How Do Non-Specialist Teachers Teach Art?
Whilst talented artists often make great teachers, it’s also the case that teachers who have little direct experience of art can be fantastic facilitators.
Teachers are often fearful of teaching art because of their own lack of expertise. There is an assumption that because their own experience is limited, they won’t be able to teach art effectively. This, in turn, leads teachers to try to gather very specific knowledge that they can both lean on and pass on, in an attempt to feel in control.
In fact, whilst of course the more you know about art, the more experience you have to draw upon, it’s also true that even inexperienced teachers can inspire children to have the most amazing adventures in art. All it takes is a shift in emphasis.
Rather than try to teach specific knowledge, embrace a sense of exploration. Forget the normal hierarchy of the teacher knows and the pupils learns. Instead, you, the teacher, undertake a journey WITH the pupils. Better still, you model that exploration – you tell the children you are exploring, and together, you discover and share what you learn.
Why does this work? Because that is the way many artists themselves work. Artists generally don’t know what it is they are going to discover or create through their work. Instead, they are open. They explore. Of course, there are things you know, and there are things you want to pass on, but you do this through enabling the pupils’ own exploration.
So instead of starting your session with predefined knowledge which you will pass on, start the session with a question: What might happen if?… and go and explore with your pupils. You still have a plan, you still know what you are doing and why you are doing it… but you don’t yet know what will happen, or even quite how you will do it…
And as you explore, you WILL gain experience, which will help feed into the process of becoming a great art facilitator.
This is a sample of a resource created by UK Charity AccessArt. We have over 1500 resources to help develop and inspire your creative thinking, practice and teaching.
AccessArt welcomes artists, educators, teachers and parents both in the UK and overseas.
We believe everyone has the right to be creative and by working together and sharing ideas we can enable everyone to reach their creative potential.
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What We Like About This Resource….
“The research phase of a creative project can be presented in many different ways, and can even be an art form in itself. Here, Tatyana demonstrates how her sketchbooks became a medium through which she expressed her thoughts, refined her ideas and explored materials. We believe sketchbooks to be a powerful tool for children to take ownership of their ideas and travel on their own creative journey, without necessarily knowing the destination. Take a look at our sketchbook journey for more sketchbook inspiration” – Rachel, AccessArt.
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What We Love About This Resource…
So often, we hear talk of the distinction between science and art, and no more so when teenagers proceed through their education and they are encouraged to choose one route or another. In reality, creative thinking helps scientific understanding and a scientific approach can inform and inspire art.
It’s so refreshing to read and see Merlin’s experience and understand how she works between these two areas – in her words “mixing subjects, and seeing how they work and intersect is where inventions take place!“
We also love the way her work embraces the felt world of being human, as well as the known world. We’re sure many young people will find Merlin’s work of interest and reassuring when they are pressured to choose “art or science“.
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Mind the Gap Between the National Curriculum in Art for Primary Schools & Ofsted
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The words “assessment” and “progression” have become very loaded in recent times, and there is increasing pressure on teachers to treat art like other curriculum areas. The reality is art is a unique subject and if we are to truly enable creativity in schools then we need to rethink our approach to assessment and progression. Read More
