In art education students can be self-directed creators, executing vision and developing voice, while gaining a fuller understanding of the visual nature of the world and becoming empowered through expressing their skills, their emotion, and their ideas. It can be a place where student become connected to their community, and a space where parents can become involved in the creative process. Art education can be liberating, it can be a place where students access new ways of thinking and seeing and a time when students can escape from stresses within education and their own lives. None of these things are possible without comprehensive classroom management.
Preparation
Roskos and Neuman (2011) state that setting up and designing a classroom environment is “is both an art and a science. It involves configuring the best spaces for promoting student learning’ (110). Within my art classroom, these learning spaces will be flexible, where students can work on individual projects, be able to discuss work and collaborate with students around them, and also be able to see presentations and visual instruction. The classroom layout should “accommodate multiple configurations for large and small groups, for triads, pairs, and individuals’ (Roskos, 2011, 111)
Behavior
Responsibility and self-direction is crucial when it comes to discipline in the classroom. An approach recommended by Marshall (2005) I plan on using in my classroom is having students develop procedures to redirect irresponsible impulses (51). Emotions have been found to have an effect on student’s learning and on the “instructional behavior’ of teachers (Han, 2012, 78). Emotional intelligence has been “discussed as one of the important intelligences and competencies to promote and regulate personal intellectual growth and social relational growth’ (Han, 2012, 78). The definitions of emotional intelligence are varied, but it is categorized as a “set of abilities which involves operating emotional information that represent emotional signals’ (Han, 2012, 78).
Procedures
Marzano (2005) recommends these strategies for procedures that communicate order and learning:
– Beginning with a balance of learning and “administrivia’
– Establishing shared activities that reinforce class unity
– Ending with activities that reinforce learning and discipline (15)
Rules
Kostewicz states that teachers need to consider rules not as an element of control but as a way to contribute to a classroom environment (2008, 14). I plan on using rules and policies in my classroom in this way, where students’ focus is not on following rules, but on making sure that they are helping create a positive classroom environment where everyone is supported in making art. I plan on having three major policies within the art classroom: 1. Respect others and their artwork, 2. Respect materials and supplies in the art room, and 3. Be respectful in the art you make.
Engagement
Students feel motivated when: “They feel some sense of autonomy or control, they feel connected to the class and the school, and they feel as if they possess the skills necessary to meet the challenges of school.’ (Daniels, 2010, 25) Rewards and punishments have driven teaching practices now for over a century, and research has shown that rewards and punishments are effective in controlling student’s immediate classroom behavior (Daniels, 2010, 29). Current researchers and teachers, such as Daniels, are finding that rewards and punishments do not “foster an intrinsic, long-term desire to learn, behave, and achieve’ (2010, 29).
Diversity
Students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and cognitive disabilities make up around 9% of the school population and are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, conduct problems, and drop out of school (Murray, 2007, 106). It’s been found that students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and cognitive disabilities who “had more positive relationships with teachers had lower levels of delinquency’ (Murray, 2007, 107).Previous research has “consistently found a relationship between student race and discipline’ (Rocque, 2010). In many American high schools the “disproportionate suspension of Black students remains a problem’ (Gregory, 2011, 929). One study found that when teachers single out a single disruptive act for punishment, this punishment “disproportionately affects students whose race and gender distance themselves from their teachers’ (Brown, 2007, 36).
Communication with Parents/Guardians
I plan on contacting parents early on about non-discipline related topics in order to build up a positive relationship, so that resolving and working through student issues is easier and more effective. I want to include parents within the art room as volunteers, and as guest instructors, in order to bring their own artistic skills into the classroom. I plan on starting up and maintaining a blog for the art classes, where student work will be documented and parents can view the work
Cultural
Cultural and Community Resources
Students could go on field trips to go see art made from different cultures and community members. In Juneau we have the city and state museums, and the recently built Walter Soboleff center, where a students can view and learn about a variety of Native Alaskan art and history. We also have a variety of different art galleries, from the Canvas, to the Alaskan Robotics Gallery. Artists from the community can also be brought in to share art, or to teach students about the kind of art making they practice. Alaska has a rich history of art and there is a diverse, talented, and large community of artists living in this state, which can greatly benefit an art classroom.
A companion site to EDSC 658/458 course at UAF
