Teaching Philosophy

   "If a woman artist has no children, she exempts herself from their demands and has only to underwrite her own goals, so a reasonable variation of the traditional male pattern is available to her. Yet she also deprives herself of what in my experience have been the pungent and proliferating roots that nourish much of the meaning that distills into my work. It seems to me in my maturity that Trismegistus has tested out as being right: we can only wholly develop if experience is as equally inscribed in our bodies as it is grasped by our minds. Terence too: we can understand what is it to be human only to the degree that we are willing to endure all that is to be human. On balance, I have logically to welcome whatever life brings my children."

Anne Truitt, Prospect: A Journal of an Artist,(1996), p. 62-63 (beloved teacher in graduate school)

It is my belief that teaching is an art. In the eye of the painter it encompasses two canvases—an inseparable diptych-that of the teacher and that of the student. Each canvas is full of imagery that is in the process of change. The canvases—incomplete entities—are impressionable and repainted—never solved. Through the process of work, experimentation and discovery, students learn that a work in progress is a bridge to the next piece of work.

   Currently, the teaching method that is most appealing to me is student centered teaching and active learning. Student centered teaching, cognitive coaching, meta-cognition (being aware of one's own thinking processes) to foster independence in learning (How People Learn p. 12), and active learning techniques, are all current methods of teaching I utilize. One way to promote active learning in the classroom is to use it during classroom critiques. Teaching critiquing to students has evolved over the years, and the most recent technique (concept mapping) I developed for the use of critiquing artwork. During this technique process, the students are involved in the active learning process, by writing about the work on the board and drawing small sketches of the work they are writing and critiquing.

During critiques, the students are asked to refer to their critique assessment sheets, and give objective and subjective feedback to each other’s work. Sometimes the students write their responses by comparing and contrasting two individual works. Writing their critique responses helps to reinforce their understanding of the language of art, so they can then talk about it during critique sessions. In order to keep anonymity, there is a number placed by each artwork, and the students do not feel self-conscious while discussing another student’s artwork. The student’s goal is to compare and contrast a work or works of art, while using the language of art. The students learn about the language of art during: lectures, class discussions, and in written form, known as the “critique guideline sheet. 

The environment in an art studio classroom is “assessment centered (HPL p.140)” because students engage in formal critiques. Once a studio project is finished, it is then critiqued. This is usually done in front of the entire class. During the critique, the student benefits from receiving feedback from both teacher and peers. “Formative assessment (HPL, p. 140)” during art critique, is challenging, because the students are still learning the language of art. Classroom research methods have also helped to assess relationship problems between textbook assignments and related handouts. The critique guideline sheet reinforces the student’s vocabulary, and writing, helps the student to sort out his or her thoughts. Some of the positive feedback received from these techniques is that students no longer feel that they are put on the spot, while assessing another student’s artwork.

These methods are working because students are actively participating in the critique discussions. They are no longer being told what they are seeing on the wall—the old chalk and talk method--and how they should be seeing it. Furthermore, it delineates the need for long and arduous lecturing during critiques from the teacher. Thus students actively learn to respond on their own to the work in front of them. 

Another technique, concept mapping, is used in (Angelo and Cross p. 197-202) all types of classes (design, computer graphics, drawing and painting) to engage students in an active learning exercise. Acting as the group facilitator, I write their ideas (brainstorming) on the board, and then draw a mind-map (concept map) for visual organization after the brainstorming session. After we finish the exercise, the student’s assignment is to: write a paragraph to reinforce their plan, write a goals statement of individual strategies for the plan, re-draw the mind-map drawn on the blackboard, and develop a new mind map, incorporating their goals statement with the one on the blackboard. During project production, their progress is assessed by using classroom research questions, which helps with possible project revisions. At the end of the project, the students critique and grade their own projects. The students develop their own project assessment sheets by using the brainstorming technique during the project-planning phase. All these techniques are known as classroom research techniques or action research (CATs). Angelo, Cross, 1996.

When in classroom research mode, the teacher becomes the student and the students become the teacher. Classroom research helps with understanding how students learn. CATs are a series of tools and practices designed to give teachers accurate information about the quality of student learning. Information gathered is not used for grading or teacher evaluation. Instead, CATs are used to facilitate dialogue between students and teachers about student learning. As authors Patricia Cross and Thomas Angelo state in their book Classroom Assessment Techniques that "Teaching without learning is just talking." CATs provide both teachers and students with "in process" information on how well students are learning what the curriculum intends. The three basic questions CATs the teacher are during classroom research are:

1. What are the essential skills and knowledge I am trying to teach?

2. How can I find out whether students are learning them?

3. How can I help students learn better?

   The classroom assessment process assumes that students need to receive feedback early and often, that they need to evaluate the quality of their own learning, and that they can help the teacher improve the strength of instruction (Cross-, Angelo, and Funderstanding Webpage).

   Another tool that I utilize in drawing and painting classes to connect with students is a sketch journal. The daily use of a sketch journal is an excellent tool that students can use for uncovering personal content and symbolism. The journal becomes the bridge that helps to develop a dialogue between the student and me. This often leads to a mutual agreement of a working thread, and helps the student with motivation to do their work. I believe that this technique promotes a sense of personal empowerment and can facilitate a wider path for the student to a broader: content knowledge, community discourse, and a growing understanding of individualized artistic integrity. 

Bibliography

K. Patricia Cross and Thomas Angelo, Classroom Assessment Techniques, 1996, On Purpose Associates, 1998-2001, [Data file]. Available from Funderstanding Web site, http://www.funderstanding.com/
classroom_assessment.cfm.

National Research Council, How People Learn, 2000.