Philosophy

A long time ago, back when I was in high school, one of my teachers defined intelligence as “the ability of an organism to adapt to its environment”. That phrase bothered me enough that it stuck with me through the years. Initially, I disagreed with it because I had a literal interpretation of the phrase and thought intelligence was much more than that. Later, I discovered that the phrase has quite a broad meaning, and can be applied to my defining concept of education- what it is and what it can do.

Adaption requires change, change requires observation, analysis, introspection, application, creation. Education, to me, is the process involved in learning how to acquire information, synthesize the information into knowledge, and apply the knowledge to the operant system. Once applied, change can occur- as refinements so that the system works better, innovative ways to arrive at solutions, restructuring of goals. One of the basic needs of education, and a need that can be addressed specifically through art education, is the need of the person to become aware of the environmental system. In this context, the environmental system of a person includes not only the physical environment, but the intellectual, social, moral, political, temporal and cultural experiences of the person. Once someone can recognize *what* is happening, they can begin to question- why is it happening? This questioning leads to education, the acquiring of related information that can be linked to form the basis of knowledge, to catalyze change, to increase the ability of adaptation.

One of my main goals as a teacher is to spark the curiosity of my students. Providing information is not enough, memorization and practice do not wake the students to their world. I want my students to question, to explore and experiment, to link knowledge across disciplines, to their lives, to the past and project it into the future. I want them to be equally at ease in digital, social and natural environments. I want them to be excited about diversity, tolerant and open-minded enough to welcome difference as a chance to learn something new. When I teach, I blend the traditional with the innovative, move across disciplines, listen and learn from what my students have to add. Through art and story and endless questioning they become empowered learners who realize that knowledge is everywhere, education is life-long, and that they are in charge of their education.

I am in charge of my education, and it is a never-ending wonderful process. I am a synthetic learner, and I naturally look for connections, link things together. I love to question, and listen- through listening I can learn from my students. Not just knowledge, but who they are, what they care about, what about them is new and different and unique from all the others that I’ve taught before. By educating myself through them, I can adapt and change to suit their needs, and we forge a collaborative experience that benefits all.