Ch. 4 Reflective Response

Chapter 4 discusses how one might make choices for selecting content for her curriculum. The main focus of this chapter to me was the importance of big, enduring ideas and taking the time to find and teach about artists and artwork that would relate to the enduring idea and the students. The last paragraph of the chapter summed up well what I think the most important concepts are and what I want to implement in my teaching:

"Taking the time to question how particular artists, artworks, artifacts and culture relates to a specific student population, how they correlate with other curriculum selections and overall options, how they stimulate specific key art understandings and inquiry, and how they connect with enduring ideas will benefit at the depth and breadth of the art curriculum and will avoid a hit-or-miss approach to art learning" (59).

I think that taking that time to question and plan is key to a successful curriculum and lesson, but it isn't always easy and takes a lot of work. I think it's important to realize that most students won't remember the specifics and details of the art class, but they will hopefully remember the big ideas that we discuss and learn about in the classroom. An important question that I will need to remember to ask myself as I teach is, "what do I want my students to retain and understand about art long after they have left my classroom?" The list of key art understandings from TETAC on page 42 are some of the ideas about art that I want my students to retain: art is a purposeful human endeavor; art attains value, purpose, and meaning from the personal, social, and cultural dimensions of life; art raises philosophical issues and questions; artworks are objects for interpretation; change is fundamental to art. I want my students to realize that art is not exclusive. It is something that can be learned, practiced and used to solve problems creatively.

Something else that I found really interesting in the reading was that research showed that breadth of knowledge is a key personality trait among creative thinkers. I want students to know that art is a way of gaining knowledge. Through research of a topic that they are interested in, they can create art and learn in great ways. I want to instill this in my own way of making art as well. I want to do better at gaining more knowledge about divers topics so I can be a better creative thinker and connect with more people. I think that learning about art through art criticism, art history, artmaking, and aesthetics are good and important because they allow for contextualization of art. Students can learn to connect with art and understand why art has changed, how it will continue to and how their art might fit into that spectrum.

I think that learning about and understanding art can be a great blessing in the lives of students. I hope that through taking the time to really plan and apply these principles into my curriculum will help them to realize how art can benefit them.