Blog 22

Discuss your experiences in Art 307. What have they contributed to your understanding of Art? of the role of art in learning? of what the relationship between education and learning is? of the role of the teacher in this process?


In Art 307, I was able to learn more about child development, growth, and issues in art education. How can you best engage your students? How can you manage your classroom? I especially learned a lot about the age group (8-10 years old) that we worked with in our peer workshop. Learning to document your teaching, I think, is important because if you record your impressions of your lessons and reflect on them, you'd be better able to see what worked and what didn't work in your planning. In planning lessons for your students, you want to research and understand what might be the best teaching methods to meet the needs of a variety of learning styles, like visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners. As a teacher you also need to understand your students' backgrounds, and their physical and psychological needs. Considering learner styles and backgrounds allows you to better understand a child and how they will approach art. The role of art in education is to allow the child to express themselves and have the freedom of choice and creativity to create a piece of work to their liking, not necessarily what the teacher wants or expects. Art is a spontaneous process; you never know what the results might be! Art also reflects and explores the values inherent in a culture, so it is vital in understanding a culture. Education's role is to provide situations and experiences where learning can occur, and it is the teacher's job to provide the framework within which learning can best occur.