Trusting ourselves to trust our students
What my son has reminded me about being an art teacher For some reason beyond my uncool dad comprehension, my blue-eyed, sandy-haired, 15-year old is really into rap and hip-hop music and has been for several years. My son can speak like a musicologist about the genre, and he will often share his latest finds […]
What your art teacher is thinking about – Understanding the complexity behind the curtain
Sometimes art seems to appear in schools by magic. Concerts fill the air with music, theater productions showcase aspiring performers, and artworks bring color to the hallways. Parents beam at displays of their talented offspring, and there is perhaps no better PR for all the remarkable things a school is doing to develop young minds. […]
Discovering art doesn’t happen by accident
Helping high school art students truly analyze a work of art, rather than superficially describe it, requires that teachers teach an effective strategy for students to use. An approach widely used is Ronald Feldman’s Description, Analysis, Interpretation and Evaluation. This approach is a concise way to help students know what to do, but how do […]
“Art Can’t Change the World…or can it?” A critique of an art project at the International School of Beijing, part 2
you can find part 1 here Part 2 – Did my project make a difference? A few years ago, I created a project titled, “Can Art Change the World” for my IB Year 1 Art students. I presented them a roster of artists for research whose art leans towards social activism, and then let them have a […]
“Art Can’t Change the World…or can it?” A critique of an art project at the International School of Beijing, part 1
Is art a problem-solving discipline? As the understanding of what skills and mindsets people need in our rapidly changing world evolve, many schools are exploring ways to make education more meaningful and applicable to preparing students to solve real problems. Providing real-world experience through project-based learning, collaboration with community experts, or service-learning projects, expose students […]