Why Teach Art?
This is a question that I received almost every day for the first 2 weeks of my contract teaching when I introduced myself as a new, untrained Art Teacher who had recently graduated with a Psychology degree - Why teach art? While I had some responses to it, I was initially uncertain if my premature ideas would reflect the reality of Art Education in schools, and unconfident of my own resolution to make it a reality, hence I often left that question hanging. Through these 4 months of contract teaching, I've experienced so many exciting and nerve-wracking firsts under the tutelage of my fabulous mentor. These experiences were accompanied by a myriad of emotions that strengthened my belief in Art Education and clarified the role I wanted to play in it. I have witnessed how art lessons have the potential to p rovide students with authentic learning experiences. For instance, in the P1's lesson on Land Art, students were exposed to natural materials found all around us. In stud...