The Children ARe the Future
I first started believing that art was the most important element of my life in 3rd grade. My teacher used art in every lesson; it quickly became the one thing I looked forward too. When we had career day she had us go up one by one and tell the class what we wanted to be when we grew up; of course the most popular was doctor, lawyer, policeman, etc. However, myself I stood up and proudly stated "I want to be an artist" I would hear people whisper "that’s not a real job" however it never discouraged me. I continued through schooling struggling in everything, I felt like I was just bad at school because I wasn’t smart enough. This changed when I met my teacher in 6th grade; Mr. Smith, and suddenly learning was more active and incorporated, much more than memorization and repetition. He believed that all students had the same capability of learning and he didn’t assume that I couldn’t due to my test scores or history of my report cards. I want to be that support system for any future students that I may have, every child can learn and learning does not happen in just one way. I believe that I can be supportive and motivating for the generations to come, because I was that distracted student. Mr. Smith advocated for me and told my middle school that I should be in honors courses and he set me up for success. I then continued to progress and the teachers that followed in my schooling continued the motivation. Teachers can make an impact and they do. I want to give back in the same way. I believe I would be a progressive educator because I want students to be active learners and retain valuable information. Learning by doing and applications to life and problem solving are the most efficient way of learning. Whether or not they are pursuing art as career, creativity is important in daily life. I also want my students to have a warm and welcoming environment for them to feel safe to create, imagine, and voice their own ideas. I want my classroom to be a place where they look forward going to. I also want there to be space for their works to be displayed. My goal is to activate and engage them in learning with aesthetic questions to give them a voice. I do not want to have a western perspective of teaching art and instead teach them the process and the underling meaning of art. I also want my classroom to be inclusive of all learners and welcome diversity. If they are interested then they are more likely to stay engaged and retain information making them active learners. As a future art teacher I want to give my future students the feeling of encouragement and belief that I was lucky enough to have gotten. Because, with art comes, imagination, inspiration, compassion, humanity, and expression. All which are qualities that are necessary for a bright future.