PHILOSOPHY OF ART EDUCATION

​Art can, has, and will change the world, and that starts with art education. I want to teach art because, since my first day in the art room, I’ve helped others create and tried to spark their creativity. When peers felt they had “messed up,” I loved guiding them to see their mistakes as new possibilities. I’ve always known I wanted the art room to be a home for all students.
I also have a strong passion for working with students in exceptional education. Art is a powerful outlet for every learner, and its wide range of processes should be accessible to all. I love the unique energy, perspectives, and habits of students with disabilities, and I want to help them discover meaningful ways to express their feelings, dreams, and lived experiences. This belief is central to my commitment to inclusive art education.
Through combining these two branches of education, I have formed the basis for which my classroom will be based on. I want my classroom to feel collaborative and exploratory—a true “laboratory for learning” (Ayers) that takes up space in the school. My students will be encouraged to never stop asking “why.” I want the art room to feel like a new island we create and explore together, helping students see themselves as artists and thinkers far beyond the classroom walls.
I believe that art is interdisciplinary, that the natural world is a powerful teacher, and that art is the form of expression. Art education is adaptive, imaginative, and a “light in dark times” (Greene). These beliefs shape a classroom rooted in curiosity, flexibility, and questioning.
Education should open our minds (Greene). We need to nurture students’ creativity and keep them asking “why.” I’ve always believed that questioning is the most important thing a human can do, and it’s where critical thinking and artistic voice begin. Together, these values help students understand that art is not separate from their lives, but deeply woven into everything they experience.
I also want to connect to the community. The art room should extend outward—to families, the school, and the wider community—so students see that their artwork has power, impact, and meaning. Through public displays and collaborative projects, they learn they are part of something larger.
In all of this, I hold onto Paulo Freire’s question: “If I am going to change a world we didn’t make, why can we not change the one we did?” Art education becomes the starting point for that change, giving students the tools to imagine, question, and rebuild the world around them.