This week I wanted to talk about the bridges between a "work of art" and teaching, flimmaking, photography. It is easy to see a bridge between film and photography and art. Those things are already considered works of art. Why? Goodman (2004) uses the film Spellbound to discuss the connections between the film and art. The film, like art is pulling the viewer into the picture. It gives an emotional tie to the characters of the film just like a painting would pull someone into it. The creation of the film or painting or photograph is a journey, it is a journey for the artist/producer/photographer as they are creating the piece of art then it becomes a journey for the viewer. As you sit and stare at a painting or photograph or watch a movie you are going on a journey of understanding that follows the path that the creator took to get to the end product.
Teaching is no different that that of creating a film. There is an artist - the teacher - who has to go through a journey of learning the subjects, then learning to teach the subjects, and learning about themselves as a teacher. Each of those steps are the same steps that the students will take and although the path may not be the same as the teachers' the end result should be: an education. Of course a piece of art does not always get the same result from every audience member, as such will be with teaching. There will always be a student or two that does not make it at the same rate to the end, or may never make it to the end of the journey. These are students that need a different type of art to progress them, maybe a few years of personal development and then back to the classroom to gain the knowledge that surpassed them previously. In these ways teaching is a work of art.
Teaching is also a work of art because it takes creativity, enjoyment, excitement and a desire to pass on a feeling to an audience. There are teachers that forget these things, and those teachers are no longer creating art. Those teachers that forget what teaching is about are the ones that quit or do not produce healthy students any longer. It is necessary for a teacher to remain creative, and excited about teaching in order to continually produce quality students.
Goodman, P. (2004). Filmmaking and research: an intersection. Journal of management inquiry. 13(4) 324-335.
Teaching is no different that that of creating a film. There is an artist - the teacher - who has to go through a journey of learning the subjects, then learning to teach the subjects, and learning about themselves as a teacher. Each of those steps are the same steps that the students will take and although the path may not be the same as the teachers' the end result should be: an education. Of course a piece of art does not always get the same result from every audience member, as such will be with teaching. There will always be a student or two that does not make it at the same rate to the end, or may never make it to the end of the journey. These are students that need a different type of art to progress them, maybe a few years of personal development and then back to the classroom to gain the knowledge that surpassed them previously. In these ways teaching is a work of art.
Teaching is also a work of art because it takes creativity, enjoyment, excitement and a desire to pass on a feeling to an audience. There are teachers that forget these things, and those teachers are no longer creating art. Those teachers that forget what teaching is about are the ones that quit or do not produce healthy students any longer. It is necessary for a teacher to remain creative, and excited about teaching in order to continually produce quality students.
Goodman, P. (2004). Filmmaking and research: an intersection. Journal of management inquiry. 13(4) 324-335.
Sabrina, you did an awesome job of describing teaching as a work of art. It really brought it home when you stated that teachers who have lost their creativity are not producing healthy students.
ReplyDelete