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What Teaching Art Means to Me

Mckenna A. Schley

Art 108: Intro to Art Education

Dr. Tami Weiss

October 27, 2022

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96% of Elementary School, 89% Middle School, and 50% of High School Students are

actively participated in school arts education programs (“State of the Arts: One Million Public

School Students Participate in Arts Education,” 2022). I strongly feel that those numbers should

each be closer to 100% but I am pretty biased. Growing up with a public school education, art

class was always just fit into my schedule during elementary and middle school. During the time

period my classmates and I would follow along with the teacher to the said instructions. Teachers

have specific standards that they need to follow and teach for certain grade levels as a part of

their job. This meaning that teachers demonstrate and teach their students to learn the basic

artistic skills needed per the standard requirements. But is that all we do as art teachers?

Personally, to me an art teacher doesn't just mean instructing the fundamental artistic skills, but

in addition can do many things including produce creative thinkers, create a want to value

diverse perspectives and cultures, and help to build confidence and a sense of belonging within

students, just to name a few.

Being taught and surrounded by instructional art is shown to help children engage in

abstract and analytical thinking. “Creative learners are big-picture global thinkers with a

willingness to take risks and strive for excellence” (“Developing creative thinking skills through

art,” 2016). By having children that are ready and willing to learn inside my classroom I can

create an environment to help creative thinkers grow and thrive. “By enabling children to freely

play with a variety of materials while simultaneously expressing their feelings and thoughts,

these experiences will aid in the formation of important connections in a child's developing

brain” (“Developing creative thinking skills through art,” 2016). With this, children develop

three main creative thinking skills including thinking outside the box, making decisions, and

thinking in a holistic manner. When children are allowed to experiment and express themselves
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freely, creative problem-solving abilities emerge in that individual. This is crucial for the future

because everyone is wanting new ideas and new methods of doing things to keep our

economy/lifestyle thriving and prospering. By being a teacher, I know that I can help guide the

children in my classroom to a lifetime of creative thinking because art education pushes the

boundaries of out of the box thinking. Next, as new ideas are added and exposed, children

expand their abilities and develop thoughtful decision-making skills. Finally, thinking in a

holistic manner enables children to think broadly which prevents them from being constrained

and teaches them to adjust their problem-solving to a think about a variety of outcomes.

“Children's critical thinking skills can be considerably strengthened by art instruction. They can

gain creative thinking abilities and grow appropriately in life if they are allowed to produce in

their own unique, individual style” (Shah, 2022).

As an educator, I get the opportunity to create an environment full of a want to value

diverse perspectives, cultures, and history. Art is a universal language and through artistic

expression we can show the many unique features of different cultures. In the classroom I can

teach stories, show history, and bring awareness to the importance of individuality to celebrate

diversity. “Through developing an understanding of different cultures, our own community can

implement learned attributes, such as contributing to a greater whole, within our daily lives”

(Schemm, 2017). It is important to learn about people in our world that are different from us and

to know about their history because we are not the same. Everyone comes from a unique

background of people and places and by learning other cultures we can understand the world

better, enhance our communication, and expand our knowledge about things around us. Each

individual also contains a unique set of values and beliefs. Through ways of expression and

knowing that we have a voice in art shows another thing that art educators teach. With culture
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comes history. We all know about significant events in time like the Holocaust, the Battle of

Gettysburg, and the Bombing of Pearl Harbor for example. Considering those were many years

ago how do we learn and grasp what it was like or even what it felt like? One way is through art.

We paint, draw, take photos, and more to create these images of what it was like to be there or

see what was really happening. We can physically see emotions on people’s faces or see

destruction throughout landscapes. Art brings out a deep emotional feeling inside of us that helps

us learn and retain certain information. With that said, I can display the importance of diversity

and spike an interest in the minds of my students to want to value diverse perspectives and

cultures while also bringing out feelings and various emotions.

To me, an art teacher helps their students build confidence within themselves and creates

a sense of belonging within the classroom. Growing up, I always loved getting to go and

participate in art class. However, my school had a hard time retaining an art teacher for a long

period of time. This meant I had a hard time truly gaining a personal connection and feeling like

it was the right fit for me. Then everything sort of changed when my high school art teacher,

Autumn Tietz, was hired at my school. She was just what I needed at the time to help me find

something that accurately felt and described me. She is an amazing, caring teacher and I was

always so impressed that she teaches all grades K-12! Autumn even gave me the opportunity to

teach lessons to elementary and middle school students as a part of my teacher assistant class.

She would make the lesson plan for me, and I would look over it the day prior to teaching it and

prepare. At first, I was so nervous about doing it but now looking back, I am so blessed to have

had that experience in teaching before even going to college. I loved getting to make a

connection with the younger students and I felt so good knowing that they loved having me as a

teacher for the day. Autumn would even write me little notes and feedback on how I taught the
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lesson which was tremendously helpful, and I took it into consideration when teaching my next

lesson. Autumn is an incredible role model, and I am so grateful to have had her as my teacher. I

am also extremely thankful that too this day I have a strong personal connection with Autumn,

and I am able to use her as a resource, especially because she also attended stout for art

education, and I know that I can text her for anything I need. She created an atmosphere where I

felt like I fit in and belonged there. She also taught me to be confident in my artistic abilities and

teaching skills. My mom and grandma are also teachers, meaning that I am a third-generation

teacher within my family. This is something that I am very proud of and value very much. Both

my mom and grandma have been very prominent figures in my life. I have learned and they have

taught me so many valuable things. Getting to carry on this teacher tradition is truly special to

me and I can guarantee that they played a role in my career decision process. The impact they all

had on me helped me to realize that I wanted to become an art teacher so I can guide, lead, and

influence my students just like they all have.

The Free Dictionary definition of art an art teacher is “someone who teaches art.” It

sounds pretty self-explanatory but however, not everyone can be an art teacher. To be a teacher

takes patience, commitment, and the love for what you do. Now you may be wondering “why

would I want to babysit a bunch of free-spirited children on a daily basis?” Personally speaking,

I want to be an art teacher because I want to be a friendly face my children can come to in times

of need. I want children to be happy when they are in my classroom. I want to show all the ways

that visual arts can be applied throughout the world. I want to see my children grow and succeed.

I want to teach art and I am beyond excited to do so. I was so fortunate to have the art experience

and teacher role models that I had throughout elementary, middle, and high school. I hope that

one day I can have a significant impact on my students, like my art teacher, mom, and grandma
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had on me. To be an art teacher doesn’t only mean instructing students on the foundational skills

of art, but also many other things including teaching in a way that fosters the development of

imaginative thinkers, inspires a desire to appreciate many viewpoints and cultures, and fosters

self-assurance and a feeling of belonging.

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References

Developing creative thinking skills through art. Developing creative thinking skills through art |

National Association for Gifted Children. (2017, June 16). Retrieved from

https://www.nagc.org/blog/developing-creative-thinking-skills-through-art-0 

Schemm, L. (2017, May 7). Arts, culture, diversity help communities thrive. Crescent. Retrieved

from https://www.postcrescent.com/story/life/2017/05/07/arts-culture-diversity-help-

communities-thrive/101021554/ 

Shah, S. (n.d.). How does art class help with students' creative thinking? ADITYA BIRLA

World Academy . Retrieved from https://www.adityabirlaworldacademy.com/blog/how-

does-art-class-help-with-students-creative-thinking-find-the-best-international-schools-

supporting-creative-thinking 

State of the Arts: One Million Public School Students Participate in Arts Education. Arts Ed NJ .

(n.d.). Retrieved 2022, from https://www.artsednj.org/state-of-the-arts-one-million-public-

school-students-participate-in-arts-education/