Teaching Philosophy

"The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves." -Paulo Freire, We Make the Road by Walking (p. 181)

I believe that the purpose of education is to uplift students, their histories, and their identities. Education is the cornerstone for societal awareness surrounding important issues, and the classroom is a crucial setting to preserve people’s histories, cultural contributions, language, and identities.

In a particularly challenging time of book bans and the systematic erasure of history, education has become a critical tool to not only combat the censorship of others’ lived experiences but to celebrate the multitudes of culture and heritage. It is the responsibility of educators to provide students with access to different perspectives and knowledge of the world outside of their own sphere, as diversity of ideas expands the way they approach art, history, and knowledge. Everyone has different ways of doing things, and through these diverse perspectives, students can discover different aspects of themselves, and in turn, their art can inspire others to do the same. 

As an arts educator, I will use the practical applications of art but also the greater context of how, when, and why art is created at the core of my approach and recognize students’ backgrounds in religion, culture, race, gender, and learning abilities to create curricula that interest, challenge, and celebrate students. I will value collaborative processes with my students as an effort to guide instruction and foster trust within the classroom, as I believe that, as much as students can learn from me, I can learn from them to continually evolve and improve as an instructor.