Best of luck Franklin- you seem like a good fit to do some teaching at this point, and the need for quality art education is perennial. It's rarely taken seriously by any institution not specifically dedicated to art and design, and that includes both expensive private schools and well-funded public ones too. My son went to a Montessori school that was advanced in the way it taught I was continually amazed that education could be THAT effective. That is, all except for Art, which because Maria Montessori didn't specifically design a curriculum for the subject, fell back to the same "curriculum" students have been getting in Art classes since forever: minimal instruction, no defined standards, no feedback, and not much more than "recess with paints or clay."
It was something of a revelation for me when I realized that, though the average student will never be pursuing a profession as a writer, nor use advanced mathematics as an adult, both subjects are treated like "writers and mathematicians" are the only things schools will be producing! Art on the other hand is seen as something only worthy of students that are obviously destined to be future artists/creatives (which is to say that with such a tiny number why bother putting much into it at all?). Any efforts to correct this deficiency are certainly to be welcomed!
Best of luck Franklin- you seem like a good fit to do some teaching at this point, and the need for quality art education is perennial. It's rarely taken seriously by any institution not specifically dedicated to art and design, and that includes both expensive private schools and well-funded public ones too. My son went to a Montessori school that was advanced in the way it taught I was continually amazed that education could be THAT effective. That is, all except for Art, which because Maria Montessori didn't specifically design a curriculum for the subject, fell back to the same "curriculum" students have been getting in Art classes since forever: minimal instruction, no defined standards, no feedback, and not much more than "recess with paints or clay."
It was something of a revelation for me when I realized that, though the average student will never be pursuing a profession as a writer, nor use advanced mathematics as an adult, both subjects are treated like "writers and mathematicians" are the only things schools will be producing! Art on the other hand is seen as something only worthy of students that are obviously destined to be future artists/creatives (which is to say that with such a tiny number why bother putting much into it at all?). Any efforts to correct this deficiency are certainly to be welcomed!