Friday, May 25, 2012

I've been around the block a few times

I was talking to another teacher about curriculum. Boy, that sounds dry.

In art, it can get VERY exciting. I told her this...."These are the guidelines that we are given from our folks in M*******. They expect that we are professionals who have art degrees and know what we are doing. They do not micromanage. You know, art does not have such strict guidelines. Creativity is our foundation. Our children in our urban area have been shoved into a tube for testing and have been geared for being told exactly what to do. They have a comfort level with that. In art we have to PRY them away from the testing mold and insist that they have creative unique thoughts and THEY ARE TERRIFIED. What WE need to do is nurture and teach technique. Anyone with excessive creative inclination will RUN with that. THEN we can wrap their mind around some of the "out there" stuff that is out there. I've taught art history for 14 years and if they can handle the new ideas they will. It is a small percentage that can deal with that.

The rest of the students that are new to art need to be attracted not repulsed.