Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy for art education consists of three core objectives. First, hands-on practical and technical skills must be practiced and experienced for students to learn to proficiently apply their foundational skills in actual situations. Second, students need interdisciplinary education that does not solely focus on the Fine Arts sector, for students to develop and conceptualize their work and have the knowledge to achieve what they want to concentrate in. Most importantly, students need facilitation and guidance to develop their own creative autonomy. For their work to grow, evolve, and individualize, their creative autonomy needs to be developed. Students, in the end, would be able to critically develop their own conceptual thesis about their work and how they can evolve their craft.

            Curriculums should involve incorporating projects that require students to learn and apply technical skills in their work and field. Students need a variety of skill sets that are not just confined to drawing and painting, to use those skills for the careers that they want in the future. Therefore, the job of the educator is to be able to provide education in skills ranging from drawing and painting to digital imaging and video editing. Students who are learning grant writing or how to create a proposal, should be in grant juries and write a grant proposal for their own project to proficiently learn about grant writing. Having a background of spending the majority of my time learning all different forms of mediums, such as woodworking and welding, to graphic design and digital art, I understand first-hand the advantage and strength it gives for an artist to be able to achieve their vision. Therefore, when I taught high schoolers virtually during the pandemic, I made sure to curate my projects where it challenges the students to learn how to create digital compositions that are applicable to potential careers, such as designing a magazine or book covers.

            Second, interdisciplinary education is important for collegiate-level students to learn much of not only the history of the past but also the history surrounding them today. To be able to contextualize one’s work and find a subject one wish to concentrate on leads to creative autonomy. As an art educator, I practice this mentality in order to be able to provide those resources to students. Artistry does not live in a vacuum. Artistry is inevitably influenced by what surrounds us, which is why it is imperative that we study, read, and live as much as we can in order to develop it. The students’ work should not be stagnated, and should always grow and change. Therefore, as an educator, I curate projects that teach students how to research topics they may not have learned before and apply them to their work.

            Finally, creative autonomy is what tangibility and intrinsically established the student as an artist. Students need to learn how to think about their work conceptually, how to contextualize it and have a clear vision as to what their work focuses on. After students have developed proficiency in a variety of technical skills and developed research in topics they are interested in, students need to begin developing their own creative autonomy. Creative autonomy involves critical thinking about their own work, as well as applying what they learn through interdisciplinary research. The job of the educator is to facilitate that by often working with the students to discuss their work and provide opportunities for students to spend time outside of the school to experience and research specific artists, organizations, installations, and archives to develop their thesis. This objective is the most challenging, which is why it requires much trial and error, and experimentation. As the educator, I will work with them throughout their experimental process, until they reach a footing where their individual work is starting to form and become grounded. Students can develop their creative autonomy through stylistic choices, aesthetic forms, conceptual ideas, philosophy, critical thinking, etc. It is crucial because when students leave the institution, they should not just be ready professionally, but also intrinsically as individual artists that will continuously evolve.