Teaching Philosophy: 2020 Vision

The year is 2020. I am 42 years old. My occupation is “facilitator of art and art education” in a hybrid virtual art classroom/museum (preferably the Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA in conjunction with the University of Alabama, or perhaps, PSU:). My classroom is a studio media room located in the center of the museum. The walls of the gallery are filled with a rotating collection of art pieces (the topic of today’s interaction) as well as multiple touch-activated surfaces. My students are a mix of virtual and in-class attendees. The touch activated projection screens “beam” in those joining us remotely, while those who are on physical location, settle in and make themselves comfortable in the midst of the art.  We work is a variety of tangible and non-tangible mediums exploring the past, present, and future through art created, art creation, and art to be created. What do I want my students to learn from me as a teacher in this setting?

  

1. Interaction and collaboration are key components in learning. Whether we share a physical space or not, connectivity is vital to the exchange, expansion and challenging of ideas. The virtual classroom is not conducive to all styles of learning or personality types. My 2020 classroom offers the option for virtual or physical participation. This allows students to be present, feel the connectivity through being and engage physically with the course and material. Virtual students interact with the material in a similar but different way. They connect through interactive high-resolution images of the art, create through a virtual sphere and project their creations into our physical classroom. At any time, participants can fluctuate between these two worlds.

2. Instructors are peers. Peers are instructors. Both are valuable members of this learning community with much to contribute and to gain. By allowing students to move fluidly through the roles of peer and instructor, they are able to bring their personal interests and knowledge to one another, solidifying ideas, understanding, and troubleshooting problem areas. Already, students do not look to their instructors as experts. By allowing students the freedom to become an “expert,” they are able to value and respect the knowledge, opinions, and contributions of their peers and instructors.

3. Learning is Global. Art is an avenue for exploration, experimentation and engaging with the world(s) in which we occupy. There is no “wrong” answer when exploring who we are through the arts, only new and different ways of viewing ourselves through the lenses of art. However, we are part of a larger community, thus a broader conversation. Students “must learn how to engage in conversations with those who do not hold the same cultural values or intellectual commitments” (Anderson & Balsamo 2008, p 245). We must see ourselves as part of this larger community.

4. Art is interdisciplinary. Historically, art is a text that needs to be situated within the political, economic and social context of its creation. However, artists do not create their work within a vacuum, but rather from personal interests and concerns. By understanding art’s ability to cross the boundaries of a wide range of disciplines, students can confidently navigate and explore their interests and passions through the medium of their choice.

5. Never stop imagining. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw

Each of these aims seeks to support a key idea in my 2020 teaching philosophy:

 “different students learn best when allowed to process information and experience though various forms of engagement, at differing paces, and via a multitude of technologies” and a classroom that seeks to accommodate such learners is one in which “flexibility, hybridity, and multiplicity are of crucial importance” (Anderson & Balsamo, 251).