Teaching for Artistic Behaviors
I see the positive and negative possibilities of approaching the classroom with a mindset of teaching for artistic behaviors as the choice-driven foundations of the process. As described in “The Open Art Room,” art educators “miss the opportunity to experience the power and significance of true expression” when they default to hand-holding instructional styles. In my experience, process drives expression, oftentimes more than outcomes, and understanding how teaching for artistic behaviors can empower artistic process reaffirms my confidence in the strategy. The positive possibilities of TAB include the authenticity of modalities of teaching. Choice is interwoven with the instructional methods but is carefully curated to fit the needs of students. For example, having tools such as teacher-directed instruction, modified choice, and full choice instruction allows educators to connect TAB to their lesson plan in ways that provides students with the tools and resources that come from Design Based Art Education without losing the student's voice. To me, providing “open studio time” empowers students to choose, explore, and engage where their interests guide them; however, this is also one of my concerns regarding how teaching for artistic behaviors may look in my future classroom. Observing the ways that this time works at Ritenour Middle School, I see how Ms. Meyer balances the needs of all her students during open studio time, and her open classroom organization further supports her students to independently create. I wonder about days when engagement is difficult and students are needing personalized support and how open studio time can become hard and not allow for as productive creative expression.
With this said, I greatly appreciate the framing of art educators in the teaching for artistic behaviors model. The Open Art Room describes TAB teachers as “guide(s) or sounding board(s) for the student's ideas.” This brought my thinking to the variety of possibilities that can come from teachers being a resource and tool for students to find support from rather than teachers being a central point in their creative making. Thinking of students as artists allow them to appreciate the process and find validation in independent making, and this is something I am excited to experience in a classroom. During my time as an art student in elementary school, I remember exercises with modified choices where I would watch demos and learn skills. Specifically, I remember a collage demo on layering. After this exercise, we were given full choice and allowed to rummage through cabinets of magazines and cut out pieces for our collage art. This project was full choice within the technique of collage, but the feeling of gratification that came from independent making is something I remember to this day and hope to pass on to my future students.
Another part of teaching for artistic behaviors that I wonder about is how process-driven art is received by school administration and families. While these factors are not nearly as important as empowering students as artists, I wonder how navigating the presentation of student work and providing others with an understanding of how important process goes when the world is so aesthetics and product-driven.
A final piece of teaching for artistic behaviors that inspires me to create TAB-driven environments is the emphasis on concept rather than skill-driven art making. I remember as a student and teacher navigating the intrusive “this is bad,” “I can’t make that, I’m not good at art,” and “it’s impossible” thoughts. I believe that art provides people with tools for mindfulness and thoughtful living that can help ground life experiences in and outside of creative spaces, and ideas surrounding breaking down the barrier of art is limited to the “talented few” make me very hopeful for what I can do as an educator.
Teaching for artistic behaviors is different from Design Based Art Classrooms because it often focuses on the principles that drive art making in technical and skill-based ways. There is value to both, and I think teacher-directed and modified choice lessons can provide students with foundations of design-based learning that support their making and voices as artists. However, teaching for artistic behaviors sees these foundations as tools for expressive making, and teaching for design-based art classrooms sees principles such as line, composition, and value as critical focal points of artistic expression. Another fundamental difference is where value is driven from when evaluation art. Having the final product be one of many elements of student work empowers risk taking and creative expression, and often in design based classroom aesthetics and outcomes are central points of evaluation which have the potential minimize the important of process.
Resources:
Articles on Teaching for Artistic Behaviors-
https://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/studio-practice/
https://theartofeducation.edu/2015/11/03/the-difference-between-tab-and-choice-and-why-it-matters/