Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education

Shelly Medlock

            As an educator, I must recognize my responsibility of educating today’s students. Without quality educators, society will not gain knowledge and will resolve to be content with less knowledge than before. Education is constantly changing and as an educator, I must make an effort to revise and revisit my Philosophy of Education to fit the growing needs of the evolving student.

Key Players in Education

            Education is like a team sport. There is a coach and there are athletes. In education, the coach is the teacher and the athletes are the students. The game is the assessment and the teacher evaluates the success of the students based on the training and instruction given during class. Both players, teacher and student, must perform to the best of their given ability for favorable results.

            I am the leader and I must have a base knowledge in my subject area and be confident and effective in conveying this knowledge to the students. To be effective I must thoroughly plan and prepare for each lesson. As I give the student an opportunity to display the knowledge, provide feedback and correction for the student, the student will begin to take ownership of the opportunity for education. If I take too much control, giving no liberty or individuality to the student, the student will be more likely to fall into the mold that I inadvertently create.

            The student is equally important as the teacher in the pursuit of education. The student must come prepared to class, ready to learn and participate. As the I lay forth an opportunity for the student to participate, the successful student will make the most of the opportunity by asking questions and seeking my response to the unanswered questions. When the student is resistant to my effort, the student and I will become frustrated with a lack of progress. When the student decides to take responsibility for the material that I give, both the student and myself will see success and desirable results will become the end product. 

            In my art classes, the students ask me: What do you think, Ms. Medlock? Which one is your favorite? Which color would you use? Although, I do have an opinion of their artwork, I ask them to make a decision about their own artwork before I give them my opinion. I want to guide them to become the artist that is inside. I do not want to become the cookie cutter art teacher whose students produce cookie cutter artwork. That is not artwork; that is manufacturing. I do not manage a factory with machines. I host a classroom with individual and diverse learners. 

More Than a Textbook

            My curriculum includes the entire spectrum of what happens academically in the classroom, from the first bell to the last. Curriculum includes textbooks, supplies, class work, homework, group work, and individual work, with participation from my students and myself. Curriculum is not limited to the latter but goes deeper including socioeconomic influences. I must use wisdom and truth when deciding how to present what could be sensitive subjects. More influential than socioeconomics is my belief that the student has the ability to succeed. When I set a high standard and believe that my students will reach the standard, they do.

            I have developed the Art I program at Conway Christian School (CCS) over the past two years. I am in my third year of teaching art at CCS and have most authority about what I choose to teach. There is neither a book nor a specific published curriculum that I follow. I write my own curriculum and the base of my writing begins with the Arkansas Frameworks for Art I. I use other resources such as Scholastic or Artsonia. As I write plans, I form units of learning and file them away in the appropriate folders for future use.

            At the beginning of the school year, this is a common statement from multiple students: “But Ms. Medlock, I can’t draw.” I find myself reminding the students that art is more than drawing. They come to art with a preconceived notion that they cannot draw, when the reality is they have never been trained to put on paper what they see. Then I remind them that art is more than drawing, and this truth is revealed over the course of the year as my curriculum includes tape sculpture, political cartooning, painting and computer art.

Discovering Together – Pods!

            High school students are social people. Their lives revolve around social media and being in the know. The classroom is a place with potential to diminish social interactions. I believe that allowing high school students to collaborate is an important part of their success in the classroom and prepares them for communicating to the world. I have my classroom set up in pods, which are groups of two to four students. Although the students do not work as a group on most projects, they are sitting in groups. This allows them to see each other’s ideas, which activates their creativity.

            I think that discovery is one of the best methods of teaching. I believe that when students discover the answer for themselves, with the help and guidance of the teacher, they will remember the solution to the problem. Students take ownership of solutions and answers that they discover. There is value in teaching the student to discover and search for the answer. The student learns how to find the answer and will become an independent individual that will hopefully contribute to society by searching and answering instead of always asking and taking. 

Art: The Mediator of Disciplines

            Art is a mediator. As students participate in different art projects, different parts of the brain are activated: logic, scientific, written, mathematical, and imagination to name a few. Art class is vital to the development of the full potential of a student. Students are challenged to use all parts of their brain when developing concepts for an artwork. They have to use logic decide what materials are the most economical and reasonable to use. Students must determine if the chosen materials will work well together due to the science of the materials. Students must consider the proportion of the sketch to the actual size of the final artwork, as well as the proportions of the materials to each other. And lastly, the student uses the imagination to create a unique work of art.

            I tell my students multiple times over the course of the year, that I enjoy art for many reasons, but the best of all reasons is because there are different answers to one question; diverse solutions to one problem. I give the example of math.  Two plus two will always equal four, but when I say to draw the face of a dragon, I will see 15 entirely different looking dragons.

            Art is important to education. With the tightening of budgets, art programs are usually the first cut. What many do not realize is that art is often the connecting factor for the language class and the math class. Students are allowed and encouraged to tap into all parts of the brain when creating – it’s almost a must! When all parts of the brain function together, the student becomes a well-rounded learner and begins to see one subject through the eyes of another.