Why Use Holistic Education?
Holistic art education includes taking into account a student’s developmental stage in their learning, as Burton points out. She emphasizes the change from a laissez fair, student centered approach to a more guided, challenging, learner-centered approach that is developmentally appropriate for the student. I found Burton’s examination of adolescent artistic development particularly interesting. Her explanation of how importance meaning making and relevance in their artwork, as well as their ability to draw from cultural resources was intriguing. I also like the observation that they look at artwork through the lens of their own struggles. Much of what Burton talks about I consider good practice; always keeping dialogue about artwork of others and student’s own artwork in the forefront of instruction, the importance of experimentation and play with materials, exploring universal themes and particularly in adolescents themes of the self and fitting into the world. Through these considerations Burton is teaching holistically because she’s connecting students to their past, their present and tapping into their imagination, and she’s really taking into account how student’s developmental stages influence their path in the art room.
In Sullivan’s article, his emphasis was that teachers should stay connected with their own art practice to keep the original motivation for pursuing the job fresh and to stay connected to the struggles and motivations of their students. I do like Ashley’s observation from last weekend, when she spoke about teaching being a creative act. I do feel that is the case- that you can be creative in the way you present lessons, and create dialogue with students.
By using Frank Shiffreen as the artist/teacher example in the article, Sullivan’s emphasizes the value of connecting artwork and students to the community and to other artists. By considering the student as a member of the community, and allowing them to work in a “broader socio-cultural and political” context, the teacher is nurturing the student’s whole person, thinking about their past, present and future by helping them to create connections. For the last few years I have had at least one community project each year. At Metro we have 2-3 school wide community service days where we go out into the community and volunteer. Those days are my favorite days of the year in many ways. Students light up when they realize real word connections to the work they are doing.
As I mentioned above, I do feel like teaching is a creative act. For me though, I’m too often teaching too students and because of class dynamics am not able to appreciate the creative flow that Jeffers talks about. I’ve read some Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and absolutely love his writing on creativity and “flow.” I felt the flow during my last couple of years as an undergrad studio artist. I lived in the studio, literally for a little while, and was totally immersed. Everything was connected, everything was relevant. While I see concentration, focus and sometimes passion from students, I have rarely see a student in creative flow in the classroom setting. The closest I’ve seen is a student isolated, headphones on, or alone in the room during lunch, totally in their own world and focused on solving a problem. I’ve also witnessed and been part of communal epiphanies, when a group is working through an idea and they feed off of each other’s excitement and communal culture. They are creating culture. In this way- I encourage students to work alone and in groups, to experiment with materials and subject matter, and I try to include open-ended universal themes, which challenge creativity and problem solving.
