As an educator I want to embrace an ever changing society and have students find their place within it. Teaching art involves creating a dialogue with the world around us because art is a commentary on life – a language that expresses the needs and desires of a people. My purpose for teaching art is to try to create a dynamic understanding of art’s complexity – that it is more than aesthetic form and production. It enables a philosophy of life and glimpse into an understanding of the world.

As an art educator I embrace the idea of a Discipline Based Art Education, or DBAE, in which the students study art making, criticism, aesthetics, and art history. The students will be able to embrace art as more than a means of production, but also as a way to make meaning through criticism, to learn their history through the study of social contexts, and to understand cultural conditions through an examination of aesthetics. I employ various methods of assessment through the application of rubrics, reflective writing, and creative assignments that involve making art as well as the research therein. Formative and summative assessments allow growth and development as well as a way to measure understanding. As an educator, I will also work toward increasing my knowledge and understanding of art and art education by attending local art museums and workshops, as well as development through such organizations as the National Art Education Association.

In the art world, technology has revolutionized the way we not only see art, but the production of it. Students are now able to have works of art from all over the world at their fingertips. They are also able to utilize the computer as a medium in which to create their own works as well. As an educator my goal is to present students with a range of media, even media in which they have not yet considered as art materials. This will encourage my students to think outside the proverbial box and encourage them to grow not only technically, but conceptually. Technology is just one way to level the playing field. As we expand globally in technology, our world becomes smaller, creating a means of embracing diversity. Through a DBAE, I hope to create a passion in which students begin to use their art as a means to change the world and become more active in their communities.

As an art educator I would like to challenge my students to use their art as a means to make our world a better place. Through the method of essential questions and big ideas, I would like to encourage my students to have an enthusiastic and proactive attitude towards authentic education and the world.