TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
I cultivate a learning environment that re-creates the conditions necessary for authentic artistic engagement through a structured, exploratory, and sensory-based pedagogical approach with acute consideration of developmental growth. Art embodies an essential way of knowing, basic for all students, and is a vital component of a fully developed education. By offering students alternate ways of understanding, art education facilitates identification, processing, and expression of ideas in new modalities, relevant for the multi-faceted learners who embody the contemporary classroom.
As a co-learner in the classroom, I often restructure lessons based on the efficacy evident in outcome, engagement, and student understanding, allowing for my own continued development and growth as an educator. For me, the purpose of art education is to create an open environment where children can discover and develop the depictive possibilities of creating art that is reflective of their inner and outer world. In every facet of my methodology, I strive to create this educational foundation for my students.