the creative process I give feedback to my students and help them develop their ideas, but when it comes to their grades, I base my rubrics on concrete objectives as much as possible, because the definition of "good" art is just too subjective.
I believe that children should have knowledge about art, so they can make their own informed decisions about the value of the things they look at. Even a strong knowledge of the fundamentals of art, with no skill behind it, will help my students in other areas of their life, whether that be in organizing a poster or designing a piece of clothing.
Even if they don't intend to become artists, I want every one of my students to feel like they could. An observable measure of the impact that my conviction that they have value as artists and the way that I run my classroom is that my class was the most popular choice in high school electives during this school year. Far less observable, but more important to me personally is that my students talk to me. They share their thoughts and experiences with me, because they know that I'm listening and that I care about what they're saying. Since education depends so heavily on relationships, I believe this is my greatest strength as a teacher.
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