Introduction:

Art teachers must care about what they teach and how their students learn in their

classrooms ensuring both teachers and students function at their best level. Teachers demonstrate

their ability to stay up to date in the forever-changing area of education by engaging in continual

professional learning and implementing evidence to continually evaluate their practice and the

effects and action it has on students, colleagues, and their community. Another important aspect

is how this changing atmosphere affects students learning and their work. Teachers need to be

up-to-date in their educational fields and flexible with how they provide this information to

learners.

I want to make sure in my classroom I provide students with new knowledge. It is

important to keep myself up to date with the latest information, learn the best techniques, and

how to work with modern tools. Art teachers focus on two parts of art: the history behind famous

creations and the way art is created. The teacher must have the best understanding of the material

to explain details to students and answer questions.

It is also essential that teachers do their best to provide their students with a positive, safe

learning atmosphere. Students are affected by many factors outside that impact their lives and

educators must keep this in mind to support them in any way that they can to add ease to the

learning process.

9.1 Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

Standard 9.1 addresses Professional Learning and Ethical Practice. Engaging in

professional and ethical learning is essential in any educator's career. Learning to learn and

evaluate their practice encourages teachers to be refreshed in their field and continuously teach
new generations information. It is important that as educators we continue educating ourselves as

well. Teachers must part take in self-directed learning to remain current in their classrooms. New

teaching techniques can prove more beneficial than others for student learning. Standards and

assessment systems may change and teachers need to remain current and adapt to changes in

their curriculum.

The ability to be flexible as an educator is important and the continuance of professional

learning can sometimes be challenging when teachers feel their practice is going well and

placing themselves into a new mindset of learning can be difficult. The article “The Investigation

of Mindfulness, Cognitive Flexibility and Mental Symptoms of Teacher Trainees.” written by

Gürpınar, Aybala Ceylin, and Fatma Ebru İkiz, (Gürpınar et. al, 2022) looked at the way one's

mindfulness affects a person's ability to be flexible. They found that “the higher the level of

mindful attention awareness, the higher the level of cognitive flexibility.” (p. 10) which means

that if a person can reflect solely on new information they are learning it will be easier to adapt

to new changes. They continued by stating, “Mindful attention awareness allows the unhappy

mind, which is dispersed between the past and the future, thinking about things that it cannot

change or have no control over, to come to the present moment when it can change things and

has the power to control them.” (p.10 Gürpınar et. al, 2022) When people practice mindfulness

they allow their minds to not focus on the stress of what they have learned in the past and how

new information might change things in the future as a result of being fresh.

Educators also have to remain mindful of the information available on the importance of

their mental health. Mental health is the well-being of your thought process and actions (İkiz,

2020). Teachers must strive to keep themselves healthy as they learn. When education thrives

society does too. (Çapa & Çil, 2000)

 As an art educator, my classes have provided me with many opportunities to freely

dictate what information I want to cover. While every class has an important structure to it there

were always great opportunities for students to add their flair to personalize their learning. At

Castleton, I saw a lot of this in my studio classes. Materials, themes, and prompts were always

changing and opening new doors for me to learn how each part works. In my sophomore year at

Castleton I was once again given this kind of freedom, but this time it was in my instructional

applications of computers class. The class taught me how to navigate web-based tools. An

example of one of these would be good here for education and was largely project-based with

student participation. This class focused on allowing students to work on multiple aspects of our

education portfolio. We were given access to applications that local schools would use and were

asked to make a TED talk-inspired presentation. The point of this presentation was to get us

familiar with making slide shows for classes and allowed us to share our knowledge on

something we found important. I chose to make a presentation titled "What Is Good Art?"

I created the video using google slides as a template and recorded the voiceover using

Zoom. I was able to screen capture my presentation on Zoom and recorded my voice at the same

time so it synced up perfectly. I originally wanted to have a presentation that talked about art

history and go over some of the big names in the field. Soon after beginning research, I found

myself scrutinizing more contemporary and modern art and realized that this open-ended

assignment was a perfect opportunity to learn more about a new subject. As I continued my

research into contemporary art I noticed how often different pieces seemed to result in a

displeasing response from viewers regarding two pieces in my presentation Marcel Duchamp's

“Fountain” from 1917 and “Comedian” by Maurizio Cattelan from 2019. Although these pieces

are almost 100 years apart I was amazed by the similarities that they held. Both pieces of art
would be considered “readymades” which are simply objects that are put on display with little

action by the artist and garnered considerable outrage. Why? Bad art is something that many

people talk about, and I think the two pieces resulted in an important conversation about the

place art has in all of our lives. In the end, I believe that everyone should appreciate what they

naturally like and people should keep an open mind to new ideas that challenge the old.

As an educator, it is important to continue your learning past the initial, and starting a

project aiming in one direction and landing in new territory can be scary but it can also be a great

opportunity. The educational value of my Ted Talk project being open-ended provided me the

opportunity to explore a new direction in my learning. Self-directed learning allows me to be

able to develop my interest which allows me to better myself and stay excited about the content

that I teach. As I work to continue professional learning and use evidence in evaluating my

knowledge of art and education in this forever-changing climate I know that my curiousness and

mindfulness techniques can help to keep me remain centered.

In the future, I am excited to continue learning about new artists and the techniques that

are created. I am ready to find new inspiration for lessons and ways to teach about the

fundamental ways art is created. My career as an art educator will always be focused on

expanding my knowledge.

10.2: Leadership and Collaboration

Standard 10 addresses Leadership and Collaboration and the importance of Advocacy,

Leadership, and/ or Action Research. Students, just like teachers, are influenced by many outside

factors when in the classroom. Some students may have a bad day because of an issue in a friend

group; another student might not have slept well because of various reasons, and some might be
too hungry to focus. When teachers are leading a class through an activity or project it is

important to understand the perspectives of every student. It is also important for teachers to be

able to support and help their students when needed too.

Some students may find themselves in situations that they simply can not control; we all

do. When teachers take the time to advocate and speak up for a student in need they are actively

taking a step toward bettering a student's life. Sometimes actions small or large can be just what

a student needs to participate in and learn in class. The action that teachers take can change

students' motivation for better or worst. (Mosley, C., Broyles, T., & Kaufman, E., 2021).

It can sometimes be challenging to identify and break down barriers to learning as an

educator and at times difficult to know what your students need from you. Building relationships

and allowing your students to come to you with questions can help. The more you listen to

students the better your relationship with them grows. (Mosley, et al, 2021). When you can

actively listen to students' needs you can reflect on what they might need from you for them to

succeed in your classroom.

In my Education Inquiries class, I worked on a project titled “The Ill-Structured

Problem.” This problem was something that each student would come up with and research I

chose to address student hunger, and how it can affect learning in the art room. At the time I was

doing my 60-hour observation placement in an elementary school, while also working

one-on-one with a local high school teacher. I decided to talk to these two very different art

educators to hear what they had to say about the issue. After researching how hunger affects

students learning and the dangers of eating in a messy studio I created a poster to show my

gathered knowledge and personal solution to the problem.

 When students go hungry at school it can affect their learning in class, making it harder

for them to focus and retain information. It can also affect their behavior in class too. (Hecht, A.

A., Pollack Porter, K. M., & Turner. L, 2020) In a class like art, students need to be well-fed so

that they are energized, focused, and ready to participate in class. Art educators must teach

students the proper ways to work with many tools and sometimes materials that are not safe to be

ingested. (Mannathoko, M. C. 2019). If schools can provide universal free meals to all students

then one more aspect that affects students' behavior and academic performances can be

positively impacted. (Hecht, et al. 2020)

Safety in the art room is something that should be ingrained into lessons from day one. If

students are acting dangerous in the art room then that can put multiple students at risk of harm.

"Safety is not a goal in itself, but a prerequisite for the kind of classroom climate that can result

in learning" (Kiselica, 2017, p. 1) It is up to the teacher in every classroom to make sure that

students understand the importance of safety. In my local elementary school teachers allow

students a safe place to go to eat if needed, like the nurse's office. And at the High school level

the local art teacher provides snacks to students on days when hazardous materials are locked

away. These are effective ways to allow students to consume snacks when hungry while keeping

everyone safe. I will allow my students the same opportunities to consume food safely if they

ever find hunger to be in the way of their education. All learners should have equitable

opportunities in the classroom, hunger should not be a barrier.

This practice of identifying a problem, talking to local sources, and then doing online

research gave me the ability to advocate for hungry students. I led discussions with fellow

students about what it meant to be hungry to them in class and how it affected their learning. I
decided to create a poster to share the information that I found. I felt that the poster could

describe the situation and possible solutions succinctly and straightforwardly.

In the future, I would love to work more with students on speaking up about issues that

they find essential. I am excited to be able to work with colleges and other local sources to help

better my community and strengthen our learners. A great opportunity to do more work like this

is to help make posters for activist clubs at school or even an art club day dedicated to speaking

out about issues that kids find important. Teachers should advocate and stand up for students in

need, but they should also provide students to speak out for them selfs too.

Conclusion:

As a future Art educator, I find my mental health and the mental well-being of my

students important. The way that we all learn as individuals is special to each of us. As I

continue my journey to become a teacher I strive to advocate for my students well being and my

own. I also value knowledge as an educator and will continue to be involved in my professional

learning and evaluating my practice to benefit my students and their learning and seek

appropriate leadership roles and responsibilities for student learning by collaborating with

students, colleagues, and community members to ensure learner growth and improve myself as a

teacher and strive to be able to better my students.

Sources:

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farklı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18,
69– 73.
Gürpınar, Aybala Ceylin, and Fatma Ebru İkiz. “The Investigation of Mindfulness, Cognitive
Flexibility and Mental Symptoms of Teacher Trainees.” International Journal of Progressive
Education, vol. 18, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 275–90. EBSCOhost,
https://doi-org.castleton.idm.oclc.org/10.29329/ijpe.2022.431.18.
İkiz, F. E. (2020). Ruh sağlığına genel bakış, uyum ve uyumsuzluk. In F. S. Çakar (Ed.), Yaşam
dönemleri ve uyum sorunları (pp. 1–26). Ankara: Pegem Akademi.

Hecht, A. A., Pollack Porter, K. M., & Turner, L. (2020). Impact of The Community Eligibility
Provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on Student Nutrition, Behavior, and Academic
Outcomes: 2011–2019. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1405–1410.
https://doi-org.castleton.idm.oclc.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305743

Kiselica, M. S. (Ed.). (2017). Higher order reflection. Whitewater, WI: University of Wisconsin.

Mannathoko, M. C. (2019). Health and safety concerns in art and design primary school
classrooms in Botswana: Reflections on the art and design module. Art Education, 72(6), 20-24.

Mosley, C., Broyles, T., & Kaufman, E. (2021). A Case Study of Teacher-Student

Relationship Development. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 56(1), 18–32