"Every human being is an artist, a freedom being, called to participate in transforming and reshaping the conditions, thinking and structures that shape and inform our lives."
-Joseph Beuys
My name is Ginna Triplett and I am so excited to be the new art teacher at P.S. 307. On this blog, I will post photos of the amazing artwork of the incredibly creative students at P.S. 307 along with information about the concepts and skills children are learning in art class. Please check back often to see new posts with many pictures of student artwork! Below is my personal art education vision statement.
Cultural Awareness and Literacy
Creating art and responding to the artwork of their peers helps students develop a deeper understanding of themselves and empathy for others. Art education is culturally responsive because it gives students opportunities to share their personal and cultural experiences through artwork. As students respond to historical and contemporary art from diverse artists and cultures, they develop a deep appreciation for and understanding of different time periods and perspectives. In art class, students develop a powerful sense that their own experiences and thoughts matter and are of interest to others, building crucial self-esteem and encouraging more engagement in other classes. Being asked about and talking about their own artwork develops students’ verbal communication skills, improving their ability and confidence to participate in discussions and communicate their ideas through writing in other classes.
Common Core and National Core Arts Standards
Literacy is woven into art education at every grade level. For very young children this happens mainly through discussion of art concepts, learning new vocabulary, and verbally articulating what is happening in their own artwork and the artwork of others. As children get older, art education also includes writing about their own artwork, incorporating reading and writing into the artistic process, and reading and writing about art history and contemporary art. Observing, analyzing, reading and writing about historical and contemporary art develops sophisticated reading comprehension and writing skills which are needed to master Common Core literacy standards. Responding to art, understanding its context, interpreting its meaning based on evidence, reading art historical texts and art criticism all sharpen students’ higher level and critical thinking skills demanded by the Common Core. Recognizing that art has always been essential to humanity across cultures and continues to be a huge drive of our culture and economy today (The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the number 1 tourist attraction in New York City), The National Core Arts Standards provide a framework for delivering an art education which provides deep learning designed to support college and career readiness. With more and more career fields demanding high levels of creativity, a strong art education gives students a significant edge in the workforce.
Habits of Mind, Efficacy, Innovation, Problem Solving
Art education fosters a powerful sense of efficacy in students by setting up opportunities for them to make discoveries, innovate, solve problems, and develop their creativity. Building these skills early and consistently gives students a powerful resource within themselves to envision, carve out and follow their own successful, fulfilling path in life. Exploring various methods of creating art and responding to the creative endeavors of others develops habits of mind which will serve them throughout their academic, personal and professional lives. These habits of mind include developing technical skills, engaging and persisting in creative endeavors, finding multiple solutions to problems, envisioning a desired outcome and imagining the steps needed to make it a reality, observing surroundings and situations closely, assessing one’s own work, exploring new ideas, learning to transform accidents into discoveries, and working within a community of creative people. What makes art education so successful at developing these habits of mind is that it provides experiences in which students construct knowledge and actively create things on their own, engaged cognitively and physically in the entire process. High-quality art education develops skills essential to becoming a life-long self-motivated learner.
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