| Teaching Philosophy | As an educator in the arts, it is my objective in the classroom to provide agency for the development of conceptual, technical, and aesthetic skills. I believe artists must possess the ability to evaluate and adapt their ideas in the constantly shifting world of art, and develop their reasoning and production techniques with breakneck evolution of technology. To achieve these ends, I focus on cultivating analytic and technical self-sufficiency in each student, so they can adapt as artists to contexts in and out of the classroom. By centering the curriculum on a process of critical thinking, students are induced to challenge themselves, their practice, and the process of art-making. When providing technical instruction, I emphasize the foundational mechanics of the technology so that the student can utilize their knowledge in a broad range of creative situations. In a lesson introducing the fundamentals of digital imaging, I have students breifly manipulate children’s blocks painted with colors and numbers. Like pixels, the numbers on the blocks equate a visible color with abstract numerical information. The students’ direct manipulation of the blocks allows them to interact with “digital” information in ways not possible through the computer interface. This exercise provides a tactile understanding of the composition of a digital image, the relationship between images and information, and the functionality of image manipulation within the computing environment. In technology oriented curriculum, I believe it is essential to promote self-motivation with the material, so that in time as the technology advances the student will be able to adapt and update their abilities. When these critical thinking skills are utilized in the classroom, students become more engaged with the curriculum and ground the class material into their studio practices. |