Being a Practing Artist

Being a practicing artist is extremely beneficial when teaching an art classroom. I work hard to learn about working in different mediums and processes, and having a wide background knowledge of “making art” is enormously helpful when helping students with their ideas. With enough experience, processes will reflect ideas in other similar artistic processes. Using the teacher’s prior knowledge of the subject, the teacher can scaffold the student with critical information and get the student to a point where they can really focus their ideas rather than struggling with their construction. One of the things I look forward to the most is producing work as a teacher. I enjoy being challenged by my work, and I think that students will appreciate attempting the same challenges I do. It’s important for students to recognize that making art isn’t just a class, it’s something that people can get very happily involved with. In “From Ordinary to Extraordinary”, Ken Vieth suggest that being actively involved in making art will allow us to maintain perspective while teaching. Vieth also notes that teachers need to model standards, and those standards should also include standards for producing work.

Teaching students technical skills takes time and practice, and sometimes a student’s concept doesn’t call for them learning all of a new process to complete their work. As teachers, it’s important to be able to connect with your students and understand their concepts so you can recognize when to maybe accelerate a student through a one-time process, or if it’s necessary to take extended time to teach a skill because it will be beneficial to them while they continue to work. Having wide background knowledge of making art for sure helps a teacher recognize those situations because they have that previous experience.