Nicole
D. Brisco
Pleasant Grove High School,
Texarkana, Texas
Philosophy of Art Education
When I stand before God at
the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single
bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you
gave me” – E. Bombeck
The
quote above is what I live my life by; simply it is my
philosophy of life and teaching. When I was in college I was asked to write my philosophy. I understood the request to produce an educated response
to how I would teach art. I
responded by creating a very scholarly paragraph that discussed
how art can touch every life, how art gives each student a
voice, and how powerful art actually is in our culture. It sounded great, but as a 21 year old who had never
stepping foot into my own classroom how could I ever know how
teaching would affect my life journey.
Fast
forward to today. I
have always believed we are given gifts in life and how we
respond to these gifts controls our destiny. Art for me is more than a subject, more than an ideology,
or a picture in a book. It
is truly a life journey. I
remember being 5 years old and asked my mom, “What do you want
me to draw?” She would always share with me what she
envisioned for my paper. I
fumbled through my crayons, thought, and then embarked on my own
personal journey, responding to her but always giving it my own
artistic twist.
Teaching
for me is much like that memory of childhood. I decided early in my career to adopt the simple quote
above as my teaching philosophy, surrounding myself with master
teachers, taking every opportunity to learn, seeking, creating,
and re-evaluating when necessary. This philosophy is what I hope to instill in my students
and my peers that I have also found myself blessed to instruct. Take every challenge, turn it into an opportunity to put
your stamp on the world, whether it is to create a work of art
or develop a master concept for students to explore.
I
want my students to see everything and believe the possibility
of the impossible. I
want them to drive down the road and look at every tree, every
branch, and every leaf. Intent
to create beauty such as this, careful to pay attention to every
detail, how each branch breaks away and creates its own personal
journey. Always
reaching and seeking that speck of light or knowledge that is
always there but must be sought, this is how a beautiful work of
art is created and a student is fostered. Intention, cultivation, attentiveness, and purpose, these
are the ingredients. It is also how I as a teacher challenge my
own creativity as I develop ideas for my students to examine.
It
was not long after I learned these ingredients that I felt
compelled to challenge myself beyond my classroom. I have always known that art was more than drawing,
painting, and sculpting. It
is about our human response to the world around us. I deemed this to be my mantra. I want my students to sing their lives through their
media of choice. Every
work of art has an essential question and that question for my
students is the exploration of connections between who they are
and how they perceive their world. This is the role I play as a teacher, facilitating and
cultivating ideas into works of art that no one else could have
made - marks on the world that speak.
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