Kelly Bartels

Final Paper

My Teaching Pedagogy

Over the course of the semester there were various topics discussed about education and

the philosophies behind it. By doing research on care in the classroom, diversity, group work,

and democracy in the classroom I can form a teaching philosophy based on what I learned. I took

the insights of four philosophers, Hooks, Noddings, Dewey, and Ladson-Billings to strengthen

my understanding of the benefits and setbacks each factor has in the classroom. After all this it

gave me a better understanding of the underlying themes in a classroom as well as strengthened

my outlook on how I want my teaching style and classroom to be.

One of the biggest things that I would want to implement in my room would be

democratic education. After researching, it is apparent that students just expect to be told what

they can and cannot do and what is expected of them to learn during the course of the school

year with little to no room for their input on the subjects. Learning by just absorbing the lessons

with no real choice on material to learn is how most schools function, but I think democratic

education is beneficial because the students get to choose what materials they want to learn about

while they complete objectives and standards. I know that as a student when my professor asked

about what we wanted to do for our final I was confused because I had never had a teacher who

used a democratic way of teaching in the classroom. However, the whole class got together to

figure out what we wanted our final to be, the expectations for it, and what kind of material we

would be tested on. Gutman believed in the power of democratic education and how it could

improve society. By giving students a choice on ways to display their knowledge about a
particular subject they will not be just blindly following directions, instead they can give the

teachers and their peers their opinions and ideas about subject matter. It can also bring in new

subject matter that the school is lacking in their curriculums. As an example, Gutman uses

Fairfax County and their sex education course. At one point, teachers were not allowed to teach

about contraception, abortion, masturbation, homosexuality, or rape so students were ignorant to

information about these things. Later on, there was a survey between students and parents on

bringing sex education to the school and there was a 75% vote for the class to be added to the

curriculum. This example shows that democratic education can benefit students, teachers, and

parents. Gutman’s democratic philosophy also ties into Hooks’ philosophy where the class

converses to deepen their understanding of subject matter and tie it into the real world outside of

the classroom. Gutman’s approach requires a discussion about materials, interests that correlate

with lessons, and expectations among the class and Hooks is supportive of class discussion about

experience relating to material as well as their interpretation of the lesson. These both tie into the

support for a democratic classroom and since it is not just a memorization of facts for a test the

students actually learn the material better because they discuss and make connections about

things. I think both philosophers’ outlooks correlate to improve the learning process rather than

just using the traditional memorization and test techniques. So I think that I would try to base my

personal pedagogy around having group work, discussion, and let students choose what projects

they would like to do based on a couple different artists that the class comes up with so it gets the

students involved in creating standards for themselves.

Another influential philosopher to my pedagogy would be John Dewey. His views were

that education was the way society reproduces and advances. It is important to teach the core

subjects to keep knowledge constant and advancing. Keeping knowledge constant is for example,
keeping common core subjects like math, science, history, and reading upheld to a certain

standard that gives society basic knowledge while also giving them the tools to advance from the

average understanding. I think the advancement of subject matter is important in a classroom and

I support John Dewey’s views that education is for society, even if it is just learning basic skills,

education is beneficial to everyone. If I could choose how I would want society to be I would

make it so that everyone has the same opportunity to access education, healthcare, food, shelter,

and other basics like clothes and hygiene products. I think that all of these things should be

considered basic human rights and paid for with tax dollars. Another thing would be to make

sure that there is access to resources in school to help keep each district up to date on information

and technology. It is important to be up to date in the subject area being taught so I have an idea

to keep students engaged in current artists’ work and techniques. In my classroom I would want

to have students fill a sketchbook with drawings, research, and other information about subject

matter that is relevant to art in society at the time. I think by having them do weekly journals

they would be constantly developing their understanding of art and the art making process as

well as their own views on certain types of art in relation to others. Another thing I could have

students do is tie in information from the core subjects to strengthen their understanding of a

topic they learned about. There are no negatives to this way of learning because the more a

subject is paid attention to and learned about the easier it is to understand and retain information

on. I know in New South Wales the teachers use the journal idea and have students create a

twelve piece body of work based on all of the research that they do throughout the year. They

write an artist statement about each piece and the overall body of work when everything is

completed and I think this keeps them engaged, diving deeper into subjects they are interested in,

and overall developing technical and conceptual skills. This type of work makes it easy for
students to explore topics of their choosing and bring awareness to a subject people may or may

not know about and that directly correlates with Dewey’s philosophy.

I saved the Ladson-Billings for last and her philosophy correlates with running a

culturally relevant classroom. It is important to be accepting of students of all different cultures

and races especially in the classroom. By including lessons with people of all cultures as well as

having students include cultural aspects that are important to them in their artwork, it would give

students an appreciation as well as more knowledge about other cultures as well as their own.

Another thing that is important in her philosophy is to pay more attention to the student would

are disadvantaged compared to others and try to talk with the ones who learn from further

conversation about a subject. I think all of this ties into the previous philosophers’ ideals and it

all ties into respect, acceptance, and direct input out of everyone in the learning environment. It

would be beneficial to learning techniques as well as thinking conceptually in art and life.

Overall, all of the resources I looked into were helpful in developing my teaching

pedagogy. I would want my classroom with tables for adequate amounts of group discussions

and I think being at a table in an art room is beneficial for the creative process because then

everyone can bounce ideas off one another. I would want student artwork as well as their

research on an artist hanging up on the walls for others to look at and get inspiration from.

Another thing I would want on the walls is a chart with the color wheel, as well as diagrams on

drawing in different perspectives, and patterns and textures that students can look at to add to

their work. I think that I would also, if permitted, would want students that were in art all four

years to put their handprints with their name on the wall as a tribute to their years as a student

because I know it meant a lot to me when I could do that in high school. I just want my room

organized, bright, colorful, and full of resources for students to develop themselves as artists and
as good citizens ready for the real world. Care in the classroom paired with discussion,

reflection, research, and relevant subject materials can have a positive impact on students and

their experiences.
 Citations

Dewey, J. (2009). Democracy & Education. Place of publication not identified: Merchant Books.

Gutman, A. (1999). Democratic education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Hooks, B. (2014). Teaching To Transgress. Routledge.

Inside ARTEXPRESS. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/insideartexpress/ (New South Wales gallery on

process diaries (sketchbooks) and how it works for them)

Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American

children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.