Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This work showcases the arts curriculum that I have been developing in my K-12 education. Much of K-12 education can be summarized by parameters and rules. There is often a right and wrong answer. Knowledge is passed to students, but they lack the skills to problem find. My practice in my own K-12 art room develops a students technical abilities, separate from their creative work, and progressively shifts the focus toward the student and their own expression of creativity as their technical skill improve. While some students are immediately excited by this methodology, many become overwhelmed at the prospect of developing their own style and work with a lack of parameters. This can be traced back to our general education systems with a focus on standards based education that disallows for individual solutions. Built to meet the needs of industrialization, K-12 education systems have not caught up with the 21st century skills that are necessary to move our youngest generation forward creatively. Over the course of educating at 19 schools and over 19,000 students, I have developed a system that allows for choice-based education while still hitting standards necessary for administration.