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Unit Paper 3

Zachariah Amelio

Sacramento State University: Art 133

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Vulnerability

Teachers are responsible for understanding students to their fullest potential because that

will allow for planning to ensure the needs of all students are being met. A comprehensive and

caring environment can awaken the urge for students to learn and create to the best of their

abilities and of their own accord. However, this is a vulnerable road for students because they

must feel a sense of belongingness and love to help fulfill basic deficiency needs (Edridge,

2012), according to Maslows Pyramid. Vulnerability is the ability to be susceptible emotionally

or academically when it comes to the student-teacher relationship. In addition, according to

Edridge (2012), this should be met with empathy and care on the teachers behalf because that is

the focus of the holistic approach to learning. The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) approach is

vulnerable in its own way for it requires an open-minded environment for all opinions and all

possibilities (Housen and Yenawine, n.d.). Basically, allowing for a caring comforting

environment when learning can improve learning and how students approach it.

In my opinion, the holistic approach should be a given for teachers because we are

working to help blossom the creative and confident side in all of our students. Having the ability

to be empathetic will make all the difference in all classrooms, including mine in the future. I

agree and hope to integrate the VTS approach in my future teachings; however, students in their

later elementary grades, such as 4-6, start becoming more insecure and will retreat from the

opportunity to share his/her unique perspective. I believe for those grades, adding time for

writing down their personal thoughts between looking at the picture for a few minutes and asking

questions will give a better result. This will allow the student write down a few thoughts to help

ease the transition from thought to presentation, which can be intimidating or vulnerable for

some students. Be accommodating and patient will provide the optimal learning environment.
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References

Eldridge, L. A. (2012). The ethic of caring holistically for art students: Esmeraldas boutique. In
L. H. Campbell & S. Simmons III (Eds.), The heart of education: Holistic approaches
(pp. 287-296). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.
Housen, A., & Yenawine, P. (n.d.). Visual thinking strategies: Understanding the basics.
Retrieved from http://www.vtshome.org/research/articles-other-readings