How to Make a Student-Centered Art Experience

Hi there,

 If I said, ”I had quite a post written and mistakenly caused the power cord to disconnect to my PC, thus destroying my work.” Would you believe me? Because as devastated as I am right now, this is the power of a mistake. It teaches us to do something differently once its effect has impacted us. Now in my case, I will need to decide: stop kicking my feet or use a word program with auto-saving… one of these things I can control.

According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (5th Edition) it defines a mistake as

• An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.

• A misconception or misunderstanding.

intransitive verb

• To understand wrongly; misinterpret

Mistakes

Why is it hard for teachers to allow students to make mistakes or experience failure? A caring teacher would find it hard to watch their student fail or experience that hurt. Students are expected to meet a standard, and this pressure can feel stressful. Perhaps the teacher works in a teacher-centered classroom where students are expected to obey and think following a predetermined path

A teacher-centered classroom, the teacher is at the center of the learning: 

• Information flows from teacher to students

• Students look to the teacher to make decisions

• Students pay more attention to the teacher than each other

• The teacher does most of the talking

• The teacher sets the rules and the goals

During my time teaching, I learned my literal place in the classroom was to be “around” when students needed guidance. The art studio is a safe place for them to be curious, explore, mess around, and make mistakes. As humans we can learn from our “failures” and mistakes in a more comprehensible way compared to other methods. From this understanding, my art classroom became more student centered. Students were making art more confidently once I went from teacher-centered to student-centered. 

So, how does student-centered learning provide results? It gives students a safe way to learn through trial and error , which gives students the ability to think in a wider capacity. Here's a thought: Let people practice falling so they know how to pick themselves up. Eventually they will learn to tuck and roll  and spring into the right direction. 

As much as we want to fine tune students art and assess their "accuracy",  Art is not inherently the thing we end up making at the end. It is the experience! A piece of art is made simply by the outcome of that artistic journey. 

There is no right way to ”make a student-centered art experience”

Your students are the navigators. They will learn to avoid rough waters. Create the environment that helps their needs.

So, here are a few focuses: 

Dynamic

Teachers could learn to hold their suggestions unless prompted by a student. They are an advisor as the student steps foot into the uncomfortable space of decision making (which is why the space needs to be safe and comforting, because the process can be uncomfortable!) . Set the boundary that, unless prompted, you hold your suggestions. Art is a process, and trying to redirect people to make a “good” piece of art can harm the process. We know art is therapeutic, which is why unsolicited criticism can hurt, even with good intentions.  This will allow students to develop the communication needed to ask for help, and what specific assistance they need. There is a balance for each studio, as no two kids are the same. It's reasonable to curate how much structure from you that your students need. 

Organizing

Build a flow in the studio with how the space is organized. Have ease of access to tools, resources, and supplies. Use open containers and icon labels for supplies to reduce time spent searching for commonly used mediums.  When we build a space where it takes less mental energy to look for items, open containers, or sort through piles... we save the brain juice and can reallocate it for the creative thinking process. When teachers allow students freedom to help organize the classroom and help structure the workspace, it also creates a level of trust, respect, and autonomy. 

Teaching for Artistic Behavior

What do artists do?

Artists practice. Similar to musicians and athletes, artists practice constantly, observing and evaluating outcomes to determine their next steps.
Artists work with ambiguity. Knowing (and sometimes not knowing) where to go with their work, artists understand that this is part of the artistic process…

The child is the artist.

In PreK-16 TAB classes, students experience the visual arts as artists responsible for their learning. Following introductions to available media, student artists advance their individual artistic processes through exploration and discovery, inquiry and ideation, skill development and artmaking, reflection and revision, self-evaluation…

The classroom is the child’s studio.

TAB classrooms are highly structured studio environments with clearly delineated expectations for self-directed learning in choices of varied work spaces. Available tools and art materials are introduced to students who can then access and arrange these materials independently to initiate and explore their artwork.

TLDR; Let students make mistakes and celebrate what those mistakes taught us. Allow students to find their interests by experimentation. Create an ease of access workspace to increase productivity. And there is no cookie cutter shape to student centered learning because every studio/classroom can build theirs uniquely. Student-Centered learning is a mindset.