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Professional Knowledge

As a professional, I strive to be current in theory and practice. This includes being knowledgable of various histories and concepts as a Visual Arts teacher, but also of new and upcoming educational theories and innovations.

Influential Theory

  • 21st Century Learning

  • Inquiry-based Teaching

  • BC's Redesigned Arts Curriculum

I intentionally develop inquiry based learning within my unit and lesson planning around BC’s redesigned curriculum to foster higher order thinking and transferable learning. Within my art 11/12 painting and drawing class, it was important for me to facilitate critical thinking practices to actively engage students and I did this through the four C’s of 21st century learning which is: critical thinking, communicating, collaborating, and creating. By scaffolding my self-portrait diptych unit and lessons to support the content, core and curricular competencies all incorporated within the big ideas, to make up the “Know-do-understand” model of learning. The big idea for the unit was identity and when introducing the unit, I asked my students to question, research and explore a deeper and more critical thought process when looking at their own self. I then had them consider how this can be translated from mental or verbal notions into a visual representation. Students were asked to create self-portrait diptych painting. A diptych is a 2d visual representation in two parts, so they had to consider not only one way to represent themselves, but a second way to depict their identity through portraiture. I explained that a major aspect of self-portraiture is investigation and discovery into identity. Students learning was supported through the specifics of content, like learning how to do proportional face drawing, colour theory and value as applied through tonal mixing and with paint. We then considered the core and curricular competences by looking at identity on three different levels: subscribed, prescribed and ascribed identity. Students were asked to consider their own identity in terms of personal, social and within a global sense using self-guided reflections and collaborative group work. High school is a pivotal time in these students’ lives and opening up a large and messy topic of identity really impacts and engages students on a deeper level which I believe promotes personal connections making it accessible and authentic learning.

Subject Knowledge

  • Pop Art Power Point

  • Pop Art Learning Guide

  • Pop Art: Lino Reduction Print Unit Plan

 

Visual arts requires art historical knowledge combined with technical skill. Therefore, it is integral to make education relevant and meaningful to students. Combining pedagogical theory and content knowledge ensures the best practice. Above is a Power Point I created to introduce my Art 9/10 class to the Pop art movement. The Learning Guide beside it is something I create for every assignment outlining the students learning intentions and the projects objectives. The unit plan on the right demonstrates my ability to put educational theory into specific subject knowledge. The unit was created for a Visual Arts 9/10 class on Pop Art: Reduction Printing. The lessons allowed students to use their creative and critical thinking skills and  artistic techniques to develop a Popular art inspired image and cut it into their lino blocks to creaet progressive prints using various colour combinations.

Mentorship

  • "No More Stolen Sisters" Learning Guide

  • Lesson Plan

  • Formal observation Notes

  • Post Conference Summary

 

 

I have learnt so much from my School Associates and Faculty Associates. Among resources, teaching tips and wisdom gathered throughout many years of teaching experience, they provided me with much appreciated feedback throughout my practicums.

 

I found formal observations to be the most beneficial throughout my practicums because they allowed others to provide me with instantaneous feedback on lessons and strategies.  It gave me an idea of what I was doing well, and what I could improve on in future lessons.  I have included a sample of a Formal Observation package for my "No More Stolen Sisters" Lesson. Above is my Learning Guides, Lesson plan, Formal Observation Notes and Post Conference Summary.

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