Philosophy+of+Education

Philosophy of Art Education “Art is the imagination expressed through the senses.” One of the professors mentioned the above sentence when I was studying in Child Psychological Therapy in Graduate school. I strongly agreed about it at that time. The more I meet children at work, the more I can see that children show their thoughts through art.

I think that an education in the arts stimulates the imagination, develops self-esteem and encourages openness towards the opinions of others. I also believe that teaching students there is no exact way to create art, that sometimes there are obstacles they may need to overcome, and that coping with ambiguity, expressing opinions and at times defending judgments are all essential elements required by artists. This is where I find my role in art education. Challenged by past criticism or negative reactions to their artwork, some students may have issues with fear, lack of self-confidence, or a feeling of insecurity when it comes to making art. I want to instill in my students that art is personal, individual, and may create different reactions than expected, but to understand that any reaction is better than no reaction. An art education program should include technical skills, historical art, themes and ideas, cultural diversity, and visual culture aspects of art. These focuses will help students learn and appreciate art. My teaching focuses primarily on learning art history, art criticism, and art production. All of these components are essential to students. Through art history students learn the history of art. Students learn about past world civilizations; they will gain an understanding of how art has reflected, and communicated the feelings and beliefs among different cultures. They learn about many concepts that will help them develop skills so that they will know how to “look at art.” They develop many strategies to critique and analyze art. In the area of art production, students use various methods and mediums to express there ideas, as well as knowledge they learned in class. Students use the creative process to convert their ideas into visual images.