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Children have an inherent ability for creating art. I look at the child's concerns, their
creative play and imaginative collections, to make art lessons child-centered. Art is one of the
most important ways people tell us how they view the world. What it means to be here in this
world, at this place and time, may be explored through the works of artists of all ages. Children's
natural aptitude can be lost when art teachers impose only adult-centered concepts and artworks.
Art education should initially focus on children's ideas because their experiences must be valued
and built upon. In this way, art lessons can be not only successful, but relevant. Art education
encourages the ability to value oneself and others, and to approach the world with a desire to
understand.
As a teacher, I realize that before I teach a subject, I teach who I am- just by the fact of
my presence. Therefore I must be aware of how I think of myself and how I represent myself. I
do not wish to be viewed as an art expert, or a person who definitively knows if an artwork is
good or significant. Instead, I am a skilled and enthusiastic facilitator to the students' critical
thinking and creating.
Exploring the contribution of diverse artists to the world community opens children's
beliefs and encourages pride in being an artist. Art should be studied and made for both its
expressive power and its possible social meaning. Art is a language of thought which must be
accessible to all students, not just the talented or well-connected few. It is essential for teachers
and artists (including student-artists) to work together to explore their own stories and dislodge
the ideologies that sustain the practice of exclusion and marginalization. This can be achieved
through critical multicultural art education. Teaching non-Western art, European art, and
contemporary art is important because, in some way, it is part of everyone's story and survival.
One story is needed to balance the other.
Through a community of inquiry, students learn to investigate, question, and judge art
(including challenging my own ideas). In my class, I want to invite risk-taking in art making and
art thinking that questions the status quo and searches for personal or social truths. Ideally, art
should be connected to other academic disciplines. With interdisciplinary studies and
collaboration between teachers, students can explore the concept of a cohesive community
interweaving the arts with literature, history, the environment, and much more.
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