TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I believe in the power of art to transform and empower individuals and communities—and I believe this power is most evident when art is experienced as something diverse, democratic, and everyday. Towards helping my students to experience art as those things, I rely on two theoretical frameworks more than most: material culture studies and intersectional feminism.
At its core, material culture studies asks, “how can the objects we choose to be a part of our lives help us, and others, understand who we are?” And through a material culture studies lens, art is merely another set of objects. Through a material culture studies lens, art appears very ordinary. By “ordinary", I don't mean that art isn't also very special. Many very ordinary things are also very special (a home-cooked meal, for instance). By “ordinary”, I mean that art appears as neither elitist nor esoteric. It appears—or rather, becomes—very accessible. As an art teacher, I want art to be very accessible. I want for my students to feel like the study of it is relevant to their interests and ambitions.
Essentially, I want to demystify art.
Demystifying art helps, in turn, to democratize art. To me, democratizing art means rethinking what art is and what art does in ways that allow more people to engage with it (to appreciate it, feel they understand it, want to make it, etc.). And not only am I interested in democratizing art, I am interested in understanding how art can help democratize other areas of life. I believe the creativity and critical thinking skills developed through engaging with art are of paramount importance in our society’s struggles for social justice.
My interest in social justice is what led me to an interest in feminism. Feminism's original concern was with the empowerment of women, hence its name. Contemporarily, feminism is deeply intersectional; it theorizes opposition to all oppressive power structures. It still works on behalf of women, of course. It also works on behalf of people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, the working class, and others. In art education, feminist theory helps to develop equitable and inclusive curricula. Feminist theory helps ensure that the art I teach is relevant to the lived experiences of a diverse student body. It also allows me to help students look beyond their personal lived experiences, and to survey a range of global traditions.
Material culture studies and intersectional feminism are only two of my many interests. My teaching practice is inspired by many other ideas and objectives also. These other interests include the promotion of literacy and the analysis of narrative forms—an interest that has led to many of my lessons requiring students to plan and/or reflect on their work in writing. I am also enthralled with the idea of arts-integration. I am constantly asking myself, “how can I collaborate with educators in other subject areas towards more effective and engaging instruction?” Arts-integration is itself a powerful tool for demystifying and democratizing art. If art in school is modeled as something other than a stand-alone special, it becomes easier for students to see the ways in which art permeates their life outside of school.
Every subject area will always have some students that are more interested in it than others. My goal as an arts educator is not for every student to want to become a professional artist. My goal as an arts educator is for every student to see the power and beauty of the art that surrounds them every day—and to know their own power to creatively transform our world, whether by art or any other means.