Kat Torgerson

8 December 2022
My Teaching Philosophies

I believe that my teaching philosophies come from a place of experience, along with
who I am as a person. The whole reason I wanted to pursue teaching was because of my
negative and positive experiences with teachers, but also my pride and joy of an art teacher
who gave me the motivation to keep moving in my art career and become a teacher in the
first place. I will never be able to thank her enough for helping me become the person I
wanted to be- and will be with the help of my fellow teachers.
One of my teaching philosophies is to be open-minded. This doesn't stop at just
opening your mind to other’s opinions or views, but opening yourself to all the world has to
offer. One of the hardest things I had to do to grow in my learning was stepping outside of
my comfort zone and teaching myself new mediums, techniques, styles, etc. It is also
important to open yourself up to how others view your art- as an artist, getting to hear how
others saw my drawings or my paintings was very eye-opening because then I got to see
their perspective and world-view. Now this does not mean you have to enjoy everything
you open up to, that's the whole point of it- learning where you come from and what works,
what does not. I believe that as a person I have always been open minded because I am a
very accepting person-- I think that you can never experience your environment if you
don't put yourself inside of it.
My second teaching philosophy is being empathetic. I am an extremely empathetic
person, so obviously that will fall into me as a teacher and how I maneuver around with my
students. I believe that empathy is important when dealing with artistic expression because
your art comes from the mind, body, and heart- one can not begin to understand the
meaning behind one’s art and style if not being able to feel some semblance of how the
artist feels. Being an empathetic teacher also means that I am able to understand where my
students are coming from, even if I had not experienced what they had, I am able to feel for
them and guide them to a place of peace and joy through art and that is one of my main
goals as an art teacher.
A value that is very important to me as a teaching philosophy is being inclusive.
Nothing hurts worse for a kid than not being seen from their place as a unique individual. I
want to be as inclusive as possible in my teaching career because I want all of my students
to be able to experience the goodness that art can bring- and I am aware that not everyone
can get there at the same pace and in the same way. Being able to accommodate my
students so that they can be included alongside their classmates is a huge goal for my
future teaching. I have always been inclusive growing up, especially coming from a place of
being a gay, nonbinary individual- our community focuses enormously on inclusivity.
Optimistic is a trait you could use to describe me- in tow, it became one of my
philosophies. I grew up with others that were quite pessimistic, especially coming from a
home of poverty, I had no choice but to drive myself as an optimistic person to give hope
and light to those around me. Kids these days need an optimistic figure that will motivate
them to further their education, and their artistic expression. Not to mention that many
students in high school are dealing with tomes of depression, anxiety, and stress; They
need a place to unwind and an environment they can thrive positively in.
I think that above all else, in the teaching profession, you need to have a good hold
on patience. Things may not go the way you want it to, or a student may not do what you
wished them to, but you must have patience. I learned early on that patience was a virtue in
life because many things in life you just can’t rush or you won't be able to experience them
in the best way. As I have said before in my inclusive philosophy, that your students will
not learn at the same pace or in the same way, and it requires patience to allow yourself as
a teacher to follow them at their own pace/way. Patience also comes when in the process of
teaching; I think sometimes you just gotta wait it out and see how it goes, and if it doesn't
go the way you thought it would, it's a teaching experience anyway.