Teaching Philosophy

As a Visual Arts educator, I have often heard students say “I can’t draw” believing this statement to justify stagnant skill development across all visual media, limiting their overall potential and suggesting that the syllabus learning outcomes are unachievable. My personal learning philosophy is grounded in a rejection of this statement. As an educator, I believe that art is everywhere, it takes on many forms, it is in the nuances of every day and it reaches all beings. Therefore I believe visual literacy is a capability that is vital to understanding and engaging with the image-saturated world we live in. My philosophy of teaching is grounded in three core values that recognise the profound impact of art on life and influence the development and application of learning experiences that foster creativity, complex problem-solving and critical thinking (NESA, 2016).

 

These Values are:
1. Art matters.
Art stimulates the imagination, engages our aesthetic senses and has the power to transform lives (MCA, 2019). I believe that creativity plays a significant role in inspiring the imagination and that providing a wide range of diverse learning opportunities and experiences will spark student creativity. I believe in the transformative potential of creativity and my teaching philosophy recognises the significant contribution that creative arts can play in promoting positive mental health and well‐being. This philosophy is reinforced by my conception of the educational studio as a supportive, positive, non‐clinical environment that can encourage and facilitate empowerment and recovery from mental health issues through an accessible creative curriculum (Heenan, 2006). Art addresses complex ideas, artists challenge us to think and see the world differently to inform our outlook on life and society.

Annotated Artefact: Cultural Dialogue

This artefact demonstrates the achievement of a range of standards from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. This artefact was written by my supervising teacher in response to the design and implementation of a Year 10 Visual Art Critical/Historical lesson which addressed contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and artworks. The artefact incorporates constructive feedback from my supervising teacher to improve my teaching practice and therefore reflects standard 6.3: Engage with Colleagues and Improve Practice. These comments acknowledge the use of a range of teaching strategies to engage students, such as collaborative learning activities, icebreakers, modelling, the incorporation of technology and variation of tone which fulfils standard 3.3: Use teaching strategies. The lesson aimed to facilitate acts of cultural affirmation through an engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art by applying holistic and culturally diverse learning approaches.  Strategies such as collaborative learning were implemented in a reflection of the 8 Ways Indigenous learning pedagogy developed which recognises group learning activities as an interconnected culturally responsive strategy (AITSL, 2019). By recognising the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, communities and cultures I addressed standard 1.4 and 2.4. These standards require graduate teachers to demonstrate a  broad knowledge, understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages and understand the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students.

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Annotated Artefact: Equality v Equity

Artefact:
“In a professional experience, I had two classes of year 8 art students for which I was required to devise a lesson plan students needed to achieve similar learning outcomes across the year. Students in Year 8 were streamed into graded classes reflecting their results, which were measured through the formal testing of academic ability in Maths and English. Firstly, I employed the devised lesson plan with the Year 8 ‘A’ class; considered to be in the top grouping of academic ability. The lesson plan was highly successful, overall students were very engaged with the content and demonstrated behaviours suggesting that most students were successful in their learning; such as recalling information and engaging in constructive discussion. The following day I had the Year 8 ‘L’ class; students who reportedly demonstrated the lowest academic ability in the year group. At the time I felt strongly about delivering the same content and strategies to the ‘8L’ class as I had previously with the ‘8A’ class. I assumed that, due to the previous success of the lesson plan, altering classroom strategies and content in any way would devalue the opportunity for learning for those students. In this situation, I was clearly focused on providing equality and not equity. Evidently, the identical lesson plan I delivered did not effectively differentiate the curriculum for students with diverse learning needs and was therefore unsuccessful. For future practice, I need to develop a toolkit of strategies for differentiation that can be adopted in the classroom. Theorists for further research: Gardener, Tomlinson, Bloom, Sternberg”

Students were asked to write anonymous ‘exit’ notes which considered what they learnt/what they want to learn more about. This example came from a highly engaged 8A student from the class discussed, which explored symbolism in still life artworks.

This journal entry demonstrates how I have adopted a reflective and purposeful teaching practice. This artefact represents a pivotal moment in my practice, where I began to reflect on how to improve and my teaching and validated the importance of syllabus differentiation to support learning. My journal entry fulfils the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, Standard 1.2 Understand How Students Learn, as it provides evidence of my knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching. This reflection demonstrated gaps in my knowledge and led me to investigate a range of theoretical strategies for classroom differentiation. Interested in scrutinising generalised streaming, I related to Robert Sternberg’s argument which states that the concept of general mental ability does not take into account the idea that intelligence is multifaceted and influenced by context (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2015). Upon further reflection, I recognised that not only should I differentiate instruction and teaching but also the assessment of learning. As Stenberg suggests, intelligence is multifaceted, and in this artefact, I acknowledged that I did not take into consideration individual needs, abilities or interests and instead focused on the limited assessment of two specific KLA’s. This acknowledgement of the student as an individual learner is further supported by Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligence which suggests that students possess different modes of intelligence and thus learning (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2015). This artefact demonstrates an inherent understanding that as a teacher, it is my responsibility to facilitate a broad range of opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their abilities, knowledge and the achievement of syllabus outcomes.

 

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Annotated Artefact: Assessment

 

This artefact demonstrates my involvement in an informal assessment of Stage 6 HSC major work artmaking progress. This assessment reflects formative assessment strategies and demonstrates an assessment for learning. As this was conducted in the first term of Year 12, the reflections are fairly broad, however, these reports were used to set individual learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics, reflecting the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers standard 3.1: Establish challenging learning goals. Although this was an informal school-based assessment setting, these HSC Major works were marked by an impartial panel of teaching staff I also collaborated with external markers to ensure the moderation of assessment, fair and consistent marking and the minimisation of subjectivity (Curtin University, 2018). This demonstrates the implementation of standard 5.5: Report on Student Achievement, as it reveals an understanding of a range of strategies for reporting to students and the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student achievement. Similarly, this artefact meets the criteria for standard 5.2: Provide feedback to students on their learning as is provides timely and appropriate feedback to individual students about the development of their artistic practice and artmaking concept.

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References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2019). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professionalstandards-for-teachers

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2019). Eight Ways of Learning. Retrieved from: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/eight-ways-of-learning-illustration-of-practice

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (ACARA). (2019). General Capabilities. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/

Australian’s Together. (2013). Understanding Welcome to Country. Retrieved From: https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/indigenous-culture/understanding-welcome-to-country/

Duchesne, S. & McMaugh, A. (2015). Educational psychology for learning and teaching (5th ed.). VIC, Australia: Cengage Learning.

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). (2003). Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus. Retrieved from: :https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/creative-arts/visual-arts-7-10

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Professional Profile

Hi!

My name is Loui Hall and I am a pre-service Visual Arts teacher from Sydney. I have a life-long love of the Creative Arts and this has kindled my devotion to share this enjoyment and motivation with others as an educator.

I began my studies in a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication, I focused predominantly on the development of skills and techniques within graphic design and illustration, understanding the ideology behind image analysis and the perception of communication; aspects which influenced my own artistic practice. I then moved to a Bachelor of Teaching/ Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Visual Arts with a minor in English. I am highly enthusiastic about storytelling and I believe the two fields work synonymously as an expressive tool to reflect cultural and historical zeitgeists. In my professional experience my passion for art and teaching has grown, giving me the opportunity to develop through diverse experiences; from working as a host at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Circular Quay, to roles in Visual Arts and English education at schools in Ashfield, Norfolk Island and in the New England region.

In my own personal artmaking practice I enjoy completing projects in a range of mediums such as pen and ink, oil painting, ceramics and printmaking exploring all things Australiana and kitsch.

Teaching Philosphy

As a Visual Arts educator, I have often heard students say “I can’t draw”; believing this statement to pardon them from meeting and exceeding their learning potential and limiting their abilities in the entirety of the creative arts field. My personal learning philosophy is grounded in a rejection of this statement. As an educator I want to dispel the misconception that art is an exclusive specialised field only for the highly talented or ‘naturally’ gifted. I truly believe that everyone has some artistic and creative ability, and through practice, development, exploration, reflection and active engagement in visual culture, students can build upon this ability, advancing their technical skills and critical thinking.

I believe that these attributes of a successful learning experience for all students in visual arts is achieved through mentoring their abilities in craft and process. My teaching pedagogy is guided by Gardeners theory of Multiple Intelligences, which recognises the student as an individual, with a unique profile of abilities and interests. It is my responsibility as a teacher to provide a range of learning experiences, inclusive of all students’ diverse educational needs, guiding their thinking and learning and the identification and pursuit of their motivations as artists. I believe an important source of inspiration is the student’s own lived experience. Through my teaching practice I enjoy helping students to find learning relatable and relevant. This is achieved by enabling students to link new content and skills to their prior knowledge and beliefs, crossing all cultural and historical boundaries and approaching art as a form in which to explore interests, issues, and themes that relate to them and their world.

In my visual arts classroom I strive to create an inclusive, hands-on, studio-based culture that is supported by a strong theoretical component. My goal as an artist educator is to foster a creative environment where my students can gain the necessary professional skills and practice to grow within and beyond the classroom. This growth is supported through the incorporation of diverse learning opportunities and teaching strategies that will also prepare students for the evolving nature of the creative arts by engaging with the social, technological and ecological context of the artmaking practice and critical thinking. Growth and learning in my classroom is based on a constructivist pedagogy that places emphasis on structured skill building and the development of personal autonomy, as student’s build their own understanding through first- hand experiences and reflecting on those experiences in light of what they already know and believe to, emphasising social and personal awareness as the fundamentals of my curriculum.

I believe that as human beings we are constantly learning and developing, and that my personal and profession growth should be continuous engaging and flexible, allowing for my educational philosophy to evolve just as I would my knowledge, skills and understanding.

Please enjoy this great Tedx Talk by Cindy Foley ‘Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist?’ encouraging teachers to consider the nature of art education within and beyond the classroom.

Critical Reflection: Planning learning programs using ICT

In my own experience, the most successful lesson plans I have delivered to students incorporated the use of carefully considered ICT. This notion reflects standard 2.6 Australian Professional Standard for Teachers, regarding Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and encouraging the implementation of teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students. I believe that using programs and technology which are relevant, relatable, interesting and useful to students fosters engaged learning through building upon students abilities and prior experiences. In a prior experience, for example, I created an ICT visual arts learning activity in which students were required to exhibit and annotate images. Initially I considered using a blogging website such as WordPress. However, I took into consideration student’s social media habits and prior experiences, determining programs such as Instagram and Snapchat to be more popular within the student’s age group. Incorporating this knowledge allowed me to utilise ICT in devising a more stimulating learning opportunity, reflecting standard 3.2 of the Australian Professional Standard for Teachers which recommends teachers plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies. As Churchill has highlighted in chapter 10 of ‘Teaching: Making a Difference’, sometimes the motivation of children and young people can be increased by using ICT’s. Peter Twining (2002) supports this concept as he claims that education can be transformed by using ICTs (specifically computers).

However, as teachers we must also consider the implications of ICT in the classroom, including:

• Supporting the safe and responsible use of ICT.
•  Determining the effectiveness of ICT in building on learning experiences and behaviour, for example, not every learning activity will benefit from the incorporation of ICT.
• Consider the social implication of student having constant access to a digital device (Churchill 2016).
• Barriers to the uptake of ICTs in schools (Churchill 2016)

  A short video of teachers discussing the incorporation of social media in their classroom. ‘Instagram In The Classroom’ by Clay Reisler (2016)

  References:

  AITSL. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

  Churchill, R. (2016). Teaching: Making A Difference (3rd ed.). Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  Twining, P. (2002). Enhancing the Impact of Investments in “Educational” ICT (PhD Thesis). The Open University, Milton Keynes. Retrieved from http://kn.open.ac.uk/public/document.cfm?documentid=2515

Critical Reflection: Assessment

The primary role of the assessment/reporting process is to improve student learning and inform teaching ( Churchill, 2016). Therefore, the role of assessment can be defined as both ‘of’ learning and ‘for’ learning, becoming and integral part of the learning process. In Chapter 12 of Teaching: Making A Difference, Churchill provides two overarching theoretical frameworks for conceptualising learning achievement. The first of these frameworks include strategies that measure depth or complexity of learning at a given point. Blooms taxonomy, for example, provides a representation of depth of learning from the most basic knowledge to the deeper and more complex categories of learning outcomes (Bloom, 1956). Blooms Taxonomy accounts for behaviour, actions, knowledge and learning opportunities within assessment. The second framework includes strategies that measure development over time against the student’s previous work and/or some external representation of anticipated progress(Churchill, 2016) . This assessment of development is based in the structure of specific curriculum outcomes and standards frameworks, wherby teachers can identify and map student learning in relation to course requirements (Churchill, 2016). It is my belief that these two frameworks should be used synonymously to assess learning and shape strategy, pedagogy, process and feedback and in my own experience, I have tried to employ a range of approaches for assessment to incorperate both frameworks.  This works towards demonstrating standard 5.1 of the Australian Professional Standard for Teachers, which recommends an understanding of assessment strategies, educators must utilise a range approaches to assess student learning such as informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative, strategies which reflect the implementation of Churchills theoretical framework for assessment.

References:

AITSL. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Bloom, BS, Englehart, MB, Furst, EJ, Hill, WH & Krathwohl, DR (eds.) 1956, Taxonomy of educational objectives. The classification of educational goals. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain, McKay, New York.

Churchill, R. (2016). Teaching: Making A Difference (3rd ed.). Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

 

Critical Reflection: Student Learning

As Churchill discusses in Chapter 3 of Teaching: Making A Difference, there are many different ways to perceive and assess learning. My own understanding of learning corresponds with Churchill’s ideology that learning is a life long part of the human condition, starting from early childhood, long before students enter a school or any other institution of instruction. Therefore, as teachers we should not view students minds as blank slates, or learning as a simple product or outcome. Instead, we must recognise students prior experiences and development, focusing on the process of learning as changes in the way people ‘understand’, ‘experience’ or ‘conceptualise’ the world around them (Churchill, 2016). Claxton’s (1999) view is that learning is multifarious, which suggests that to achieve learning for all students, as educators we must provide opportunities for students to engage in complex interactions with others and various environmental stimuli and activities. Reflecting Standard 3.3 and 3.6 of the Australian Professional Standard for Teachers, suggesting educators demonstrate a broad knowledge of teaching strategies implementing a range of processes to evaluate teaching programs and improve student learning. Churchill offers a framework conceptualising Claxton’s ideology of multifarious learning, recognising:

• behaviourist orientations to learning
• cognitive orientations to learning
• humanistic orientations to learning
• social/situational orientations to learning
• constructivist orientations to learning.

This framework provides theoretical perspectives that can be utilised to construct opportunities for students learning process in the future.

 

(Churchill, 2016) The changing perception of learning

References:

AITSL. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Churchill, R. (2016). Teaching: Making A Difference (3rd ed.). Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Claxton, G. (1999). Wise Up: The Challenge of Lifelong Learning. Bloomsbury USA,