So, I am going to speak from the heart here and from
personal knowledge and experiences. I am
worried about the future of art education.
I know that in my district, art teachers have been cut or reduced in the
last couple of years. One school cut my
friend and replaced her certified position with an uncertified one, meaning
anyone off the street can come teach art.
A co-worker came to me and said she heard on the news that Eagle County,
in our state of Colorado, was cutting all art, music and PE from elementary
through high school. I have not been
able to confirm that but I did see this one quote in an article from Vail
Daily, referring to Eagle County schools:
‘In
a meeting Thursday, art teachers were told to prepare a curriculum so someone
who's not an artist could teach it.’
Really? That’s like asking a science teacher to
prepare a curriculum for someone who hasn’t studied science. Nobody would ask a science teacher to do
that, so why are we diminishing a certified art teacher’s position to that of
crafter who can follow step-by-step instructions? That is not art.
I
understand that we have an economy that cannot meet our every need. I understand that we need to be more frugal
and make some changes to live on our diminishing budgets. However, as someone who believes in what she
does, I can’t stand seeing this taken away from kids. My chest aches when I have new students who
arrive from California, Oregon and Washington who have never had an art
class! How can education cuts be made
without affecting our programs? Do our
communities know what is happening? Do
we need to advocate more?
Art
is not just fun time for the kids. Art
is teaching and training students to be the thinkers of tomorrow. Any successful entrepreneur is an ‘out of the
box’ thinker. That creativity is what
differentiates the creators from the robots.
I understand that many of my kids will not grow up to be ‘artists’, and
that is fine. I don’t feel sad about
that because I don’t think the only benefit of art education is giving the kids
the ability to make a pretty picture.
The main purpose of my program is to foster the student’s creative
critical thinking skills. My classroom
is one place where they are free to explore their ideas. They are not held back. My favorite thing to tell the kids is that
they aren’t wrong. Their artistic
choices are not wrong. They almost don’t
know what to do with themselves when given such freedom, but once the ideas
start flowing, they can’t be stopped!
Art education validates their ideas and creations; it gives them the
chance to explore without fear.
I
feel so lucky to be at the school that I am at.
I am thankful every day that I ended up here 6 years ago. I am surrounded by a staff and administration
who thank me constantly and completely support my program. As sad as I am to see art being cut in other
places, I am so happy and grateful that my students have access to it. I am a lucky girl and I know my principal
will fight for the arts in his school with every last ounce that he has. I just wish every school was as lucky as I am
to have him.
Exploring your new blog and found this post. It's such a sad truth. I'm debating how to write about it on my own blog. I'm retiring this June, and it was all 'planned' that my student teacher of 2 years ago, a lovely woman with 3 kids and her whole heart in the school district, who currently works part-time in a district a good commute away, would get my job. She interviewed for our high school position just after she finished student teaching, but her credentials had not yet been finalized and we could not hire her, since we did have another excellent candidate. She really prefers elementary anyhow. At that time, the administrators who interviewed with me all agreed that there would be no need to interview again when I retired; she is the PERFECT fit for the job.
ReplyDeleteFlash forward to NOW. Without consulting me or even letting me know, they made a decision that the gal who teaches in the computer lab, who is art certified but has NEVER taught art, would get the job, because they are cutting her computer lab position. Officially, she is elementary tenured, and could go into an elementary classroom, but then she'd 'bump' a young teacher out of a job. They rubbed the guilt in real deep, and convinced her she has no real choice but to take the art job, which I'm not sure she really wants. She's a negative, unhappy woman, who does kids work for them. I'm heartbroken for my kiddos. It will take a big adjustment and there's only so much I can do to help, since I'll be out the door. I should add that my administration has always been EXTREMELY pro-visual arts, so this is a real shock to me. It's all about money and nothing else. Not even an interview to see if she is actually suited to the job.
Not sure how to talk about it on the blog; probably can't at all. I will certainly do what I can to help her succeed; I have no desire to sabotage her or even let her know how I really feel. Meanwhile I'll have to tell the other gal who has had her heart set on the job for 2 years now. :(
Yikes I just saw how much I wrote. Sorry to blather so much; your post just struck a chord with me I guess.
ReplyDeletePhyl, you are cracking me up! You didn't write too much, it's a sensitive subject. This is where I find teacher tenure goes wrong. They need to hire the best person for the job and it's heartbreaking to think they'd put someone in the art position who isn't excited to be there. As the person who gives the kids their first taste of art, she can make or break their future passion for it. I'm sorry you're in this position. Since you're retiring, maybe you can leave her with some of your GREAT lesson plans so she can do some of what you've been doing.
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem. She wants to do what I've been doing but she's not me, and it won't work unless she makes the program her own, puts her own stamp on it. Otherwise the kids will always compare. And there's only so much I can do for her to help. She needs to figure out what will excite her to teach, and I need to step back and out of the picture.
DeleteBy tomorrow the whole school will know they have hired her and I will have to be congratulatory and do damage control when the catty elementary teachers start whispering about her.
Phyl, you sound like you have wisdom. I like you! You're are completely right: if she doesn't find her own way and what makes her happy, she will be miserable.
ReplyDeleteI guess the best way to inspire her is to show her love and excitement. Emphasize the fact that she will have SO much fun exploring and creating. I hope she finds the joy.
Ugh. I found out after moving to this state that an elementary generalist is considered "highly qualified" to teach art. I am sure they do this so that schools don't have to hire art teachers specifically. What it really means is that there are people who have NO business teaching art working as an "art specialist." It kills me. My comparison is that I am not qualified to teach reading, but I at least know how to read. What sense does it make to have someone who doesn't know how to draw, paint, etc teaching art. Much less they wouldn't have the background knowledge for art history or aesthetics. At the same time, I know art teachers with art degrees who are LAZY and don't do much with their students. When I look at their students' work, I wonder how art has not been cut at their schools. I want my administrators to realize that there would be a hole in the students curriculum without an ART teacher in it.
ReplyDeleteI hate what is happening to our art programs across the country. It is painful to believe in something so much but to feel it deteriorating around you. I'm just going to hold on as long as I can and keep advocating.
DeleteOh, and Phyl, I can imagine how hard it is to leave your students with less than a stellar replacement. I was in a similar situation at a school where I had taught a few years. My principal had told me that she wanted me to help interview the art teacher to replace me, but they were instead told from the district that they had to take this one art teacher who had been cut from a job at the beginning of the year. They didn't do this to other teaching jobs. They told people that "someone" had to hire them, but they still had to be interviewed. I got emails all the next year from teachers about how terrible she was. After you've been at a school for awhile, you take ownership, even when you leave. Hopefully, the teacher taking your job will find her own way to do things in the art room.
ReplyDelete