emmakarpinski

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  • in reply to: POWER #5124
    emmakarpinski
    Participant

    I feel that it is instilled in children’s minds early on that a teacher is someone who has indefinite and total power in any classroom environment. The students often feel that any educator has control over all decisions in the classroom, which leads said students to disconnecting from the lessons, because they feel that their voices are not important. I think that a way to break away from this early on in the classroom is to break down the myths of a classroom. As art educators, we get artistic license, and can bend the rules of “traditional” schoolwork and tasks, and we should use this to pave the way for all educators. For example, if we alter the idea of the classroom to move away from traditional layouts and furniture, students may feel more open to break out of their normal school routine. When the environment is not all rows of desks and a teacher up front, the students’ minds will not be in the “off” mode that often occurs when in that situation. If we show students that it is okay to stray from the norm, they will begin to follow suit and do so, as well. We can ask them questions that show interest in their personal ideas, then allow for opportunities for each of them to share and create those ideas that matter to them. When we give them the chance to teach their peers about something they are an expert on, their confidence will grow, and soon the students will feel more comfortable keeping an open dialogue in the classroom when it is asked of them. This shift in dynamic can allow power to be shared by the students and teacher, and make it more about “us” rather than “me” and “them”.

    emmakarpinski
    Participant

    To create art in the 21st century, you must be good at questioning things around you. I believe that art made today is the result of a person wondering and asking about an aspect of life that they notice. Interactive performances often hold a mirror to society and are the way an artist can make viewers and participants question their own actions. Along with being able to call out and question things, artists today must be able to seek help or guidance to master a skill. We are in an in-between time period where people are creating works of art with amazing technology, but that technology is not always being taught in art classrooms. Whether it is the issue of having access or an administration not seeing technology as an artistic medium, it’s often hard for students to learn how to use digital mediums to make art at school. Instead, they become resourceful by finding free tutorials and websites that explain software and programs. They teach themselves and find the means to fulfill their visions. If art educators, specifically in K-12, were to be persistent about including digital arts into their curriculum, even by allowing a student to lead a lesson, it would benefit the program and the students. These children could even combine the old forms of art making with the new; merging textile art with 3D printing, or oil painting with digital animation. The possibilities are endless, and if young artists today did not have to always struggle to teach themselves or struggle to gain access, more artists would emerge from the 21st century!

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