Teaching Philosophy:                                                                                                                                                       

 

Purpose, mastery, and autonomy. These principles delineate the overarching themes behind my teaching philosophy. Within these ideas, I embrace diversity, personal empowerment, and free expression, followed by the importance of not only exploring the intuitions we have but also in reflecting on them with the intention of informing personal character. There are so many moments in life when a failed action becomes the catalyst for discovery, and even successful results.  I support listening to those instincts while simultaneously maintaining a presence within the attempts that ensue.    

 

It is my belief that as human beings engaging in the process of self actualization, that we’re effectively working toward developing a practice that aligns with our own individuality.  Throughout our lives, we collect compounding, evolving moments that join together that make us the unique individuals that we are today.  This difference in perspective becomes what generates a foundation for rich discussion and ultimately, bold, fearless creativity.  Through thoughtfully motivated conversation, I aim to lead students along the path of self-discovery with the intention of fostering autonomous individuality. 

 

Along the way, I hope to:

• Support individuality, personal empowerment, development of purpose through reflection on the urges (intuition) we have

• Generate thoughtful discussion and inspire action through a focus on process versus results

• Provide constructive feedback with a focus on creativity and skill within the larger umbrella of discovery

 

Objectives while teaching are:

• Prompt, foster, and cultivate critical thinking through mindfulness as well as discussion

• Create an environment that embraces failure, individuality, and a celebration of personal character (identity)

• Generate a skill level that promotes confidence that also relates to the necessities of building/making

• Generate analytical constructive feedback within a community of peers

• Connect the actions students make with professional artists working in similar ways as well as with collected personal memory relating to character

• Provide clarity into motivations behind student work

 

Methods of achieving these objectives:

• Present topics that spur inspirational discussion such as Utilizing material history, Nuance as it relates to communication and memory, or the importance of success and failure

• Present contemporary artists working with similar mediums, processes, or conceptual realms

• Demonstrate mastery while presenting various techniques and processes

• Lead discussion during class critiques based on concepts found in assigned readings (ex. Rosalind Krauss’s “Sculpture in the expanded field”, DeCerto’s Walking in the City, Bourriaud’s Relational Aesthetics, any of Smithson’s collected writings)

• Reinforce ideas using multiple modalities 

 

How to measure the effectiveness of teaching:

• Assign projects with specific learning goals while leaving enough room within the parameters of the assignment to allow for and to encourage freedom of expression - Review and Revise as needed

• Develop a rubric based on these learning goals and grade accordingly

• Communicate with students about the learning goals of each assignment

• Create a feedback loop of reiterated, non-verbatim understanding

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Through the practice and use of this teaching philosophy, I believe that I will nurture and cultivate

empowered individuals who make choices informed by a greater understanding of who they are.

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