I believe that teachers should be as willing to learn from
their students as they are to teach their students. In this way, teachers become facilitators of
learning rather than distributors of information. This is my philosophy of
learning rather than my philosophy of teaching.
All people are born with the capacity to learn. As educators, it is our job to find new and
creative ways to make this happen. We
have to be willing to reflect on and reevaluate our methods to make sure that
they are working for our students. It
also means that sometimes we have to be humble and allow our students to be in
the driver’s seat; let them guide the direction of their learning. There have been several times when I thought
I had a great idea for a lesson and one of my students asked if they could do
it differently. Sometimes their ideas
work better and are far more creative than mine. These instances are the most
rewarding for me as a teacher because it means that my students have taken what
I taught them and made it their own. I
am confident that they love learning and perhaps they will want to continue
their quest for knowledge. The world that our children live in is different
than the world we grew up in. Everything
is moving so fast, changing so quickly, and they have access to so much
information. If we do not use techniques
that allow them to make meaning of their world, education will be
purposeless. The arts provide us with a
wonderful tool for making meaning. As an art educator, I feel that I have a
responsibility to teach the arts within the context that it was created. So, we study history, culture and aesthetics. Although my students come to the art room, I
expect them to do much more than make something. I want them to understand why they are making
art. I want them to understand their
creative potential. For this reason, at
any given moment, we may be singing, dancing, writing, reciting poetry, playing
games, or critiquing works of art. I enjoy the challenge of creating new and
innovative teaching strategies to help children grasp new concepts. I believe that arts integration is a
powerful tool that allows children to take ownership of their learning, develop
higher order thinking skills, and make connections between what they learn in
schools and what is meaningful in their lives. I want them to understand that
art, history, math, science and reading are all related and impact each
other. It is my hope that they will
leave my room with a meaningful experience and that all modalities of learning
will have been considered.