Being educated in the arts is not only about learning to paint or throw pots, it is about learning a new way to think and see. Studying art has taught me to ask questions and to understand other people. I wish to decry the old saying “curiosity killed the cat” and instead ignite a billowing fire of curiosity within students. The desire to know is a powerful tool in learning. Think how much our math, history, and science classes would benefit from such a blaze. Alain De Botton in his book Art is Therapy claims that “Curiosity takes ignorance seriously, and is confident enough to admit when it does not know. It is aware of not knowing, and it sets out to do something about it” (Botton & Armstrong, 2014). Through art classes I believe I can increase the curiosity contained within schools and thus increase overall learning.
Specifically, in my classroom there will be much exploration. Art is a making activity for sure but it is also a research activity. I am especially fond of interdisciplinary arts. I want my students to bring their interests into the classroom whether those interests be astronomy or bioinformatics. I want art to help them not only to learn new things but to be an avenue for learning more about the things they already love. Shuan McNiff says “Art is a way of knowing, problem solving, healing and transformation that we marginalize if we do not embrace it as a vehicle of research” (McNiff, 2013, p.xiii). While I was in high school I often felt intimidated by making art. I could not generate ideas on the given themes therefore I often made the same things that I was comfortable with—trees and faceless figures. But students are capable of far more then replicating foliage or unfinished people, if students are pushed to explore new subjects and old passions their art making will excel. I expect the students to teach within the classroom according to their area of expertise. I believe in a classroom where students help decide the curriculum and where their interests fuel our learning.
Ultimately, I understand that most of the students who work in my classroom will not go on to be professional artists and may eventually forget the techniques taught during class. However, I hope that students will never forget what it means to try to understand another person. Schubert states, “the curriculum becomes a reconceiving of one’s perspective on life. It also becomes a social process whereby individuals come to greater understanding of themselves, others, and the world through mutual reconceptualization. The curriculum is the interpretation of lived experiences” (Schubert, 1986, p.33). My classroom will be a safe place for ideas to be tested and stories to be told. Art helps one to look at the world through another’s eyes and power to change biases and misconceptions and that is the most important thing I want my students go into the world with.
Botton, A. D., & Armstrong, J. (2014). Art is therapy. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum. McNiff, S. (2013). Art as research: opportunities and challenges. Bristol: Intellect. Schubert, W. H. (1997). Curriculum: perspective, paradigm, and possibility. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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