Teaching Philosophy

There is a “workmanship of risk” involved in crafting a piece of furniture, just as there is a “workmanship of risk” involved in crafting one’s life.  Risk is an inherent part of building.  Craftsman and college professor David Pye once said, “… the quality of the result is not predetermined, but depends on the judgment, dexterity and care which the maker exercises as he works.  The essential idea is that the quality of the result is continually at risk during the process of making …”  As a teacher, my primary function is to guide my students through a series of art experiences that enable them to develop what art educators are calling “studio habits of mind” or “dispositions” which students can use to craft quality lives.

“The purpose of school education is to insure the continuance of education by organizing the powers that insure growth.  The inclination to learn from life itself and to make the condition of life such that all will learn in the process of living is the finest product of schooling.”   – John Dewey