The Why of Teaching Art

Carlyn Apley
My philosophy of teaching centers around the creative
development of the learner, through artistic opportunities that
enrich the entire person to lead to self-discovery. The artist has
a role to speak their voices to bring joy and possible change to
those around them.
1 Front
Back
I believe that the purpose of education is to
develop the individual into someone who
has a love for learning and making the world
better for their family and those around them.
2

The arts open up the whole person. It gives the

person the possibilities to express themselves,
but also to develop compassion and empathy for
others.
3

A good art teacher teaches how to find joy in

what we create through their love and reverence
for the arts and developing our creative minds.

I do believe at the forefront of an art curriculum should be

opportunities that enrich the whole person. After that, all the
techniques, media and subject matter can be taught. The why,
before the how.
5

As an art teacher and artist, I want to be someone,

who through my words and actions, passes on
my love for making art.
LTC 8730
Summer 2020
 6
To be an active learner, means that I continue to keep seeking
out answers, discovering new methods, ideas & artists, and being
flexible. The active learner doesn’t accept the things as they are,
just because that is always how it has always been. I want to pull
everything out of my students so that they might have a love for
learning to search and find answers to their questions.
7

I work to create a space that is a safe place for

students. That they can trust me, the space and
that in that space they are free to be
themselves.
8 9

Students partake in
opportunites that enrich the
whole person through creativity to
lead to self-discovery.
10

I believe it is important to instill in my students not how

to do something right or how to fail, but to be free to
make mistakes. Artists love the act of making with all
of its ups and downs on the artistic journey.
11

Explicitly, my curriculum focuses on Big Ideas, as well as creating units that give a broad
discovery of artistic techniques and methods used by a diverse variety of historical and
contemporary artists. This can challenge them to develop their artistic voice. An element
of my implicit curriculum is that my students might get a sense of the importance of
hard work. As Sister Corita Kent said, “the only rule is work.” We work hard, and it will
lead to something, maybe something unexpected.
12

In the end, when my students leave my classroom I

hope that they have had ample opportunities to seek
out their passions and then can go out and share
their joy with others.
LTC 8730
Summer 2020