Entry #3
February 10, 2020
#teachermetamorphosis
1. What events/moments/personal experiences change or refine my past perspective to look at art teaching and learning now?
My family and I visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science several times a year. Among our favorite exhibits have been an exhibit of Leonardo DaVinci’s inventions and machines and art, and The Science of Pixar. Both experiences were profound and exciting because, even though I’ve understood art to be transformative and powerful in an emotional and expressive sense, these exhibits helped me see that art can also be deeply scientific, mathematical and rational while still being deeply moving and communicative. In my own schooling, I never thought I was particularly good or interested in math or science. None of my teachers ever consistently included art as a part of any other subject to consolidate learning. There were the occasional drawings or dioramas, but they were infrequent and never that relatable, none ever included a personal connection. Seeing these exhibits made me realize that many disciplines can be integrated to teach art and consolidation of understanding in a transformative way. Although I had seen Leonardo DaVinci’s paintings in various books, I had not understood how vast his scientific ventures and studies were. His detailed and beautiful sketches of his machines and anatomical observations are fascinating, deeply artistic and wonderfully methodical, his note taking extensive and explorative. In the Science of Pixar exhibit, we got to see that the movies and I love and have been enjoying for years, involve an extraordinarily high and complicated level of skill, math and engineering. Small details that would be on screen for even a few seconds require research and mathematical equations to render light in just the right way, or the bounce of a hair curl. In my classroom, I never want to take art for granted, I want to make sure my students experience how extensively art can stretch and reflect onto every area of life.
2. What current learning or art education theories do I learn related to this change or revision?
Learning about integrated learning and using art to teach about other subjects has been eye opening. Teaching social justice and activism through art has been something that I have been particularly excited about since I decided to follow this career path, but learning about integrative teaching has extended my commitment to teaching these ideas to also partnering with teachers in other content areas to work toward common goals and in the process help students better grasp lessons in Social Studies, Math, Science, Health, etc. through the creative art process. Understanding integrated teaching has opened new doors and perspectives for my future teaching practice. I am so eager to explore and establish connections with colleagues in other disciplines and help my students create beautiful art while furthering their grasp in potentially difficult or even boring subjects for students. Through art there is the potential to extend literacy and numeracy and to help students make connections to learning that had not previously come easy. During class in Art 326, we came up with lessons that integrated other subjects to teach art. Part of the assignment included researching a contemporary artist to implement strategies of integrated teaching. From the seemingly “simple” examples I learned from my classmates during class, I was greatly enriched and learned about new artists I am eager to explore and plan to use in my teaching.
3. How does my art piece (or the process of making this art piece) represent this change or revision?
As mentioned before, monarch butterflies are particularly significant in my art. Not just for the symbolic representation of immigration but also the representation of transformation. The process and evolution a creature goes through to go from an organism that crawls and whose sole purpose is to nourish itself in preparation to morph into an organism that flies and is not constrained to one tree or a few leaves, but a creature that moves and travels vast distances to further and assure the survival of it’s species. Integrated teaching in my future is one more tool and vehicle in helping growing humans come a step closer to transforming and morphing into successful and whole adults that impact society in a positive way.
4. How does my current understanding influence my path of becoming an artist and educator?
Understanding the impacts of Integrated learning, connecting with contemporary artists to implement these strategies, as well as implementing this in a choice-based setting are undoubtedly already influencing my ways of seeing my own creative process, from researching my subjects to finding inspiration for my art. Taking risks in my own art, even if it means exploring subjects and disciplines that have always intimidated or scared me will make me a better artist. Being a better artist will, I believe, inevitably enhance my ability to teach effectively. Having positive relationships and collaborative experiences with colleagues in other content areas in my school will unavoidably positively impact the students we teach and produce constructive learning experiences in which our students will thrive and make connections that wouldn’t easily come otherwise. I aspire to be an artist and educator that inspires stepping out of one’s comfort zone for the sake of learning and with the understanding that anything and everything we can learn, from how to manipulate various materials, to seeing how contemporary artists can inspire them to create meaningful art and how that connects to the structure of a cell, or the history of indigenous people of any country. Art can improve every learning experience, and I look forward to taking every opportunity I come across to guiding my students to understanding it for themselves.
