I can honestly say there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not appreciative about what I do. I have the incredible job of piercing through the 'calculating self ' of my students and helping them find their 'center self '. As an art teacher, I get to see my students rediscover the joy in creativity and I witness that on a daily basis. Many of my NYC public high school students haven't had an art class since elementary school and come into the class tough and hard, however, almost all of them at one time or other reach a childlike and joyful state. The process of making art is usually rewarding, and fun for many of them, as we we work with paint, plaster, and get our hands dirty. Yet, I see first hand how the scrutiny of the ‘calculating self’ sucks the joy right out them after the final product has been made. Their 'calculating' self makes comments like, “that sucks” or, “Miss, I don’t like it” or, " I'm bad at art" permeate the airwaves of the classroom all too often. Much of my day is spent reassuring them their work and visions are important, and that their voices and ideas need to be heard, that they are special.
We all need to take a look at how we take the joy out of ourselves. Will we scrutinize, judge and reprimand ourselves to death? Or can we step back into the innate joy we all have in that 'center' self. Stepping into the center self might be messy, but sure worth the while.
What a great opportunity to rekindle that love of expression and exploration (via art). A Sir Ken Robinson's speech was recently animated, that talks a lot about how the "educational" system seems to take the creativity out of education:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=player_embedded
Enjoy.