Curiosity and imagination, process-based meaning-making, critical thinking, and empathy—these are the overarching goals reflected in my teaching. By igniting one’s curiosity, the imagination is given a space to flourish and the possibility of transforming ideas into fruition become boundless.

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As an art educator, I believe my purpose is to prepare students for a rapidly evolving global society. Through visual inquiry, active discourse, and art making, students have the capacity to become critical and informed individuals. Using the visual art standards as a springboard, I aim to design lessons that complement student growth with rigorous and intellectually stimulating prompts and performance tasks. Students are expected to integrate diverse themes to lesson objectives with the goal of transferability in real world situations. The lessons are often a hybrid of content areas including science, history, literature, social studies, mathematics, and music. My curriculum will be a combination of these facets ensuring students will explore multi-content themes with purposeful and constructive art making.

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Meaning making is an essential aspect of personal and intellectual growth and an aspect that art education can facilitate in a safe learning environment through open ended prompts and media diversity. What do I mean by safe? The art room should be a safe haven for the sharing of different ideas, where students express respect and understanding for each other. As such, students will learn how to advocate for each other by exploring themes of community, individuality, and empathy. According to art education theorist Elliot Eisner (2002), an arts education can foster flexibility, a tolerance for ambiguity, risk-taking, and exercise judgement for problem solving (p.35). These aforementioned skills are necessary to nurture a community of informed individuals who are able to navigate the complexities of a globalized society.

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Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.