Lawrence Schaedler-Bahrs: Art Education Teaching Philosophy

Art is all encompassing, as it captures the essence of everyday life. It is

the way the light gleams off of a window pain in the brightest of days, or the
way leaves curl and fall to the ground in a gentle autumn breeze. To deny a
child an art outlet is to deny them the experience of life in its most literal
sense. Creativity is natures calling card and whether or not we see it, it is
out call to action as well. Children have an innate understanding of nature
and creativity. In many cases, a childs creativity is ever abundant, from the
familiar family scenes, strewn about on a wall in crayon or in the way they
describe their imaginary friends. As adults, many tend to lose this sense of
wonderment. Often, in art education, this occurs when teachers impose only
adult-centered concepts for artwork as well as place an emphasis on
drawing from observation and not from the mind. Art education should
initially focus on childrens ideas because their experiences must be values
and built upon. In this way, art lessons can be successful, and, more
importantly, relevant. Art education encourages the ability to value oneself
and others, and to approach the world with a desire to understand.
As an art educator, my goal is to foster this continued exploration of
ones-self and the world through a modified choice based curriculum which
has an emphasis in Visual Culture Arts Education, which allows for an
exploration of meaning making in art and how it is relevant to the artist as
well as the student. I aim to allow my students to seek out personal meaning
for themselves as well as participate in the broader spectrum of art creation.
I want them to know that creativity is okay and that they have the freedom
to explore it. I do not want to be looked upon as a lofty art expert but as
someone who is encouraging and facilitating their creativity and critical
thinking skills, so that they themselves can go out and challenge the worlds
status quo as they continue their journey as artists ans as, more importantly,
denizens of this world. Fostering creativity shall foster problem solving and
critical thinking skills which will, utilizing VCAE, allow them to critique art and
its social implications, and the impact those implications have on them.
Art should be observed and created for both self-expression and its
social implications. It should hold meaning, whether it be to the artist
themselves, or the observer. It should be accessible to every student, from
every walk of life, advantaged or disadvantaged. It is important for both
students and teachers to be able to facilitate and explore together using
their own narratives, and to do away with the separating and isolating
factors that are present within societies across the world. Such a fostering
environment can be explored through critical multicultural education in
which art forms from frames other than Western and European cultures are
studied. In this way, students can see that there is a whole world out there,
and that we are all living in it together.
Art is a binding tool, it brings together the masses to show that we are
one. In the very least, art is natural, art is life.