Finding that fine line

       As a future instructor of art it will be my responsibility to give my students a foundation of principles, rules, and guidelines from which they can build their art skills upon. Through instruction, explanation and demonstration I can give my students the basic understanding that they need in order to be able to make interesting, quality pieces of art. However, it is also my responsibility, as an art educator, to push my students to explore.
      When does this transition from teacher-led instruction to student-led exploration occur? Will I be able to recognize when students are ready to move past the basic skills and start thinking in more conceptual ways? I think so. Students will have several chances to prove that they understand fundamental skills such as color theory, two dimensional and three dimensional design, as well as composition and basic drawing skills. These skilsl will all be assessed through major projects in an introductory level art class.
        The real interesting work will be once students have acquired these skills and begin to learn how to address concept. Teaching students how to think in a new and more difficult way is a tricky thing to do. In one hand, there is little concrete, straight-forward methods for teaching something as abstract as conceptual thought processes. So students will feel lost and slightly abandoned as they are encouraged to explore ideas and expression.

 

       On the other hand, it is also tricky for a teacher not to direct a students thought too much. It is my job to help students understand new things, but in this scenario it is critical that their ideas be there own. It would be very easy for me to give students examples- but that's too easy. I need to find ways to promote critical thinking, curiosity in a topic, or the exploration of an idea. Rather than giving students ideas to work with, I will give them resources for which to start researching, or have discussions with them about where their interests lie.
        Through these discussions, research and exploration I believe that introductory level students can begin the process of thinking about art in a richer, more complex way. They can begin to make connections between the physical mediums they are working with and the abstract ideas that they are interested in, or feel are important.