Philosophy of Exceptional Education

Philosophy of Exceptional Education Â

As a creative and flexible subject area, art can ideal for mainstreaming students with exceptional education needs. In our art studio/classroom, we firmly insist that all students have the ability to learn, teach, and innovate. We believe that everyone can create art, and that everyone’s approach to art is a valid expression of who they are. Our is collective mission to discover, create and to grow as human beings by any means at our disposal. I routinely inform students that this is the purpose we enter the studio with. My aim is not only to support students in their work, but to model this purpose. As the teacher, I direct the art studio. I provide instruction, set the tone, define the procedures, and model the creative process. My role is to aid and encourage, inspire and illuminate, as well as to reflect upon and document the creative processes and products of our studio.

All of my students learn differently. Working with students to identify and leverage their strengths and passions is central to the studio process. We will all come to the studio with distinctive talents - perhaps we see balance instinctively or we feel color vibrantly or we reproduce form accurately. We each have our own pace for envisioning, exploring, creating and reflecting. The diversity of our experiences and our thoughts makes our collective work richer. We celebrate that.

In the art studio we work collaboratively with using all available faculties of our minds and bodies in order to express our unique skills and perspectives.

Our art studio is not chaotic, it is genius. Everything tool, every material has a place, including ourselves. We each move through a creative process deliberately, but identically. We engage every mode of learning: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. We work hard because we recognize that the cognitive skills we develop in the art studio can support us in every pursuit outside the studio.

We learn to think visually and sequentially, with rhythm and pattern. We hypothesize, imagine, take risks, make attempts, back track, reframe, and rebuild.

This is how we become develop academic grit. This is how we become creative

thinkers. This is how we become expert problem-solvers. This is how we develop the habits of an artistic mind. In the art studio, we are in training. We train our eyes, our minds, and our hands. Belief in ourselves, our abilities, and our brilliance blooms with every challenge we confront.

We share our space, our materials, and our techniques and our ideas. As we develop our creative instincts, we develop trust in one another. We strive to create an atmosphere of egalitarianism and mutuality. In the arts studio, we create space for emotions to be worked out through our expressive creativity with materials.

Together, we learn essential social-emotional skills like courage, resourcefulness and introspection. This type of learning is especially supportive to those of us without strong abilities in verbal expression.

Through art, students have a way to open up new pathways between the subconscious and the conscious minds. Not only so they tap into the creative parts of their ming, but emotional centers as well. Art can be a tool to link emotions to thoughts and actions, framing ideas and feelings that may be difficult to put into words. In the arts studio, we acknowledge that it’s the process, not the result, that is most valuable. The works of art may be beautiful, impressive, exotic, or uninspiring, but as long as the artist is appreciating the creative process and personally connecting to the art, then the work is always worthwhile.