Liam Loveday

EDU 1010
Leonard
Philosophy of education

The aspects of becoming a teacher that draw me so closely to the profession lay in the

notions of community and somewhat responsibility to future generations. My ambition to

become an art teacher routs itself in my highschool experience. The most eye opening class I

ever took was a secondary drawing class taught by Mr. Whiteman, it was the subject of

observation that caught my thoughts off guard. As Whiteman taught us about abstraction and

the ability to separate an object from its essence, so you can draw the shape its making from

your perspective. My perspective on life as a whole made a big shift in understanding, I had a

lot less existential dread when turning my attention to art, as it provided a lot of stability in what I

could relate to as a human. A lot of things just started to make sense to me that semester, It felt

like unlocking a new ability. I formed a close bond with Mr. Whiteman and was a student

assistant for him my senior year. After graduating highschool I knew becoming a secondary

school art teacher was what I would be most happy doing. The thought of spreading my

experience to students, and sharing skills that can be used to create beautiful creations is

something that makes me happy for the future.

While taking notes on the four different teaching philosophies we learned about I found

that essentialism, and perennialism are what I recall being taught in my art classes, but not so

much of my other humanities classes such as english. I think it is usually harder to apply

progressivism to an art class environment. Unless it's an art history class which many art

classes apply. It was also surprising to me as essentialism and perennialism were tied for the

lowest score on my green paper. However, I also argue that these two philosophies are not a
requirement of learning art. Abstraction can be interpreted in many different ways, and the

elements of art are not static.

In conclusion, I think it is pretty hard to apply conventional teaching philosophies to

subjects of art classes. There are very few instances of requiring a specific knowledge and

curriculum in a class that is mostly about self improvement and development. Observation is a

key role in art classes which seems to not be an inquiry of any one teaching philosophy, so I

would say that a broad mix of the philosophies is what you could expect in a traditional art

classroom.