TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

 

Education is more than a linear measurement of one’s successful completion of a set of academic objectives. It is an indicator of a desire to improve oneself through a lifelong appreciation and study of intellectual, philosophical, societal, and practical issues.

 

I hope that it is apparent through my teaching that I am a disruptor of systems of inequity. While I exist in a position of privilege, I strive to create a classroom environment that demonstrates a safe and supportive place. I create a welcoming space that is responsively lead by an ally for nondominant cultures, identities, and ideologies. I design an environment where students engage in essential inclusive learning opportunities. My curriculum, classroom environment, and teaching practice is designed and implemented in a manner that allows individuals to investigate and express their true authentic selves. I take pride in creating a professional supportive relationship with each student and encourage them to discover and develop their own interests using class projects as vehicles for sincere personal expression. My students understand that the projects they complete are just as much for them as they are for me. I aim to make my curriculum student centered and during class lectures, demonstrations, and critiques I pose questions as a way of aiding students in realizing their own creative responses, thus stimulating a classroom so that it is engaged in empowered critical thinking, anti-assimilation exercises, divergent thinking practices, and active inclusive discourse. I believe that incorporating and fostering a student’s individuality is vital in demonstrating the depth of possibilities integral in the study of fine art and the celebration of equity.

 

I instruct my students in the technical and conceptual aspects of Painting, Drawing I, II, and II, Figure Drawing, Advanced Drawing, Illustration, Art Appreciation, Art History I and II, Introduction to Contemporary Art History, Contemporary Practices in Feminist Art Theory, Art Appreciation, Contemporary Studio Art, Color, Design and Symbol, 3D Design and Prototyping, Art and Technology, Introduction to Craft, Introduction to Digital Design, Printmaking, Portfolio, Sculpture I, II, II, IV, 2-D Design, 3-D Design and 4-D Design. I engage in progressive methodology by including technology throughout all studio subjects that I teach. I strive to instill within students a desire for lifelong learning; a desire that can be taken out of the classroom and integrated throughout one’s life. During class lectures, demonstrations, and critiques, I pose questions as a way of aiding students in realizing their own creative response, stimulating empowered critical thinking and active discourse. 

 

To inspire dialogue and foster creativity, I employ a variety of resources including those that are audible, visual, lingual, and tactile. With introductory courses, I spend ample time teaching the formal elements of art such as line, shape, value, and space as well as basic principles of art such as balance, emphasis, unity, and variety. With a clear understanding of fundamental art vocabulary, students have the confidence to explore more complicated nuanced creative expressions. The basic knowledge gained in Painting, Drawing, Art Appreciation, Art History, Art Theory, Crafts, Digital Design, Printmaking, Portfolio, Sculpture and 2-D, 3-D and 4-D Design also allows the student to participate in personal, technical, and conceptual endeavors. I sincerely believe that introducing students to the tools, concepts, and processes of fine art and lifelong learning, is vital for creating an open and diverse global society. It is with this philosophy that I practice teaching.