I see art education as a window of opportunities to touch in a positive way the lives of many students and encourage them to be critical thinkers by dissecting and exploring their visual world one layer at a time. We live in a fast paced society filled with images with molded agendas, which the main purpose is to shape the way in which we think and behave. I believe that if we do not teach our youth to see beyond the surface and question what is happening around them, we will hamper their ability to be critical and forward thinkers. Therefore, I strongly believe art education is a core and indispensable subject in the process of creating the necessary skills to develop a critical and open-minded mentality while developing their artistic vision and personal growth.
Every image we see whether it is an art piece or ad has a concept behind it, and whether we realize or not, once we see it, it will affect our mentality and behavior. My main goal as an art teacher is to help my students to develop the skills to stop and look at what is happening in their environment and the world as a whole, and question the role of art and how it helps to convey and/or manipulate the message being delivered. As many young children in America, I grew up watching and reading Disney movies and books. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one of my favorite books. I just loved the white skin of Snow White and disliked the ugly, evil witch. I was in love with the first layer of this storybook. After I took my first art class, my perception of this book completely changed. My art professor encouraged me to peel the layers on this book and what I found, in my opinion, was not necessary a pretty picture. This book unconsciously taught me to judge and to set an unrealistic ideal of society. Not all people with long noses are evil, not all pretty girls are white skinned and have perfect bodies, apples are more than just the fruit of evil as portrayed by Christianity and reinforced by Disney in this particular book. Without taking an art education class, I never would have questioned this book, its content, or the future literature choices of my children.
My art professor inspired me to analyze, dissect and question what I already knew and to see it with a new set of eyes and be less judgmental. I want to inspire my students to do the same. I want to be their teacher that not just introduces them to the elements and principles of art, but also to help them develop the skills to analyze what they see in daily life and to question how their visual environment affects their personal choices. My goal is to create meaningful lesson plans that inspire them to be creative while promoting their critical thinking abilities.