So besides whenever I was about 6 years old and wanted to be an accountant just like my mom I feel like I have always wanted to be a teacher. I had amazing teachers all the way from elementary through middle up to high school, with maybe one exception that was just awful. With making connections and relationships with so many of those teachers I realized those are the people I wanted to grow up to be like. I looked up to of them, they were not getting paid enough for how much they put into their careers yet I rarely saw them say a word about it. I know now that they probably talked about all of the bad things in the teacher’s lounge but I still want to be these great teachers I had.
While reading What Education can Learn from the Arts by Elliot Eisner, I learned 8 ways that this could happen. The one way that stuck out to me the most was “Education can learn from the arts that open-ended task permit the exercise of imagination, and the exercise of imagination is one of the most important of human aptitudes. It is imagination, not necessity, that is the mother of invention.” This one struck out to me because I want all of my students to understand this and explore this while in my class. My students will also know and be able to understand and show all of the other steps too.
I think it is very much important that students start early in recognizing what exactly they are saying with their art and also knowing what they want their art to say. It sounds somewhat easy, but I still not sure if I am doing it right. I want my students to start young with how they view art and to actually view it, not just look at it and say they think it is pretty, but really try to understand what it is saying. Lastly, I want my students to know the history of the art they are doing and what artist did it before them. These are the big ideas that I will be working towards for a while.
I agree with your philosophy of teaching but what are you going to say to the parents and fellow teachers at Back to School night about the importance of art in the curriculum? Why is art important for every student? How will you advocate for the visual arts?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the Eisner quote you chose. In fact, I used the same one in my post. If we want our students to grow into innovative thinkers, it’s really important to stress imagination and the creative thinking behind it. Even if they don’t end up using art in their careers, it’s still a valuable way of thinking that is necessary when teaching our students how to become well-rounded individuals.
ReplyDeleteI also liked that part of the article. Imagination is, to me, the most important part of art. Not only to make art but when viewing. If students can learn how to look at art and use their imagination to bring a piece of art alive we wouldn't have as many people ignoring the art field or looking at art and simply passing by saying "my three year old could do that!" FOr the art students imagination can take you places you can't (or don't want to) go physically. Drawing a live model and still lives will only take you so far. Students need to see that, and they can apply it to other things, especially english and creative writing.
ReplyDeleteBouncing off of all of these responses, I, too, chose the same Eisner quote. I agree that imagination is key, and that it is integral in not just art-but everywhere, and that all subject content areas can learn from the arts how essential imagination is to their curriculum. I liked when you said "I think it is very much important that students start early in recognizing what exactly they are saying with their art and also knowing what they want their art to say." I agree completely! We need to give kids as much time as possible to grow- to have that time to explore their likes and dislikes and really 'find' themselves in their artwork. Thanks to the art classes I took in high school, I was able to really discover what materials I liked working with as well as what types of themes I liked to communicate in art, and I overall just found myself growing as an artist. :)
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