Teaching Philosophy

By: Amy Tuchschmidt

I was meant to teach. My love for art is something that I must share with our future
generations. I want to inspire students to dig down deep and find their niche, and true potential. I
want to help students discover the wonderful person they are and could be whether it involves a
future in art or not.
We must transform schools into safe, caring communities (Canestrari 2013, pg. 170).
Schools should be a place to educate our children for the future. That doesnt mean they should
be a strict, by age, everyone needs to know the same content type of learning. Schools should
help children to explore new talents and allow them to learn in an exploratory manner where they
feel interested and stimulated and find themselves craving more knowledge.
Schools unfortunately do not fall under this ideal standard I have. They are riddled with
strict curriculum, and assessments and want every student to learn at the same pace. Curriculum
and assessment in teaching art is changing from the traditional principles of design. I think it is
good that the original notions of what art should look like and how it should be made are being
tossed out the window. We can't rely on these traditional ideals because art these days is anything
but traditional. Art has taken on so many different forms that we need a broader prospective in
looking at it. Art making has taken on new faces, and they are all influenced by different cultures
and different environments that we live in. So by creating a new set of principles we can look at
art with a fresh perspective, and see how students are learning and interpreting their society,
people, and places around them.
Communication is key when it comes to us serving every student in a way that will help
them to succeed academically. Policy makers and the general public have paid much less

attention to what happens inside the classroom-the particulars of teaching and learning
Canestrari 2013, pg. 217). I think that we as teachers, administrators, parents and community
members need to understand that each student is different and has different needs. We need to
stop lumping them into mass groups that we shove endless amounts of information at so they can
pass standardize tests and start teaching them in a way that sparks their interest and causes them
to actually retain the information they are hearing.
Teaching visual arts is about incorporating the past and the present. Students need to
understand the history of art and various art movements, and see how art making has grown and
changed over the years. a child is innately wise and realistic.(Canestrari 2013, pg. 134). This
really resonates with me because I truly believe that if we are teaching our students relevant and
useful information they will actually want to learn. We need to teach them how to look at their
culture and their world around them to gather inspiration, and creativity to pave their own artistic
path.
I will need to understand the students that I am teaching and their backgrounds in order to
effectively create a curriculum that will enable them to flourish academically. If I can understand
their learning needs and the cultures they come from I can develop lessons that will inspire and
motivate them to learn. By taking a focus on the process I will be able to see how students
develop ideas, put them into action, and ultimately execute their visions. The end product is not
as important as the process a student takes in art making. Observing students making
connections, questioning, and investigating various forms of art and art mediums is a huge part
of the process. I believe that if I can see students doing these things I will be able to see
meaningful learning taking place.

References
Canestrari, A. S., & Marlowe, B. A. (2013). The Idea of Summerhill. Educational foundations:
An anthology of critical readings. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Canestrari, A. S., & Marlowe, B. A. (2013). Grading. Educational foundations: An anthology
of critical readings. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Canestrari, A. S., & Marlowe, B. A. (2013). Poor Teaching for Poor ChildrenIn the Name of
Reform. Educational foundations: An anthology of critical readings. Los Angeles, CA:
SAGE.