Making-With Philosophy
I want to say nothing is definite, a statement I almost don’t want to say because it sounds definite. What it means is how I envision my approach to teaching is a constant process. Symbiotically our learning is evolving and changing. Nothing is final; nothing may be right or wrong, but open to what may come next, what may be possible.
Through my teaching and my students’ learning, it is never a question if all students can learn. All my students can learn. Each of my students is special and individual and provides me with as much as I hope I can give them.
I believe this and the hope is they believe this as well.
They are important and so is what they think.
What I can instill in my students is inspiration and awareness to themselves, to others, and to possibilities.
Ultimately, it is not about the information of what we know as teacher and student, what is supposed to be right and absolute, but what we might know, might do, and might come to understand. What I am “teaching”, the course, subject, etc, is really not relevant.
What is important is we work through it together.
What is important is we not look for definite solutions to problems but create new problems from possible solutions.
Our classroom is not just the space where we have class; it is a space where students are comfortable, uninhibited, and safe. Comfort.
That is really what I want to bring to the classroom. In that environment, I do not want set boundaries; so really, I am going to say ok.
Experiment.
Create.
Produce.
When I know what they are about, I will help them make connections to go farther.
My goal, then, is for my students to not ask me “is this right?”, but to offer me their idea confidently, curiously, and openly and then we can work through the problems together.
There is not I and you, it is us.
We are learning, teaching, and exploring together.
The above statements are, then, possibly definite. They are, for now, all I have constructed. The relationships AND the process, between me, the teacher, AND, them, the students, are definite. Definite in they are a non-negotiable AND reciprocal, AND important process.
That is all I know.
(Hamrock, 2015).
Making-with: A Philosophy of Teaching
...The most important part about anything is relationships
Driving my curricular and non-curricular experiences the last 20 years, the concept of making-with has perpetually followed me through the various communities in which I lived and taught. Despite what these populations and experiences might look like, the “with” explains and differentiates the most important component of my teaching. Making-with addresses not only product, but embraces inclusion, process, collaboration, and relationships, and specifically translates into my art classrooms. My making-with strives for an inclusive and productive classroom and begins with building reflexive relationships around treating students not as people to give knowledge to, but to create knowledge with. Making-with drives me to keep adapting my teaching strategies to meet my students’ needs to be successful. I identify my responsibility as an art educator to be fully aware of and fully open to art’s potential as a vessel for inquiry and understanding in as many contexts as imagined.
Translated through my k-12 public school and university classrooms, I use art-making strategies to bring students’ personal lives and interests into their classroom. In my k-12 classrooms, providing students with choice through a TAB curriculum, as well as through projects that involve the whole student body, like the Stepping into Minnie Hughes Project, have activated the artist within every child. Using math, data, and research connect art making to other subjects. Arts-based activities are used both for independent work and collaborative projects, as well as for reflection in my university classes, as students in my AE 4300 Art Education in Middle and High School course did after teaching workshops to high school students at the 2019 Georgia National Art Honors Society Conference. With ARE 5328 Art for Life, AE 8010 Philosophy and Curriculum, and ART 1050, I use visual journaling and critiques for culturally reflective and critical practices. To maintain transparency and reflect on my practice, I conduct continuous digital and physical check-ins for my students and for myself. Additionally, arts-based mindfulness directives and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques have also proved helpful in working through outside and academic stressors. These strategies establish authentic learning experiences in my classroom for students of all learning abilities and socio-economic backgrounds and directly connect them with their peers, the surrounding community, and to possible future applications. Arts-based tools provide a way for students to comprehend and converse around the material beyond the classroom context.
As a faculty member, I model community engagement art practices through participating in collaborative arts activities in the community. My personal community engagement continuously informs my classroom as an important component of my making-with philosophy. I welcome my students into my experiences to encourage opportunities to receive and share the perspectives of others. In 2016, with other volunteers, I designed and ran a free kids summer camp called Artcation at The Plant, a DIY community art space. Our goal was to provide free art education open to kids of all ages, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial situation. We were successful in the organization and the execution of flexible and experimental pedagogical practices. From this experience, I helped connect The Plant with my department’s pre-service masters students through monthly art classes. Sharing educational opportunities with students in an inclusive and safe space like the Plant authentically relates art education curriculum beyond their course work. Students reported this kind of opportunity prepared them for their student-teaching internships and future jobs because it expanded their experiences with the community’s kids that they did not previously have access to. In 2019, I guided my AE 4300 Art Education in Middle and High Schools students in teaching workshops for the annual Georgia National Art Honors Society Annual Conference, providing field experience opportunities with youth beyond the classroom, teaching along side of them when needed.
Teaching art teaches us to be inclusive, and my teaching practice maintains all students can be successful, collectively and individually. I am a mentor through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) with the Waging Peace research project. Through UROP, my student researchers are learning through hands-on knowledge and direction on a project centered around art in our community.
Students benefit from genuine contact with their teachers, both for the class and individually, and it is important to me to make sure I am available in all capacities, as an example and a mentor. Making-with is an active process and unconditional focus and expectation in my present and future teaching endeavors through continual exploration of arts-based methods with students in and about teaching, continuing to collaborate with colleagues on curriculum design, and expanding participation with outside institutions on programs and projects.
