Overview Katie had a negative experience of art in school, teachers gave little support and had favourites, maybe art should be taught at a better level with passionate teachers. She believes that the creative arts are an essential part of learning, it helps children to think and solve problems. and that we are getting them ready for the future, where more creative thinkers will be required. Her opinion of art is it allows non academic children to shine, as there are no right or wrong answers. Katie got into teaching as she enjoyed working with children, she didn’t feel had enough skill or talent to work in the creative industry. Katie’s route into teaching began by studying an open university degree, where she could work at own pace and did her teaching certificate on the job, took General Teaching Practice route. Katie got interested in teaching from being a TA for rubbish teachers. Katie advised me to do a lot of volunteering and stated that teaching is hard work but rewarding. Apparently t’s hard to
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be a creative teacher in the current system as the current system focuses on tests and assessments, but hopefully this will change. It’s important to show children jobs available in the creative industry as they are the future. Katie’s best things about teaching are the children, colleagues and being able to make a difference. The hard parts are the work loads, and filling in lots of paper that no one reads. Katie’s creative talents lie with writing and illustrating books, she co writes and illustrates children’s outdoor activity books and he is currently writing book three. Katie loves using her creative skills in this way. Anyone who manages to make a living through their creative talents inspires her. In the future she sees herself possibly working on my books full time, but still being involved in education and maybe through working with different schools.